Ancestry World Tree Project: SidYoung Family Page 1of 6

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Sid Young Family
Entries: 3034 Updated: Thu Jul 4 06:17:49 2002 Contact: Cecilia Young tli?
Index I Descendancy | Register | Pedigree | Ahnentafel | Download GEDCOiN
ID: 124
Name: Jesse PUGH
. to; M
Birth: Abt 1774 in South Carolina '
Death: Abt 1842 in Waynesville,Warren,Ohio
Ancestral File
IDNO: 34
LDS Baptism: status: Submitted
Endowment: status: Submitted
^PRIMARY: Y
Sealing Child: status: Submitted
Note:
lone record has Jesse bom in S.C.. One record is found in the hands of Emily
P. Young. Lue Park, 26730 HWY. 20 East Bend, Or 97701 gave us another record.
Another source has the hirthdate of Jesse as 25 Jan 1751, Frederick Co, Va.
lprice@uncp.campuscwix.net submittedJesse pugh to ancestry.com
http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?TI=^0&DB=GEDIND&PROX='-l&F0='PUGH&Fl=JESSE.
luewehh@mohaveaz.com
http://userdh.rootsweh.com/landrecords/cgi-hin/landrecord.cgi?main_id=1259591&datahase=Land
20Records&retum_to=http://userdh.rootsweh.com/landrecords/&suhmitter_id=
Land Record record for JESSE PUGH
Name: JESSE PUGH Date: 13 Nov 1822 Location: OH, Document #: 1253 Serial #: OH0740 .2^
SALE Acres: 160.0000 Meridian or Watershed: 1ST PRINCIPAL Parcel: Township 2 N, Range \ t
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Doris Ross Johnston's Our Texas Family
Entries: 29842 Updated: Fri Jun 7 17:13:20 2002 Contact: Doris Ross Johnston Home Page: OurTi
A Work in Progress ~ what you see is all I know, except for living people; if you don't see the pare
into our family, it's useless to ask
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Ancestry World Tree Project: Sid Young Family Page 2of 6
ID:116853
Reference Number: 16853
Name: Elizabeth Pugh
Sex: F
CheingeDate: 24 JUN 2000
Birth: ABT 1792
Death: BEF 1822
Father: Jesse Pugh b: 1763
Mother: Elizabeth Taylor b: 30 APR 1762 in Frederick Co., VA
Our Texas Family
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Crabtree
Entries: 532Updated: Sat Aug25 12:15:59 2001 Contact: LuellaWebb
:860879
ID: 141379352
Name: Elizabeth PUGH
Given Name: Elizabeth
Surname: Pugh
Sex: F
Birth: 4 May 1819in Near Waynesville, Warren County, Ohio
Death: 2 Jun 1901 in Colville, Stevens Co., Washington
Father: Jesse PUGH b: 25 Jan 1750/51 in Frederich, Virginia
Mother: Elizabeth TAYLOR
Marriage 1Joseph YOUNG b: 14Dec 1823 inNearWaynesville, Warren County, Ohio
Married: 16 Aug 1842 in Warren County, Ohio
*******************************************************************************
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LeeRoy E. Bowen
Entries: 938 Updated: Thu Nov 1521:16:14 2001 Contact: LeeRoyBowen
ANCESTRY # :592838
http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db:2153218&id124 9/14/2004
AncestryWorldTree Project: Sid YoungFamily Page 3 of 6
ID: 129813318
Name: Elizabeth PUGH
Given Name: Elizabeth
Surname: Pugh
Sex: F
Birth: 4 MAY 1819 in Wainsville,Warren,Ohio
Death: 2 JUN 1901 in Colville,Stevens,Washington
Burial: Pleasant Grove,Ut,Ut
LDS Baptism: 26 JUL 1869
Endowment: 8 JAN 1872
Note: Ancestral File Number: 2JSD-TL
Father: Jesse PUGH b: ABT 1782 in Ohio
Mother: Elizabeth TAYLOR b: ABT 1787 in Ohio
Marriage 1 Joseph Charles YOUNG b: 4 DEC 1823 in WainsvilleOhio
Children
Charles YOUNG b: 3 JUN 1844 in Wainsville,Warren,Ohio
Mary Ellen YOUNG b: DEC 1845 in Wainsville,Warren,Ohio
Sophia YOUNG b: JUL 1847 in Wainsville,OH,Ohio
Sarah Elizabeth YOUNG b: DEC 1848 in Wainsville,Warren,Ohio
Rachel Ann YOUNG b: 4 FEB 1851 in Rush County,Rush,lndiana
LeRoy YOUNG b: 17 JUL 1852 in Unorg. Terr. ln,Rush,Indiana
James Madison YOUNG b: 11 MAR 1854 in,Jackson,Illinois
Peter YOUNG b: 23 MAR 1857 in ,Jackson,lllinois
William Friend YOUNG b: 4 MAY 1859 in Jackson Co.,lL,Ohio
Eugene YOUNG b: 4 OCT 1862 in ,Jackson,lllinois
Josephine YOUNG b: 4 OCT 1862 in,Jackson,Illinois
Marriage 2 Joseph "C" YOUNG b: 14 DEC 1823 in Near Waynesville,Warren,OH
Married: 18 AUG 1842 in Waynesville,Warren,OH
Sealing Spouse: 8 JAN 1872
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Families of Paul Forstad and Peggy Tygart
Entries: 15862 Updated: Sun Feb 24 14:22:27 2002 Contact: Paul Forstad
ANCESTRY# :1932384
ID:115804
Name: Elizabeth PUGH
Sex: F
Birth: 4 MAY 1819 in Waynesville, Warren Co., Ohio
Death: 2 JUN 1901 in Colville, Stevens Co., Washington
Burial: JUN 1901 Pleasant Grove Cemetery, Pleasant Grove, Utah Co., Utah
Father: Jesse PUGH b: 1782 in Ohio
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,Ancestry World Tree Project: Sid Young Family Page 4of6
Mother: Elizabeth TAYLOR b: 1787 in Ohio
Marriage 1Joseph Charles YOUNG b: 4 DEC 1823 inWaynesville, Warren Co., Ohio
Children
Sophia Louise YOUNG b: JUL 1847 inWainsville, Warren Co., Ohio
Helen YOUNG
*******************************************************************************
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^My Germanic and Scotish Ancestors~~
Entries: 22358 Updated: TueMay28 18:11:35 2002Contact: Philipcampbell
ANCESTRY # PHILIP CAMPBELL
My Ancestors, some goes back tothe lOOO's and others only tothe 1700's. Any info onany names
appricaited!
ID:118158
Name: Elizabeth Pugh
Sex: F
Birth: 4 MAY 1819 in Waynesville,Warren Co.,Ohio
Death: 2 JUN 1901 in Colville,Stevens Co.,Washington
Burial: JUN 1901 Pleasant Grove Cemetery,Pleasant Grove,Utah Co.,Utah
_RIN:315 1
Change Date: 23 MAY 2002 at 06:29:58
Father: Jesse Pugh b: 1782 in Ohio
Mother: Elizabeth Taylor b: 1787 in Ohio
Marriage 1Joseph Charles Young b: 4 DEC 1823 in Waynesville,Warren Co.,Ohio
1
Children
Sophia Louise Young b: JUL1847 in Wainsville,Warren Co.,Ohio
Helen Young
Sources:
Title: GEDCOM File : 1932384.ged
Author: Paul Anthony Forstad
Abbrev: Paul Anthony Forstad
Abbrev: GEDCOM File : 1932384.ged
Note:
4183 Apple Ridge Rd.
Sedalia, MO 65301
Date: 24 FEB 2002
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^Ancestry World Tree Project: Sid Young Family Page 5 of 6
Campbells, Clappers, LaFevers, Beights, Augustines, Waldrons, van Zandts, Reeshs, Eaks, di Grai
2
C/7Gwge 29 JUN 2002 at 07:04:44
Father: Ellis PUGH b: 21 JAN 1749 in Bushriver,Newberry,Sc
Mother: Phoebe COPPACK b: OCX 1750 in Bush River,Newberry,Sc
Father: Elhs PUGH
Mother: Phoebe COPPOCK
Marriage 1 Elizabeth_TAYLOR b: 1776 in South Carolina
Married: 1800 in Bush River,Newberry,S.C.
