The Underground Railroad in Columbus

Columbus was home to several abolitionists and stops along the Underground Railroad. Fernando Cortez and Sophia Stone Kelton built their home at 586 East Town Street in 1852. Family oral histories state that the family hid freedom seekers in the barn, the cistern, and sometimes in the servants’ quarters on their property. Sophia found Martha and Pearl Hartway hiding outside their home, taking in Martha while Pearl continued on to Wisconsin. Other conductors of the Columbus station were John T. Ward, David Jenkins, John Bookel, Thomas Washington, Lewis Washington, Sr., Rev. James Poindexter, William Washington, William Ferguson, Jeremiah Freeland and Charles Langston.

Further north in what would become Clintonville and Worthington, Jason Bull and his brother Alonson, as well as Ansel Matoon, Ozem Gardner and Henry Turk served as conductors. They would help transport freedom seekers from Columbus to the Benedicts, Quakers who lived at Alum Creek Settlement in Morrow County. Alexander Livingston, founder of the Livingston Seed Company, used an oversize wagon called “the ark” that was outfitted with several seats to carry freedom seekers from Reynoldsburg to Mt. Vernon. And William Hanby of Westerville harbored freedom seekers in the hay mow of his barn. The Hanby House and Kelton House are now historical house museums.

James P. Poindexter

Rev. James P. Poindexter moved to Columbus in 1838 and worked as a barber across from the Ohio Statehouse. He was also a minister at the Second Baptist Church, breaking from the First Baptist to pursue a stronger abolitionist stance. Poindexter, his wife Adelia Atkinson and his congregation were supporters of the Underground Railroad.

Courtesy of Ohio History Connection

Wilbur H. Siebert paper, “The Underground Railroad”

Siebert was an Ohio State University professor who studied and collected items from the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to get his students interested in history. This is a hand written paper describing the origins and activities of the Railroad.

Courtesy of Ohio History Connection

James Kilbourne

Founder of Worthington, Ohio, in 1803, Kilbourne was a land surveyor, Representative, founder of Franklin County’s first newspaper the Western Intelligencer, and abolitionist. He is said to have freed a freedom seeker from his captor in 1812.

Courtesy of Columbus Metropolitan Library Digital Collection

David Jenkins

Jenkins was born in Virginia and moved to Columbus in 1837. He founded the anti-slavery newspaper Palladium of Freedom and was part of the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad. He moved to Mississippi to teach and was elected to the legislature.

Courtesy of Ohio History Connection

Jason Bull and family

Thomas Bull and his family moved from Vermont to Ohio in 1812. They were abolitionists and Thomas’ son Jason was a conductor on the Underground Railroad. They lived in what is now known as Clintonville.

Courtesy of Ohio History Connection

Martha Hartway

Martha and her sister Pearl were born into slavery and ran away from Virginia in 1864. They were found hiding outside the home of Fernando and Sophia Kelton, abolitionists in Columbus. Pearl went on to Wisconsin but the ailing Martha was taken in by the Keltons and stayed with them, eventually marrying Thomas Lawrence, who was a butler for the family. Martha and Lawrence’s son was Dr. Arthur Kelton Lawrence.

Courtesy of Kelton House Museum & Garden