The Alum Creek Route

The Alum Creek route had two routes that branched off from each other. The first had its origins in Ripley, Ohio where John Rankin helped many enslaved people to freedom along the Ohio River. The route ultimately ran through Columbus, then to Worthington, then through Delaware and up to Marengo, a Quaker settlement in Morrow County. From there the route ran north to other stations that harbored freedom seekers. The other branch of the Alum Creek route ran from Columbus to Central College, then to Westerville, then north to Africa and on to Sunbury and points further north. In Central College the Lee homestead was a station in the Big Walnut Creek Valley.

In Westerville, George W. Stoner kept a tavern and a stable for his stagecoaches on State Street to aid him in helping freedom seekers. He escorted freedom seekers from Columbus to Westerville in disguises as passengers of his stagecoach, or covered the top of his coach with luggage to obscure who was inside. Rev. Lewis Davis, the president of Otterbein College, also hid freedom seekers at his home on the corner of Grove Street and College Avenue in Westerville. William Hanby harbored freedom seekers on his Westerville property in 1854 after moving from Circleville, where he engaged in the same activity.

Perhaps one of the oldest Underground Railroad stations was in Africa, Ohio where Samuel Patterson began harboring freedom seekers in a log cabin as early as the mid-1820s. By 1841 he had built a brick mansion, several barns and a cabin occupied by formerly enslaved people at the edge of a ravine which served as a lookout point to warn any freedom seekers that they needed to evacuate the area.

Alum Creek

A natural route for freedom seekers to take to freedom was along natural waterways. Alum Creek was used for this purpose. Freedom seekers traveled by foot or by skiff from Columbus along the creek to Central College and Westerville. This route led to Quaker settlements further north along Alum Creek. Once at the Quaker settlements the freedom seekers could rest for a night or two without fear of someone in town objecting to their presence.

Stoner House

The Stoner House at 133 S. State St. in Westerville was used as a stagecoach stop by George Stoner and also as a hiding place for freedom seekers.

Courtesy of Westerville Public Library

Lewis Davis

Rev. Lewis Davis was one of the earliest presidents of Otterbein University. He and many other Westerville residents were strong believers in the abolitionist movement. He hid freedom seekers in his home that was near the university.

Courtesy of Otterbein University

Hanby House

Built in 1846 at the corner of Main and Grove Streets, the Hanby family occupied the house from 1853-1870. It has been moved twice, most recently during the 1930s, to its present site which is just one block west of the original location.

William Hanby

Hanby was the 15th Bishop of the United Brethren in Christ Church. He served as editor of the church newspaper, The Religious Telescope. He was an abolitionist and opened his home as a station on the Underground Railroad. Bishop Hanby was co-founder of Otterbein University. He also worked in the early Temperance Movement against the use of alcohol.

Courtesy of UB Central

Samuel Patterson House

Samuel Patterson was one of the earliest operators of the Underground Railroad. He began hiding freedom seekers as early as the 1820s. This home was built in 1841 and still remains, just north of Westerville, in a small community that was later named Africa.

Courtesy of Grandview Heights Public Library