Sealing Spouse:
Children
1. Leroy PUGH b: 1801 in ,.south Carolina
2. Hannah PUGH b: 1805 in South Carolina
3. Rebecca PUGH b: 1807 in ,.South Carolina
4. Cathenne_.PU_GH b: 1811 in South Carolina
5. 4 Madha PUGHb: Abt 1812in ,Warren,Ohio
6. Levi PUGH b: 1813 in ,Warren,Ohio
7. Elizabeth PUGH b: 4 MAY 1819 in Waynesville,Warren Co.Ohio
Marriage 2 MaryMoLford WOODRUFF b: 1794 inNewJersey
Married: 1822 in Ohio
Sealing Spouse:
Children
1. Samuel PUGH b: 15 MAY 1826 in Wayne,Warren,Ohio
2. James_PUGH b: Abt 1828 in Wayne,Warren,Ohio
3. Jesse PUGH b: 4 APR 1831 in ,Warren,Ohio
4. David PUGH b: 28 FEB 1823 in ,Warren,Ohio
5. Casey. PUGHb: APR 1833 in ,Warren,Ohio
6. Saiali PUGH b: Abt 1835 in ,Warren,Ohio
7. Joseph PUGH b: 1836 in Ohio
8. PUGH b: Abt 1838 in Ohio
Sources:
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.Ancestry World Tree Project: Sid Young Family Page 6 of 6
1. Title: 1880 census
Abbrev: 1880 census
Text: Census Place: Pleasant Grove, Utah, Utah
Source: FHL Film 1255339 National Archives Film T9-1339 Page 306D
Relation Sex Marr Race Age Birthplace
Joseph YOUNG Self M M W 56 OHIO
Occ: Carpenter Fa: PENN. Mo: PENN.
Elizabeth YOUNG Wife F M W 61 OHIO
Occ: Keeping House Fa: PENN. Mo: PENN.
Martha YOUNG Wife F M W 41 ILLINOIS
Occ: Keeping House Fa: ILL. Mo: ILL.
Lenora L. YOUNG Dau F S W 5 UTAH
Occ: At Home Fa: OHIO Mo: ILLINOIS
Joseph KELLY SSon M S W 17 ILLINOIS
Occ: At Home Fa: OHIO Mo: OHIO
Page: FHL Film 1255339
Note: has birth state as penn
Text: Census Place: Pleasant Grove, Utah, Utah
Source: FHL Film 1255339 National Archives Film T9-1339 Page 306D
Relation Sex Marr Race Age Birthplace
Joseph YOUNG Self M M W 56 OHIO
Occ: Carpenter Fa: PENN. Mo: PENN.
Elizabeth YOUNG Wife F M W 61 OHIO
Occ: Keeping House Fa: PENN. Mo: PENN.
Martha YOUNG Wife F M W 41 ILLINOIS
Occ: Keeping House Fa: ILL. Mo: ILL.
Lenora L. YOUNG Dau F S W 5 UTAH
Occ: At Home Fa: OHIO Mo: ILLINOIS
Joseph KELLYSSon M S W 17 ILLINOIS
Occ: At Home Fa: OHIO Mo: OHIO
2. Repository:
Name: Family History Library
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 USA
Title: Ancestral File (R)
Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Publication; Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998
Abbrev: Ancestral File (R)
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SUCH A GLARING INCONSISTENCY
The Unitarian Laity and Anti-Slavery
in Antebellum Cincinnati
By
Walter P. Herz
Director of Let Freedom Ring
First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati
rr 5-T-
i'M .
kj FI(f|.UilUiLU.Ciuj|^
Editorial Review Committee:
Fritz Casey-Leininger, Ph.D.
Edwin Rider
Rev. Sharon Dittmar
Rev. Morris Hudgins
Supported in part by grants from
^ Ohio Humanities Council
The Fund for Unitarian Universalism
Looking west from Vine Street along Fourth Street inthe niid-1830s. The smaller church was the home of the Unitarian congregation.
(Cincinnati Historical Society)
^Yl^C^njEOCLBaAKY
381 OLD STAGIC B. -
WAYNESVILLE, OHIO 45068 WAYNESVILLE,
513/897-4826 513/897-4826
felOTSir?
INTRODUCTION
In the Spring of 1829 a group of Cincinnati Unitar
ians who had been meeting in private homes for several
months decided, with the encouragement of the American
UnitarianAssociation, to establish a church. They bought
the property on the southeast comer of Fourth and Race
Streets that May, incorporated on January 21,1830 as
First Congregational Church of Cincinnati, dedicated
their new building five months later and engaged a
minister. It was the first Unitarian Church in the West,
and the building remained its home throughout the
antebellum era.
The thirty-three members who signed the covenant
that month were all first generation immigrants from
New England, the Mid-Atlantic States and Great Britain.
The men were predominantly lawyers, merchants and
entrepreneurs who had been drawn to Cincinnati by the
opportunity to participate in the rapidly growing City's
economic leadership of the West. As the membership
increased to over 300 by the 1850s, the congregation
included a disproportionate share of Cincinnati's civic
leaders whose attitudes and actions were significant
indicators of the City's response to leading issues of the
day.
Increasingly during the antebellum, slavery was the
overriding issue that affected every aspect of Cincinnati's
life business, professional, political, social, cultural
andreligious. In a previouspaper. The Unitarian Clergy
and Anti-Slavery in Antebellum Cincinnati, we focused
on our clergy's preaching and writings about the institu
tion of slavery. In this paper we will examine the attitudes
and actions of the Church's laity in regard to three basic
facets of the anti-slavery movementcolonization,
abolitionismand the UndergroundRailroad. Our goal is
to more fully appreciate this defining era of Cincinnati's
past so we can better understand the City's present, and
hence work more effectively for its future. As South
Carolina historian Charles Joyner said: "Memory without
hope is unbearable, and hope without memory is impos
sible."
ANTI-SLAVERY CONTEXT FUNDAMENTALS
Appreciation of First Congregational Church mem
bers' attitudes and actionsas well as those of
Cincinnatians in generalrequires knowledge of certain
fmidamentals of the national and local contexts of which
they were a part. Here are a few of the most important
ones.
The Colonization Movement: The American Coloni
zation Society was foimded in 1816 by evangelical
ministers in the North and Southem politicians who
agreed on the moral and practical desirability of gradual
voluntary emancipation of all slaves. However, the
founders also shared the strongly held opinion that free
v.... . . ry.
.-i'- % V-
Viewof Cincinnati from Kentucky in 1840 (Cincinnati Historical Society)
MARY L. COOK PUBLIC UBRAIY
381 OLD STAGE RD.
WAYNESmLE, OfflO 45068
513/897-4826
AfricanAmericans were incapableof livingsuccessfully
in white society, either becausethey were iimately
inferior or because they would take many generations of
development to catch up. Their solution to this fear of
inundationby free AfricanAmericans was to purchase
land in Africa^named Liberia and ship them all there,
with initial financial help, to civilize the heathen. The
movement grew rapidly and by 1830 had chapters
throughout the nation. Free AfricanAmericans almost
universally, and vigorously, rejected the entire concept.
Though some slave-owners gave lip service and money
to the ACS program, very few emancipated any slaves;
and while evangelical adherents generally regarded
slavery as an evil, others used membership in the organi
zation as a cover, i.e., seeming to be anti-slavery while
actually doing nothing to end it. The Cincinnati chapter
ofthe American Colonization Society flourished in the
late 1820s and 1830s, with
the North.The Ohiochapterof the A.A.S. was organized
in 1835,and at its first anniversary meetingestablished
Cinciimati as its permanent headquarters. Three members
ofFirst Congregational Church served on the Executive
Committee in 1836.
