The Columbus to Granville Route

The Columbus to Granville route was created to replace the route from Cincinnati to Delaware and on to Oberlin due to the discovery that Kentucky enslavers were sending fictitious freedom seekers along the Cincinnati route in an attempt to find out who was helping actual freedom seekers. The Columbus to Granville route ran along East Friend Street (Main Street) and traveled east along the National Road through modern day Eastmoor, Whitehall and Reynoldsburg.

From Reynoldsburg, freedom seekers would travel 20 miles northeast to Granville. Underground Railroad houses along this route included the home of Hannibal H. Kimball (later Pauline Home for the Aged). Drivers pulled up to the house at night and unloaded freedom seekers that hid at the home until being taken to their next stop. New drivers were said to have driven them several miles east to a settlement of formerly enslaved people in Truro Township. The farmers living in the area provided the wayfarers with slips of paper bearing the names of Reynoldsburg abolitionists. Some conductors in that area were David Fancher in Truro Township (present-day South Eastmoor), and John T. Ward further east in present-day Whitehall.

When they arrived in Reynoldsburg, freedom seekers handed their pieces of paper to townspeople who led them to the persons named. The leading operators for Reynoldsburg were Rev. Jonathan Cable, Samuel Chamberlain, “Uncle” Billy Connell, Archibald Cooper, Samuel Gillett, David Graham, William G. Graham, John Rees, Alexander Livingston and Rev. John W. Thompson. From Reynoldsburg villagers took the freedom seekers to Granville. This route continued to be in use until 1860.

Routes to Canada

This map created in 1898 by Wilbur Siebert shows the Underground Railroad routes in the Atlantic and Midwest states that ultimately led to Canada. Major routes of the network ran from all directions through Columbus.

Courtesy of Ohio History Connection

Hannibal Kimball House

The major eastern route out of Columbus for the Underground Railroad began at this house on Main Street owned by Hannibal Kimball. Freedom seekers were said to be hidden in the barn at the rear of the property.

The National Road

Because it was one of the few roads that existed, many freedom seekers escaped along the National Road. The route from Columbus to Granville existed for just over a decade from the late 1840s to 1860. This is what the National Road in Ohio looked like in the 1890s.

Courtesy of Ohio History Connection

Truro Township

Important conduits in the Underground Railroad were the conductors along long stretches of the National Road that were not yet heavily populated. The stretch from Columbus to Granville was sparsely populated, but some of the earliest freed African American families settled in this township in the late 1820s. They worked together with likeminded white farmers to help freedom seekers find their way to freedom.

Typical Road Conditions

Because the Underground Railroad was a secret operation, most movement happened at night. In addition to poor visibility, the wagon drivers and freedom seekers had to deal with terrible road conditions. A typical road was muddy and rutted, as shown in this photo taken along the National Road in the 1890s.

John T. Ward

Ward was a major conductor on the Underground Railroad in Columbus and in modern day Whitehall. He credits Shepard Alexander with getting him started as a conductor in 1842.

Alexander Livingston

Livingston began his work in the Underground Railroad in 1843 in Reynoldsburg. He was tasked with moving freedom seekers to Granville where they would continue north towards Mansfield or Oberlin.