Anti-Slavery Activities in Worthington 50 West New England Avenue Worthington, Ohio 43085-3536 (614) 885-1247 Fax: (614) 885-1040 Worthhsoc@aol.com

As one would expect from a community founded by a group of New Englanders, Worthingtonians from the beginning disapproved of slavery. The earliest written evidence of free Blacks living and working here is a payment by Amos Maxfield to "Black Daniel" in 1807 for work in his brickyard. The earliest African-Americans in Worthington may have come north from Chillicothe where pioneer slave owners from Virginia freed their slaves when they moved to Ohio.

A June 1821 advertisement in the Franklin Chronicle, by Louisville, Kentucky plantation owner Robert Turner, offered a $500 reward for a runaway Negro named Isham who "was taken a few days since, near this place (Worthington) and was set at Liberty . . . he is supposed to be still in the neighborhood or gone towards Lower Sandusky and Canada & is well known to some in the vicinity." This is our earliest evidence of active assistance to runaway slaves in the Worthington area.

We do not know who set Isham "at liberty" but the suggestion that he was well known in the vicinity suggests that both free Blacks and Whites in the community may have been involved. The paper never mentioned Isham’s recapture or payment of the reward, which suggests he reached safety and emphasizes such widespread support locally for assisting runaway slaves that secrecy was unnecessary.

Mattoon-Woodrow House

The 1830 census enumerated 300 "colored" persons in Franklin County, including two families and several individuals in Sharon Township. At a meeting March 28, 1835, at the home of W.S. Spencer, sixty men and women signed the constitution to organize the "Anti-Slavery Society of Worthington." This included Ansel Mattoon and Ozem Gardner, two residents later referred to in oral tradition as "conductors" for the Underground Railroad. At a meeting July 4, 1837 at the "office of Ansel Mattoon," Ozem Gardner was one of two men elected vice-president.

Worthington lay on the route from Kentucky to Canada and there is little doubt that runaway slaves were assisted on their way. This was an illegal activity and no records were kept, but the Mattoon home (now moved to 72 E. North St.) and the Gardner home at 8221 Flint Rd. are probably the survivors of what likely were several safe houses, or "stations," where runaway slaves could secure food, lodging, or a ride north.

Myths about Underground Railroad "tunnels" in Worthington are simply myths. Most runaway slaves were probably assisted quite openly in the Worthington community – testimony to the Black families who already lived here. In 1856, when the hated "Fugitive Slave Law" was at its height, several local Methodists loaned former slaves, Henry and Dolly Turk, money to purchase a home on the northeast corner of Evening and New England Streets.

Readers interested in the myths of the Underground Railroad are advised to read "Subterranean Hideaways of the Underground Railroad in Ohio: An Architectural, Archaeological and Historical Critique of Local Tradition by Byron D. Fruehling and Robert H. Smith," in Vol. 102 / Summer-Autumn 1993 of Ohio History. Research suggests that most rumored hideouts were actually cisterns, ice storage dugouts, or such useful 19th century structures. The word "underground" was symbolic not literal.

Nearly all Worthington and central Ohio residents were opposed to slavery. Worthington was a community that included free African-Americans and in mid-19th century, more than a few residents were willing to assist runaway slaves seeking refuge in Canada.