Cincinnati White Population: It is generally as
sumed that antebellum Cinciimati was pro South because
so many of its white citizens were migrants from south-
em states, particularly Virginia and KentuclQ'. However,
this was not the case in the 1820s. The publisher ofthe
1825 Cinciimati City Directory asked every white head of
household listed where he/she was bom. Ofthe 2,414
people, 40% were bom in the Mid Atlantic States, 18% in
New England, 16% in the South, 10% in Great Britain,
7% in Ireland, 5% in other European countries, 2% in
Ohio and 2% unknown. Among those from the South,
half came from Maryland and only 12% from Kentucky..
It is not likely the percent
from the South increased
during the antebelliun.
The most dramatic growth
came from German and
Irish immigration along
with a continuing influx
from New England, the
Mid-Atlantic States and
other European countries.
Cincinnati's African
American Population: In
1825 African Americans
were 5% ofCinciimati's
population. Most were manumitted, and others were still
payingfor their freedom. Almost all were fromVirginia
or Kentucky, havingbeen attractedby Cinciimati's
proximitycombinedwith its growingneed for laborers.
So great was the attractionofjobs just acrossthe river
from slavery that by 1829AfricanAmericans constituted
10%of the City's populationof just under 24,000people,
and white labor was increasingly bitter over the competi
tion for jobs. This greatly concemed the white power
structure, most ofwhose members were also leaders of
the American Colonization Society. So it was decided to
enforce the hitherto largely ignored 1804 Ohio law, as
amended in 1807, stating that noAfrican Americancould
settle in Ohio unless he posted a $500 bond signed by
two bondsmen who guaranteed his good behavior and
support. The annoimcement was postedpublicly on July
1st and compliancedemandedwithinthirtydays. The
African American leaders complained loudly, but the best
they couldget was an additional 30 days to comply. By
more than 100 members
including virtually all the
City's political, business
and religious leaders, with
several members of First
Congregational Church
among its most prominent
participants.
Abolitionism: The
immediate and universal
abolishment of slavery did
not exist as a national
movement in September of
1829 when David Walker's Appeal.. .to the Colored
Citizens of the Worldwas published.Afree African
Americanwho migratedfromCharlestonto Boston and
ran a second-hand clothing store. Walker's 76 page
indictment of slavery, in the strongest possible language,
was addressed to all AfricanAmericans. It exhorted them
to resist colonization and, as Americans, claim the
freedom promisedin the Declaration of Independence. It
quickly went through threeprintings andwas found all
over the coimtry, includingthe South where it provoked
offers of $3,000 for Walker's head and $10,000 for
bringing himto the South alive. Walker's Appeal inspired
WilliamLloyd Garrisonto leave his editorialpositionfor
a colonizationist paperin Baltimore, returnto Bostonand
fulfill his dream ofpublishing an anti-slavery newspaper.
His first issue ofThe Liberator, published on January 31,
1831, launched the abolitionist movement. Two years
later his AmericanAnti-Slavery Society was locked in a
struggle for powerwiththe colonizationists throughout
In 1829 the white power structure de
cided to enforce a hitherto largely ig
nored law stating that no African Ameri
can could settle in Ohio unless he posted
a $500 bond. Within two years half of
Cincinnati's African American popula
tion was gone.
page 3
fe/iSSSSfn"**"
the end ofAugust, amid increasingly violent attacks by
whites, more than 1,000 African Americans had left
Cincinnati for land they purchased near York, Ontario
with the help of money donated by Quakers and other
sympathetic whites from Pennsylvania and New York.
There was no City Directory in 1830, but the one for
1831 reported 1,194 African Americans, or 4% of the
population, a percent not exceeded again until the next
century.
Cincinnati's Economy: The Cincinnati power struc
ture had achieved its purpose of reassuring the South that
the City was a good place to transact business. It was
dependent on trade with the southern states for its pros
perity, and remained so until the Civil War. The river
traffic from Cincinnati to New Orleans and the cities
between carried machinery of all kinds, pork, grains,
whiskey, clothing and other goods to the South; and they
retumed laden with cotton, sugar, molasses and imports
from Europe. Manufacturing the river boats was itself
one of Cincinnati's largest businesses. Many members of
First Congregational Church were deeply involved in the
southem trade as business owners/managers, financiers
and attomeys. Further, during the summer months
Cincinnati teemed with vacationing plantation owners
and their families, many bringing personal slaves with
them. They filled hotels, patronized restaurants and
stores, and attended the theaters. The political and
business leaders of Cincinnati were determined to
maintain this very profitable and friendly relationship.
They regarded abolitionist meetings and newspapers, as
well as other public anti-slavery activities, as unaccept
able.
THE DONALDSON FAMILY
When the thirty-three original members of First
Congregational Church signed its covenant in 1830, six
were Donaldsons. The two oldest sons emigrated from
Wales to Clermont County in 1816. When they had
established themselves on a farm in the New Richmond
area, their parents and four younger siblings joined them
in 1821. By 1829 Christian, (then 34) and William (then
31) had started a successful hardware and cutlery import
ing business in Cincinnati, located for many years at 18
Main St. Their mother, Anna Margaretta, and their two
sisters joined them, their father having died in 1824.They
lived on Race St. between Third and Fourth and a few
years later moved to a house at Sixth and \dne. 25 year
old Thomas, the youngest son, remained on the farm in
New Richmond; and the oldest, Francis, retumed to the
family estate in Wales.
Anna Margaretta Donaldson (1767-1844)
This picture is a reproduction of an
unattributed drawing in History ofClaremont
County, Ohio by Louis H. Evarts (Lippincott,
Phila. 1880).
Anna Margaretta Donaldson, who was 63 in 1830,
had become a Unitarian and an anti-slavery advocate in
England, and her children were like-minded. Christian
and William were foimding members of the Ohio Anti-
Slavery Society in 1835; and either or both served on its
executive committee for the next decade. The family
moved to a home on Mt. Ephraim (now Mt. Auburn) next
to the Avondale Road (now Sycamore/Auburn Ave.) one
of the routes taken north from downtown by fugitive
slaves, many of whom the family is said to have hidden
and then helped on their way. Anna Margaretta died at 77
in 1844, after which William returned to England. Then
Christian moved back to Clermont County and joined
forces with his brother Thomas, who was a prominent
abolitionist and participant in the Underground Railroad.
Both were active in the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society until
the Civil War. We will encounter members of this re
markable family again.
MAIY L. COOK PlJEfJC
381 OLD STAGE HiS.
WAYNESVIIXE, OBiO 4^068
513/897-4826
OTHEREARLYANTI-SLAVERYMEMBERS
Two other early members ofthe Church were in
volved significantly inAnti-slavery work: John R. Child
and Thomas Maylin. Child arrived in Cincinnati from
Massachusetts early enough to sign the covenant in 1830.
He was a relative of David Lee Child, the Boston attor
ney and abolitionist husband ofwriter Lydia Maria Child,
one ofthe William Lloyd Garrison's most effective
supporters. Child went into the pork packing business,
later going into partnership with his brother-in-law,
Joseph Rawson, another member of the Church. Pork
packers were frequently cited by Levi Coffin as one of
his most reliable sources of financial support for the
Underground Railroad. In light ofthis circumstantial
evidence, the statements made by descendants of Child
that he helped fugitive slaves were probably based on
fact.
Maylin was an English immigrant about whom we
know very little. He first
appearedin the Cincinnati
City Directory in 1836listed
as a school teacher. That
same year he was on the
executive committee ofthe
Ohio Anti-Slavery Society,
and remained in that position
until at least 1840. The
records are not clear as to
when hejoined First Con-
gregationalChurch,but we
do knowthat startingin 1835he was a prolificcontributor
to the WestemMessenger, a magazinefeaturing articleson
moralphilosophy, theology, government, andcommunal
societies as well as poetryand literary criticism. It was
published monthly from1835-1841 andeditedby the
Unitarian ministers in Louisville and Cincinnati. Contribu
tors includedmost ofthe prominent Transcendentalists,
including suchBostonUnitarians as RalphWaldo Emerson,
TheodoreParker, MargaretFuller and BronsonAlcott.
