Westerville's role in the Underground Railroad

September is International Underground Railroad Month, serving as a time to recognize and honor the courage and sacrifice of those who were involved. According to the Westerville Historical Society, Westerville played an important role in Underground Railroad connections throughout Ohio.

Histories and Mysteries

Raising tensions

Despite its name, the Underground Railroad wasn’t underground or a railroad – it was a system of people and places dedicated to providing refuge for enslaved African Americans escaping to freedom. These freedom seekers were often hidden in a variety of places such as attics, barns and underneath floorboards.

“(The name) just means that they disappeared completely as if they went underground, and they disappeared so quickly that it was as if a train pulled up and whisked them away,” Beth Weinhardt, president of the Westerville Historical Society, says.

In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, making it illegal to help freedom seekers. Anyone caught helping enslaved people faced fines up to $1,000 (more than $41,000 today) or imprisonment, while the freedom seekers themselves risked being recaptured and facing severe punishments. Freedom seekers didn’t know who they could trust or where to go, and they had limited resources. That law increased the value of enslaved people and intensified both the efforts to capture and to help them leading up to the Civil War in 1861.

Ohio played a critical role in the network with more than 40 recognized sites across the state, including several right here in Westerville. Its central location in Ohio made it a key stop between the Ohio River and freedom in Canada. The Ohio River was difficult and dangerous for freedom seekers to cross due to it being a natural border between free and slave states, but it was a perfect halfway point.

The Underground Railroad was a fluid movement. Because involvement was so dangerous, the network of people and places was constantly shifting and evolving. The secretiveness of the network makes it difficult to know exactly who was involved and where. However, there are Westerville residents that were known to be a part of it.

From left to right: Stoner House, Hanby House, a Sharp House and Alexander House

Stoner House_Courtesy of Westerville History Museum.webp

Histories and Mysteries

Westerville abolitionists

Westerville was home to multiple people involved in the abolitionist movement. Here are a few of the most notable:

George Stoner

George Stoner arrived in Westerville in 1852 from Maryland. His father had originally been a slave owner but chose to free his slaves, which was unusual at the time.

Stoner primarily operated an inn that also served as a tavern on South State Street, but he was also a stagecoach driver between Columbus and Westerville. He would transport freedom seekers in the luggage compartment of his coach.

“I think you can make a case that he came north from Maryland and to Ohio to be part of the Underground Railroad,” says Weinhardt. “He opened the business in 1852 and was immediately moving freedom seekers. And in 1863, when the Emancipation Act was declared by Abraham Lincoln, he sold that business. It was like his purpose for owning it was done.”

Stoner’s house still stands today near the corner of Walnut and State Street.

The Sharps

The Sharp family was among one of the first families to settle in Westerville arriving in 1809. Sharp and his seven sons were active and open members of the Anti-Slavery Society. In 1849, the Sharps’ house was built on North State Street. Two of his sons' homes were built off Africa Road.

The Hanbys

Bishop William Hanby moved his family from Rushville, Ohio to Westerville in 1853. The Hanbys had already been an active part in the abolitionist movement in Rushville and continued once settling in Westerville. The Hanbys would hide freedom seekers in their barn, provide evening meals and arrange transportation to points further north. William was also very vocal about his opposition to slavery, especially the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The Hanby House originally stood where the Church of Master stands now, but was eventually moved to its current location on West Main Street.

Thomas Alexander

Thomas Alexander was born in Granville in 1842 and was brought to Westerville as a young boy. Alexander was a two-term mayor of Westerville and worked closely with Benjamin Hanby to help freedom seekers move north.

Alexander also operated a business on College Avenue where he made window weights that were used in the state capitol building, his patented windmill design and more. In the mornings, Alexander would pick freedom seekers up from the Hanby House and transport them further north by hiding them underneath his windmill parts or the other things he was transporting.