Slavery was the subject of some articles during the
first fewyears, but oppositionto "-isms" of all varieties
became a burning issue. Consequently, starting in mid
1837 the editors rejected all articles on creedsor
isms^including abolitionism. When he was asked to re-
subscribe that July, Maylin declined in a letter protesting
the magazine's appearance of neutralityon the slavery
question, stating: "I feel ashamed and mortifiedthat a
professed advocate of 'broad andgenerous viewsof
Christianity'.. .shouldbe chargeable with sucha glaring
inconsistency, as to support a systembuilt upon a flagrant
violation of that Law ofLove [and ] vindicate the ac
knowledgedoppressor against the oppressed."
THE 1836 RIOT
During the early 1830s the struggle between the
colonizationists and abolitionists took place in northem
Ohio, particularly in WestemReserve and Oberlin
Colleges, lead by the charismatic Theodore Dwight Weld
from upper New York State. The action moved to south-
em Ohio when Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati
recruited Rev. Lyman Beecher as its president in 1832
and Weld enrolled as a student the following year. The
latter sought to convert his fellow students to abolition
ism, and organized a series ofdebates on slavery in 1834
that radicalized all but a few ofthe students on the issue,
creating a furor in Cincinnati. Most ofthe students
resigned when the Lane Board of Trustees insisted the
discussion of abolition
must cease. Some re
mained in Cincinnati to
start schools for African
American children, but the
majority moved en masse
to Oberlin College after it
promised to admit women
and Afncan Americans on
a basis of equality with
white men. Weld worked
full time as an agent ofthe
American Anti-Slavery
Society organizing chapters throughout Ohio.
On a missionary trip to the South for the A.C.S in
1832^he was then a colonizationistWeld met the
slave-owning lawyer James Bimey in Huntsville, AL and
recruited him to serve as agent for the Society in the
Southwest. By 1835 Bimey recognized the futility ofthe
colonization movement, and was convinced by his
correspondencewith Weldto emancipate his slaves and
publish an abolitionist newspaper. Intense hostility
precluded his starting such a publication in Huntsville or
in his home town, Danville, KY., so he and Weld decided
on Cincinnati, which was still in a turmoil over the Lane
Seminarydebates. Wordgot out and threats ofviolence
were delivered as a warning against starting the paper.
So, with the advice and help of Christian and William
Donaldson, Bimey started publication of the Philanthro
pist in the relative safety of New Richmond on January 1,
1836, with the editor commuting by boat from his home
in Cincinnati. As early as January 22nd a widely reported
In declining to resubscribe, Maylin wrote
that he was "ashamed and mortified" that
a magazinethat professedto advocate
Qiristianity "shotild be chaigeable with
such a glaringinconsistency" as not to
oppose slavery.
page 5
PUBIiC UBRAKY
381 OLDSTAGK RD
WAmESVILLE, OmO 45068
513/897-4826
meeting of500 anti-abolitionists, lead by Mayor Samuel
Davies, postmaster and Methodist minister William
Burke and former U.S. Senator Jacob Bumet, took place
in Cincinnati; and Bimey was again warned to keep his
paper out of the City or suffer the consequences. By
April, circulation was doing well and Bimey was fed up
with the arduous
commute. i
The executive com-
mittee of the Ohio Anti-
Slavery Society voted to
assume hnancialrespon-
sibility for the Philan-
thropist and move to
Cincinnati as its ofUcial m
publication.Three ofthe v
eight men on the com- f
mittee were members of
First Congregational
ChurchChristian and
WilliamDonaldson, and
Thomas
The the
move
down a occu-
pied by Afhcan Ameri-
cans to general public
applause. After that the Hr ^fl|
City remained calm un-
til mid July. Then, with-
out warning, the shop of
Achilles Pugh, printer of
the Philanthropist, was Timothy Walker (1802-1856)
ransacked by agroup of Widely recognized for his scholarship, writing and
twenty men on the night teaching, Walker elevated Cincinnati to a national
ofJuly 12th. They were center of legal thinking. His 1837 book Introduc-
lead by five prominent tion to American /.awwas the standard text for
business men, all bomin generations of first-year law students. (Cincinnati
the northeast, and Historical Society).
headed by Joseph Gra-
hama Pennsylva-
nianowner of a large paper mill. These five tore up the
already printednext issueof the paper and dismantled the
press,takingsmallpartswiththem. Theothersstoodguard
while the city watch observed the affair and did not inter
fere. The next day a handbill writtenby Grahamwas widely
posted in the City. Under the headline ABOLITIONISTS
BEWARE,it threatened that ifthe paper was re-established
"The planis matured to eradicate an evil whicheveryciti
zen feels is undermining his business and property." This
failed to intimidate the A.A.S. which gave Pugh a $2,000
guarantee. He repaired his press and three days after the
raid thenewissuewas onthe street. Handbillsandnewspa
per articleswarnedof dire consequencestocome, withspe
cific threats addressed to the Donaldson brothers and Rees
Price, another abolitionist immigrant from England.
A public meeting of
, about 1,000 people was
|||Bj||^^ held at the Lower
Market House on July
23rd to decide whether
Cincinnatians "will
permit the publication or
distribution ofAbolition
Hjk papers inthis City." The
iPr' resolutions adopted
clearly stated that
nothing short of absolute
discontinuance of the
Philanthropist could
a to
Lower
Market House Commit-
tee of thirteen men was
k appointed tocarry out
rthewill of the meeting.
It included three mem
bers of First Congrega
tional Church: Thomas
Bakewell, owner of a
foundry employing
' about twenty men;
(1802-1856) William Greene, a
scholarship, writing and prominent attomey and
Cincinnati to a national secretary of the Cincin-
s 1837 book Introduc- nati Waterworks; and
the standard text for Timothy Walker, a fast
iwstudents. (Cincinnati rising attomey who had
founded the Cincinnati
Law School in 1833
with his partner, Ed
ward King. All three were members of the American
Colonization Society. Walker was the secretary of the
Lower Market House Committee (which also included
Jacob Bumet, Nicholas Longworth, John Foote and other
leaders bom in the Northeast).
A week of negotiations merely hardened the firmly
held convictions of both sides, and action was taken the
evening of July 30th. A mob was organizedunder the
leadership of Grahamand the others who invaded Pugh's
MAKY L. COOK PUBLIC LBBKAKY
381 OLD STAGE KD.
WAYNESVILLE, OfflO 45068
513/897-4826
office earlier that month. Two additional leaders were
added: John Clark, a tailor from Connecticut; and Joseph
Talbot, a carpenter from Virginia. The latter is the only
Southem-bom person I've found who was involved in a
leadership role during the entire affair. After receiving
careful instructions, the mob reassembled at 7th and
Main where Pugh's shop was located. The presses were
torn down and the office totally dismantled. The rioters
proceeded to Pugh's home where they searched unsuc
cessfully for further supplies of ink and paper to destroy.
Then they went on to the Donaldson home at Sixth and
Vine where they were faced down by the redoubtable 69-
year-old Anna Margaretta while her sons escaped out the
rear entrance; and then to Bimey's home nearby where
they found only his young
son. After the rioters
removed all the furnishings
from the home ofDr. Isaac
Colby, another prominent
abolitionist, Graham
prevented further damage
to homes by redirecting
them back to Pugh's shop.
They removed the presses
and dragged them into the
river. Further action that
night was directed at a
seemier neighborhood with
interracial brothels which
were destroyed. The Mayor then advised the rioters they
had done enough for one night and to go home for some
rest, which most did.
Although the next two days saw additional mob action,
volunteer organizations kept matters under control until a
iawand order' meeting was called at the Court House over
whichWilliamBurice and JosephGrahampresided.They
expressed theirdisapproval of mobsandtheirsupport in
establishing civicpeace, therebyendingthe 1836riot. It had
been organizedand managedby northemand foreignbom
communityleaderswho were membersoftheAmerican
Colonization Society; it was directed against the Ohio Anti-
SlaverySocietyin a concertedeffort to destroythe organi
zation and eliminate abolitionism in Cincinnati. Ironically,
the City's AfricanAmericans were bystanders in this battle
of whites over their future as American citizens.
The Philanthropistwas againback in publicationin a
matter ofdays. Circumstantialevidenceindicatesthis was
probablydue to the supportofa newmember ofFirst
Congregational Church,J. A. James, a NewJerseynative.
He and his brother started a stereotypingbusiness in 1833,
and by 1835had establisheda largeprintingsupplyhouse
located at One Baker Street in the middle ofdowntowiL
They carried presses, inks, type fonts and paper as well as
making stereotypes.As we will see later, James was an
abolitionist and was in a position to re-equip Pugh's shop
quickly after each raid. As a member ofthe Church, he
certainlyknewthe Donaldsonsand Maylin,providinghim
with every opportunity to leam what was needed to get the
Philanthropist up and running.
EVERYCHURCH DOOR IS CLOSED
In the 1837 Aimual Report ofthe Ohio Anti-Slavery
Society a brief section on the 'Churches in Cincinnati'
states: "Every church door is closed to abolitionists. We
make no comment. Here is
The rioters tore down Pugh's presses and
dismantled his office, then searched his
home unsuccessfullyfor further supplies
to destroy. Then they went on to the
Donaldson home at Sixth and Vine
where they were faced down by the
redoubtable 69-year-old Anna while her
sons escaped out the rear entrance.
the fact, the naked fact,
that in the year of our Lord
1837, in Cincinnati, in the
heart of a christian[sic]
republic wont to boast of
its mental independence,
and ofthe purity ofits
principles of civil and
religious liberty, not a
church can be obtained for
the purpose of explaining
the full meaning of these
principles..Most
churches didn't even
respond to the Society's requests to use their facilities for
meetings, and those few that did were negative.
The Trustees of First Congregational Church re
ceived a letter dated June 26,1840 from the executive
committee ofthe Ohio Anti-Slavery Society containing
just such a request. Two ofthe eight signatories were
Christian Donaldson and Thomas Maylin. This may not
have been the first time the Board had been asked to
address this particular issue, but it was the first ofwhich
we have any record. However, it should be noted that
Christian Donaldson had resigned from the church in
February of 1836 over the public support church mem
bers gave to the effort that January to silence the Philan
thropist. He was persuaded to reconsider by a very
contrite William Greene. Ordinarily, the Trustees would
vote and respond quickly to this sort of request, but this
one was so controversial they asked the renters ofpews
to consider it and decide the issue. The evident strength
ofa number of the written votes indicates it was a stormy
meeting. Forty-three men voted, i.e., those in whose
names the pews were rented; and the result was twelve
page 7
MARY L, COOK PUBUC UBSASY
381 OLD STAGE KD.
WAYNESVILLE, OHIO 45068
513/897-4826
Yea's, thirty Nay's and one 'indifferent.'
Among the Yea's were the expected ones such as
William Donaldson, Thomas Maylin, John R. Child and
the Rev. William Henry Channing. But there were also
some unexpected ones: William Greene, Timothy Walker
and Benjamin Umer, all of whom changed their views
since the 1836 riot; and Edmund Dexter, Cincinnati's
most successful Whiskey
importer and rectifier. And n
there were two newer mem-
bers of the church; J. A.
James, about whom we have
already spoken; and Massa-
-j-. ' yf /v'j f ^
flight to freedom. This was certainly true in First Congre
gational Church. This was the problem: In Cincinnati,
anti-abolitionism was socially correct and economically
beneficial. Aiding fugitive slaves was legally and eco
nomically suicidal, particularly for the members of an
urban congregation of successful and very visible finan
ciers, business owners and professionals. The former
attitude was displayed
publicly for all to see, while
X y'<' "y the latter was kept scrupu-
\ lously pnvate.
Other factors to consider
//''X'y-' in helping ascertain the
.. participation of the Unitarian
Underground
'ry. Railroad were: 1). The
> unreported contributions of
?, women, who not only
^ j participated in sewing circles
yZ' ^ . and other seemingly innocent
groups that gave matenal
C -0^~ help to the cause, but also
performed countless situ-
ationaland frequently
% courageous-acts of kind-
y fh/rC'yiiiiomy //y. ness for fugitive slaves m
54^./ ...A ^ dire need; 2) The most likely
^ ''' ''y^ participation of men in the
p_. Underground Railroad was
'investors' whose finan-
^ \ cial contributionsgiven in
r ' confidence, and often by
well-known public anti-
1^ abolitionistswere essential
First Congregational to its success; and 3) The
ows members voted previous two factors necessi-
and one 'indifferent' tate virtually complete
0 Anti-Slavery Sod- reliance on circumstantial
Por meetings. evidence and family tradition
in writing this section. The
cases of the Donaldsons at
their home on Mt. Ephraim, John R. Child and Richard
B. Field are such examples already presented. We shall
now look at three more in greater detail.
THE UNITARIAN THREESOME
This section actually involves four men. However,
one of them was not a Unitarian; but he's the one who
ties the stories together, i.e., Levi Coffin, the Quaker
'President' of the Underground Railroad. Fugitive slaves
sd4^.
chusetts-bom Richard B.
Field, who in 1840 was co-
owner of the New England
Bakery on Fifth Street
between Vine and Race. His
partner was Edward Harwood
who left a few years later to
go into the wholesale chemi
cal business. Harwood was an
ardent abolitionist who
became Levi Coffin's most
visible and trusted Under
ground Railroad ally. Field's
descendents stated he was
involved in helping fugitive
slaves, and his association
with Harwood lends some
credibility to their claim.
-^"9
// y-t.-. i
.''v.
i A
This 1840 record of First Congregational
Church (Unitarian) shows members voted
12 yeas, 30 nays and one 'indifferent'
not to let the Ohio Anti-Slavery Soci
ety use its facilities for meetings.
SOME FACTORS IN
UNDERGROUND
RAILROAD j[.^jg 1g4Q[-ecord <
PARTICIPATION Church (Unitarian)
The result of the 1840 12 yeas, 30 na>
vote on the OhioAnti-Slavery not tO let the C
Society's request was prob- ety use Its faciiitle
ably indicative ofthe general '
unpopularity of abolitionism
in Cincinnati at the timeif anything, it may over-state
abolitionist strength. It is likely that even in 1861 a
majority of the Unitarian congregationas well as of
both Cincinnati and the entire North was against the
total and immediate abolition of slavery. But the
majority's rejection of abolitionismin the 1840s and 50s
was not indicative of northern whites' general repudia
tion of the institution of slavery; nor did it convey their
demonstrated willingness to assist fugitive slaves in their
MARY L. COOK PfTP.
381 OLO ST/
WAYWESmpE, OHIO 4S0w
313/897-4826
Alphonso Taft (1810-1891)
Among Taft's most important cases was his
successful defense of the McMicken will
thereby enabling this large bequest to help
firmlyestablish the University of Cincinnati as
a leader in municipally sponsored college edu
cation . (Cincinnati Historical Society)
had been coming through Cincinnati for decades before
Coffin arrived in 1847. The assistance provided them was
given overwhelmingly by the members of three African
American congregations, i.e., those of the Bethel A.M.E.
Church (later namedAllen Temple) founded in 1824,
UnionBaptist Chiurch foxmded in 1835 andZionBaptist
Church founded in 1840. Their resources were limited
but largely overcome with courage, ingenuity and the
assistance of individual whites. However, the rapidly
growing numberof fugitives in the 1840s increased the
need for more financial resources, reliable 'battlefield'
intelligenceand better communications. Providing these,
with a degree of organizationand remarkableinspira
tional leadership, was the crucial contributionof Levi
Coffin who moved to Cincinnati in 1847, having already
made an outstanding record of Underground Railroad
success in Indiana. His commitment to preserving the
anonymityof 'investors' and others for whompublicity
could have meant social and/or financial ruin was abso
lutehe was totally trustworthy.
The Threesome: The three men involved are
Alphonso Taft, George Hoadly and Peter H. Clark. I will
first give a brief biography of each, and then relate
specific Underground Railroad stories with circumstantial
evidence involvingone or more of themand associating
all three with Levi Coffin.
Alphonso Taft was bom in Vermont in 1810. He
arrived in Cincinnati in 1842 following graduation from
Yale College and its law school, having first scouted the
West and selecting the City as the place with the most
opportunity for an ambitious young attorney. Taft was an
exceptionally able lawyer and a tacitum man of conserva
tive personal tastes. He was also a religious liberal and a
political progressive, exemplified by his firm adherence
to Unitarianism (he was an active member of First
Congregational Church until his death); and by his
abandoning the Whigs over the slavery issue and being
one of the founders of the Republican Party in 1855-56
in Cincinnati, the State and Nationally. He regarded
slavery as an evil that should be abolished. Despite his
known abolitionism, Taft was not viewed as a radical and
George Hoadly (1826-1902)
He and Taft were two of the three Cincinnati
delegates to the February 1856 meeting in
Pittsburgh that initiated organization of the
Republican Party. Both left their original par
ties over the issue of slavery. (Cincinnati His
torical Society)
STAC -.'i
513/897-4826
remained highly respected throughout the community.
His first wife, Fanny Phelps, died in 1852 leaving him
with two sons ; he married Louise Torrey in 1853 who
gave him three more sonsthe first of whom was
William Howard Taft in 1857and a daughter. In 1864
Taft was elected to the Hamilton County Superior Court
and re-elected in 1868; was a leading candidate for the
Republican nomination for governor on two occasions;
served as Secretary of War and Attorney General in the
last years of Grant's second administration; and finally
served as Minister to Austria-Hungary and then Russia.
The Taft home on Mt. Auburn was no more than half a
mile up the road from the house the Donaldson family
left about the same time the Tafts moved in. He died in
1891.
George Hoadly was bom in Connecticut in 1824
where his father served as mayor of New Haven. The
family soon moved to Cleveland where his father also
served as mayor for many years. Hoadly graduated from
Westem Reserve College and Harvard Law School. Then,
following a probationary year in Zanesville, he came to
Cincinnati in 1848 andjoined Salmon R Chase's law
firm where he was made a partner the following year.
That year he also joined First Congregational Church
where he remained an active member until he left Cincin
nati in 1887. His brilliance as an attomey lead to his
election as City Solicitor in 1855. He was appointed to
the Superior Court in 1859 and elected to the reconsti
tuted Hamilton County Superior Court in 1863. He
resigned in 1866 after twice refusing appointment to the
Ohio Supreme Court, the first time tuming down his
former mentor Governor Chase. He became perhaps the
most successful corporate attomey in Cincinnati and was
for twenty years a professor at Cincinnati Law School. A
Democrat until 1855, Hoadly broke with that party over
the slavery issue and was associated with Taft in found
ing the Republican Party. He had cut his anti-slavery
teeth assisting Chase defend fugitive slaves and was a
firm abolitionist. Hoadly returned to the Democratic
Party over the tariff issue in 1876. He was subsequently
elected Govemor of Ohio as a strong advocate ofAfrican
American civil rights. After failing to win a second term
Hoadly moved to New York where he practiced corporate
law very successfully until his death in 1902. He was said
to have commented late in his life that his greatest
satisfaction as a lawyer was realized from his defense of
fugitive slaves early in his career.
Peter H. Clark was bom in Cincinnati in 1829, the
son of a mulatto manumitted slave and his mulatto wife.
His mother died when he was a toddler and he was
Peter H. Clark 1829-1925)
His importance as an anti-slavery activist, edu
cator and politician has gone largely unrecog
nized by generations of historians. He was not
ignored by his contemporaries in Cincinnati,
Ohio or the Nation. (Cincinnati Historical So
ciety)
brought up by a loving step-mother in a close-knit family.
His father was a very successful barber who owned his
place of business on Broadway. Colored public schools
were not available yet, so he was educated in private
schools financed and staffed by African Americans and
abolitionist whites; and he received an excellent educa
tion for that time. When colored public schools were
authorized by state law in 1849largely due to the
lobbying of his uncle John 1. GainesClark was the first
teacher hired. In August of 1853 he was fired from his
job as an infidel because he stated at a public meeting he
admired the writings of Thomas Paine, and later admitted
he was a Deist. He tumed to full-time abolitionist writing
and speaking, at first in Ohio and then for national
audiences, before being rehired as a teacher in 1857. He
became an active Republicanwhen the party was
founded and undoubtedlybecame well acquaintedwith
Taft and Hoadly, particularlywhen the outspokenly
abolitionist Rev. Moncure Conway assumed the pulpit of
First Congregational Church in mid 1856, and soon
thereafter exalted Thomas Paine in public lectures.
Although he did not join the church formally until 1868,
Peter H. Clark was a Unitarian in thought and had
associated with at least two very important members of
the congregation for over a decade by then. The story of
Clark's largely ignored, but remarkable, career as aboli
tionist, educator and political activist is too lengthy to
include more than a few highlights in this paper. Sufhce
it to say here, his relationships with Taft, Hoadly and
First Congregational
Church were a highly
important factor in his life
and work until 1887, when
both he and Hoadly left
Cincinnati.
Clark's father died in 1849 Peter was elected a Trustee of
the Asylum, a position he held for more than thirty years,
most ofthem as secretary of the Board. He and Levi
Coffin became close collaborators in the affairs of both
the Asylum and, almost certainly, the Underground
Railroad. Coftin never mentioned Clark's name in
connection with the latter because he would likely have
been fired from his teaching job. With his position as a
teacher, his history of assisting fugitive slaves and his
association with Levi Coffin, Peter H. Clark was, in his
early twenties, already known among Underground
Railroad activists as a man to call in an emergency.
In mid August of 1853 George Washington
McQuerry, a bright 28 year old mulatto who had lived in
Troy, Ohio (north of
Dayton) for four years,
had a steady job and a
loving wife and children,
was fingered as a fugitive
slave by a white informer
who wrote his owner in
Washington County,
Kentucky. The owner
came with an officer,
identified McQuerry, and
had him taken into the
custody by the Deputy
U.S. Marshal in Dayton.
He was put in irons and brought to Cincinnati. The party
arrived in the late evening and took quarters for the night
at the Gait House hotel. Word of the situation leaked out
and a crowd of African Americans collected but was
restrainedby the police. Asteward in the hotel sent for
Peter H. Clark who was informed ofthe circumstances.
Clark knew that ifnothing were done the prisoner would
quicklybe put in the hands ofthe U.S. Commissioner in
Cincinnati charged with enforcing the Fugitive Slave
Law of 1850 in the area, and he would be immediately
retumed to Kentucky. U.S. Supreme Court Justice John
McLean was in Cincinnati riding circuit and Clark
immediately headed for his home in Avondale. He woke
the Judge in the wee hours ofthe morning and secureda
signed Writ of Habaeus Corpus demanding that
McQuerry and those who held him in custody appear in
Federal District Court at 10 a.m. that morning to show
cause why they deprived McQuerry ofhis liberty. After
intense legal wrangling between the Federal Judge and
the U.S. Commissioner, the Writ was enforced. The
trial^with James Bimey and John Joliffe as McQuerry's
very able defense teamthat was paid through Coffin's
The McQuerry Case
Peter H. Clark was
raised in the Bethel A.M.E,
Church where assistance to
fugitive slaves was an
every day activity in which
all participated, including
members ofhis family. His uncle, John I. Gaines, oper
ated a wholesale produce and grocery business on the
waterfrontthat was patronizedby river boat stewards
all but a few ofthem were Afiican Americans^who
informed him of any fugitive slaves on their boats who
needed help. His aunt Evelina was married to John
Woodson, a master carpenter who employed ten hands
and was head ofthe church Sunday school. His sister
Ann married the noted abolitionist speaker Gideon Q.
Langstonolder brother of the more famousCharles
and John M. Langston^who owned one of the largest
liverystables in Cincinnati. Abolitionism andassisting
fugitive slaves were integral to Clark's life fromhis
earliest years.
His father was one of the founders ofthe Cincinnati
ColoredOrphanAsylumin 1844-45. Prominentwhite
founders included Salmon P. Chase, who did the legal
work, and Christian Donaldson, who raised the money as
founding Treasurer. Afewyearslater the Coffinsmoved
to Cincinnati and took an interest in the Asylum, actually
runningit without chargefor a fewyears in the early
1850s when money was very tight. A few years after
The U.S. marshals broke into the Vine
Streetroomand recapturedtheir quarry in
a bloodyfight during whichone marshal
was severely stabbedand a slaveshot and
wounded. The slaves were rushed back to
their owner in Covingtoiv by whichtime
ihe wounded one had died.
page 11
flmd-raising effortswas on the issue of whether or not
McQuerry was still a slave under the law. At the end of
the lengthy arguments, Judge McLean, who was not in
sympathy with the Fugitive Slave Act, nevertheless felt
boimd by the law to rule against McQueny, who was
promptly returned to his owner in Kentucky. Peter H.
Clark had done all that could be done^but sadly it
wasn't enough.
The Connelly Case
On June 13,1857 two fugitive slaves^a man and
wife missing for a week were traced to room 18 on the
sixth floor of a building on Vine Street just north of
Fourth. The U.S. marshals broke into the room and
recaptured their quarry in a bloody fight during which
one ofthe Marshals was severely stabbed and the male
slave shot and wounded. The slaves were rushed back to
their owner in Covington by which time the wounded one
had died. The rooms^for there was another room behind
Room 18 were the office ofWilliam M. Connelly, a
writer for the Daily Commercial who had previously
publishedan abolitionistpaper. He was out whenthe raid
took place, so an intensive effort to apprehend him for
harboring fugitive slaves was initiated. Connelly got
wind ofit and absconded to NewYork where he secured
a job on the Sun.
A number of issues were raised in the newspaper
articles reporting on this well publicized case. For
example, it was routinelynotedthe buildingwas owned
by Alphonso Taft, with the corollaryquestionas to
whether he knew what was going on in his property; the
couplehad been livingin Room 18for a weekand it was
wonderedhow it was possible for them to avoid discov
ery for that longwithoutothershavingabettedConnelly;
and there was speculationit was a regular station on the
Underground Railroadexistingunder the verynoses of
the authorities. After several months Connelly was
arrested in New Yorkand brought back for trial. Levi
Coffin arranged bond for his release imtil trial, and
engaged his defense team, former judge J.B. Stallo and
ex-govemor Thomas Corwin. He publicly mentioned
several of the bondsmen, including some familiar names,
followedby "and others."The others were undoubtedly
prominent menwhose names werekept confidential for
goodreasonperhaps men suchas Taft and Hoadly. ( So
discreet was Coffin he did not even mention Taft in
connection with the location ofthe incident years later in
his Reminiscences.)
Inthe daysbuilding up tothetrialtherewas speculation
regarding the evidence thatmightbe presented. OnMay5,
1858,the daythe trial opened,the Enquirerstated"It is the
prosecutiondesignto make very curious revelationswith
regard to the Underground Railroad.. .As we learn that
many ofits directors, officers and conductors are men of
positionin our midst, the progressofthe trial will be
watched with no little interest." In the event, no such
revelationsoccurred,perhapsbecauseStanleyMatthews,
the prosecutor,was on very good professionalterms with
both Stalloand Taft as well as respectful ofCoffin.
Cormelly was judged guilty, sentenced to twenty days
in jail and fined ten dollars. Admirers ensured his comfort
and good eating in the token confinement ofjail; he was
visited by a parade of congratulatory midwestem Unitar
ians who were meeting in Cincirmati, and also by a large
group of Methodists who were also assembled in town.
Upon his release he was in great demand as a speaker.
The Connelly case was a spectacular example ofthe
attitudinal paradox in late 1850s Cincirmati:A very
substantial majority ofits citizens were unwilling to serve
as slave catchers for the South; but at the same time, they
adamantly rejected abolitionism as a means of ending the
'peculiar institution.'
The House in Walnut Hills
On March 31,1860 Peter H. Clark paid $800 in cash
for the house at 1119 Kemper Road(nowYale Ave.), one
block east of Montgomery Pike (now Gilbert Avenue), in
Walnut Hills. The only known use made of his property
was, with Clark's permission, for the organizational
meetings of Brown's Chapel A.M.B. Church held in its
living roomin 1862. Clark sold the house for $600 on
April 5,1864, taking a twenty-five percent loss on the
investment. Since Clark taught at the Western District
School on Court Street between Mound and John on the
west side of downtown where he and his family lived at
225 GeorgeStreet, the house couldhardlyhave been for
use as their home. Inasmuch as he and his wife had two
very young children and a third on the way, it seems
improbablehe couldhave affordedsuch a speculative
investmentor would even have had the cash to make it.
And it's very unlikely he was in a position to take a loss
of $200. Why did he buy the house and from whom did
he get the money?
In the mid 19th century, Montgomery Pike was one
ofthe major arteries north from downtown, and the first
African American community one would encoimter on it
was Walnut Hills. In fact, this was where Levi Coffin
occasionallyhid fugitive slaves. The volume offugitives
from slavery increased greatly during the last few years
ofthe antebellum. It seems likely that Coffin suggested to
page 12
'6
Clark the desirability ofa 'safe' house conveniently
located in Walnut Hills for the regular use of fugitive
slaves being conducted from Cincinnati to points North.
He may even have suggested that they seek the funds for
purchasing such a house from his wealthy Unitarian
fnends; and further, that he buy the house in his name to
avoid any possibility ofnegative publicity about the
donors. Clark would certainly have agreed enthusiasti
cally with such a plan.
The Tafts and the Hoadlys had been close fnends for
many years. Also included in this social circle were
fellow church members William Goodman and Lemer B.
Harrison and their wives. Goodman was founder and
president ofthe WashingtonInsurance Company; and
Harrison was owner ofa very successful wholesale
grocery business for which he made yearly buying trips
to sugar plantations in Louisiana where he saw slavery at
work. Goodman and Harrison were adherents of Moncure
Conway, the outspokenlyabolitionist minister of First
Congregational Church, and were closet abolitionists. It
would have presented few, if any, problems for Clark to
describe the need for the houseprobably through Taft
or Hoadly and to get the money in cash. This would
only have beenpossiblebecauseboth Clarkand Coffin
were known to be trustworthy and reliably discreet. I
believe this is why and howthe house was bought, and
then sold in 1864 when it was no longer necessary to
conceal fugitiveslaves. The proceedswouldundoubtedly
have been returned to the donors, who probably reckoned
the loss as a small price to pay for helpingcorrect "such a
glaring inconsistency."
Coda
The ColoredOrphanAsylumwas at Ninth and Plum
from 1845 until it moved to Avondale in 1866 onto a
largetract purchased by wealthy whitedonors. In 1867
Levi Coffin retired from his work at the Freedmen's
Bureau and built a retirement house on a piece of the
ColoredOrphanAsylum's newpropertysoldto himby
its Board ofTrustees, with Peter H. Clark most likely
involved as the behind-the-scenes arranger. Coffin died
there in 1877 shortly after completing his Reminiscences.
Peter H. Clark was one of four AfiicanAmerican pall
bearers at his funeral^and he gave the only address at
the graveside ceremony.
CONCLUSION
Thispapertellswhat we nowknowaboutthe anti-
slavery attitudes andactions of laymembers of First
Congregational Churchof Cincinnati. Weare confident
there are a great many more stories yet to be discovered.
The congregation's records are voluminous and we're
still combing them for clues we may have overlooked.
Complete as our records are, at least compared to those
ofmany churches, there are some significant gaps^years
when records were lost, correspondence not saved or
material damaged and discarded. But we are continuing
our efforts to complete our memory as a means of
empowering hope for the future^the hope ofabolishing
forever the "glaring inconsistency.
Bibliography
This bibliography includes only the most important
readily accessible resources documenting this presenta
tion. In the interest ofmaking the paper easily accessible
to the general reader, I have not included the coimtless
newspaper, book and joumal references I've consulted.
The life and career of Peter H. Clark are the subject ofa
book currently being co-authored by the writer ofthis
paper and Mary Frederickson, Associate Professor of
History at Miami University. It will be the first ever
written about this curiously neglected major figure of
Ohio's history.
First Unitarian Church Records, in the Cincinnati Histori
cal Society Library
Sesquicentennial Historyof First UnitarianChurchof
Cincinnati by E.S. Lutton (available on microfiche at
the Cincinnati Hamilton County Public Library)
Gentlemen ofProperty and Standing: Anti-Abolition
Mobs in Jacksonian America by Leonard Richards
Reminiscences ofLevi Coffin by Levi Coffin
Historyof Clermont and BrownCounties, Ohio, Vol. II,
Biographical by ByronWilliams(for the Donaldson
family)
Cincinnati, Queen City ofthe West 1819-1838 by Daniel
Aaron
InfluenceTranscendingMere Numbers: The Unitarians
in Nineteenth century Cincinnati by WalterP. Herz, in
Queen City Heritage: The Joumal ofthe Cincinnati
Historical Society, volume 51, No.4, Winter 1993.
CentennialHistoryof Cincinnatiand Representative
Citizens by Charles Theodore Greve, Vol. 1.
page 13
513/897.2826
v;?
tf^
BIBLE AND FAMILY RECORD
Name of Family
Present Owner
Published
PUGH
Warren County Historical Society
Stereotyped by E <5: J White, New York
for The American Bible Society" 1829,
Small leather bound.
i. Azarlah Pugh was born on the 27th day of 12 mo. 1810
^a^_C. Pugh 10th June 1811
Ux Bartemious Pugh" " in the yr of our Lord 184A
I Frances M. Pugh'' " in the yr of our Lord 1845, the 20 of Feb
Joanna Pugh in the yr of our Lord 1847, 7th of l<lay
Wilamina Coats Pugh" in the yr of our Lord 1848, 1st of Oct
Soloman Marshall Roberts Pugh was born in yr of our Lord 1883
the 7th da of March.
Mary E. Tamait was born in yr of our Lord 1853- 10 of Aug
Deceased the 28th of Oct. 18 and wife of William.
Rachel Tamsett Cox, deceased, wife of John Tam'set, dec.
dUe^a Aug. 9, 1851 - was born Aug. 27,1776.
John Tamsett died August 1823 one mile west of Waynes-
ville, Warren Co. on his farm. Leaving wife and 10 thild-
ren, - died with consumption. Buried in the Old Friends
Graveyard at Waynesville, Warren Co. Ohio
Born Aug. 3, 1764. Baptized August 12, 1764. at Brede,
England.
ACHIL1SPU(IB0KNMARCH4,1805 PA; DIED OCTOBER 31, 1876HAMIL
TON COUNTY, OHIO; BURIED SECTIONH, LOT 5, MIAMI CEMETERY,
WARREN COUNTY, OHIO.
EPISCOPALCHURCHHISTORY; "ACHILLESPUOH OF WAYNESVULE
PROVIDED A ROOMWHERE BOTHTHEVERY SMALL CATHOLIC ANDBHS-
COPAL (HIOUPS WORSHIPPEDIN 1870."
Aynontj the pioneer orintcrs v/as Achilles Pu-Vi la-rcx
. I^nnsylvania Quaker .ho Em.S
18m" ThM?" t '"^t-rated to Anerloa with TVilUam Fwm! i
efforlntli ^ I" "36 he be-
gan prlntint a paper called The Philanthropist for the Ohio Anti-
Slavery Society, headed by Janes 0. Birney.
and profitable trade relations with the South'.
Birney.s h.ananitarianisn
rpiburjetL, "PP"""". "arched to public meetint., presided over by Mayor Samuel V.. Davies
and declared that no abolition paper should be pubUsher;r
distributed in the tovm". puoxisnea or
^'i^Jitinc Quaker; ho defiantly uphold his
f;ht8 of free speech and a free press. Astout'principle
however, tas not always stood up well before a stout moL '
broke 'th a crowd Jamed its way into Pugh's shop, broke the press, and scjattered the type.
Push's press again put out The
Wilanthropist. On Saturday night, July 30. tireless Tiril-
antos gathered the wildest mob in the annals of early cin-
c nnati.again crashed into Pugh's shop at Seventh.and
Streets, showered the type into the streets, tore down the nress
and sacked the office. ft.rts of the press ;ere laurdrag-'^ '
ged down Hain Street and tossed into the Ohio River.
The righteous mob had made all provisions to uohold the
orilt:'""?'r,'^ "Brpendent men upSld^
nufc Ih \ brought along tar and feathers,
fe^f^ ! something about Achilles Pugh that desdained tar and
feathers, and he was simply ordered to leave town.
For a time Pugh published the paper at Springboro, T/arren
County, bringing the " abominable sheet" down the canal to
T afterward he re-established his shop here.
In k8'79 the firm of pugh Printers was incorporated as the A
H. Pugh Printing Company. Now the corporation, under direc
tion of Achilles H. Pugh 111, grandson of the founder, has a
f? Strcet(1905), where nearly 150 workers
are employed, and labels and commercial printing of hll kinds
produced*
%OM I VLb't
BY BARRY BALS
Egmv
:a.ti mv
FTiea
A Bold Printer
Did you ever hear of
Achilles Pug^No? Mr. Pugh
fiCDa^inailjobprinter
hack In the 1830's, a humble
man and honest, who set
his by hand and
hump^ his shoulders feed
ing a Job press tlm oper
ated by foot power.
Bom in Chester* County,
Pennsylvania. March 10,
1805, Mr. I^gh came with
his parents to Cadiz, Ohio,
when four and at 17 got a
Job as printer's devil In the
shop of ttie Cadiz Infor
mant, tte local weekly
newspaper, m 1827 he went
to Philadelphia where he
teamed more about print
ing.
Mr. Pugh came to Cin
cinnati hi 1830 and got a Job
as manager of the Evan
gelist, a religious periodical,
and so with a way to make
a better living waa married
in 1832 1 o Anna Mariah
Davis, daughter of John
Davis, of Bedford Coimty,
Virginia. A few years later
he gained a partnership hi
the Job printing business of
Morgan 8e Sanxay, Sevoith
and Main Sts., Cincinnati.
The city had a lot of Job
shops, competition was
keen and the sledding was
slow.
EBE LONG a big printing
Job came along and Mr.
Pugh was elatedthe Phi
lanthropist, a newspaper
started in 1835 by the execu
tive committee of the Ohio
Anti-Slavery Society, itself
organized only that year. A
few numbers had been
printed at New ihchmohd
but the committee wanted
the paper printed In Cin
cinnati for reasms of Its
own. Anyhow the circula
tion field was larger there.
Cincinnati Ihen was a
strong pro^lavery town and
Mr. Pugh's partners refused
the Job on the grounds that
the newspaper's doctrines i
were not their own. Mr.
Pugh took the Job anyhow
and opened a little shop of
his own back of his home
on Walnut Street between
Sixth' ahd Seventh Sts.
Re didn't care a hoot
whether the Negro remained
enslaved or whether he
slipped his chains and went
free, so long as the society
paid Its printing bills and
boldly said so. "On the
other hand," explained the
printer, "If slavery cannot
stand discussion, then
slavery Is wrong. Therefore
as a printer It is the line
of my business to print this
paper, charging <mly the
ordinary rates for ^
work."
THE VOCNG PRINTER
soon teamed that the anti-
slavery Philanthropist was
an unpopular newspaper In
pro-slavery Clnclnnali, and
from what he read In the
other papers trouble loomed.
At midnight, July 12,1836,
a mob broke Into Mr.
Pugh's print shop, scared
the printer's devil sleeping
there nearly to deatti, de
stroyed the current issue of
the Philanthropist and dis
mantled and carried away
parts of the press. But with
a new press hurriedly pur
chased, Mr. Pugh was at
work next day running off
the weekly Issue. A few days
later he'moved the press to
his old Job printing shop at
Seventh and Main Streets.
Came sundown, July 29,
a bigger *mob assembled
and broke Into the printing
shop, pitched the type,
cas^ and press Into the
middle of Main Street and
were about to set fire to
the building when Samuel
W. Davles, mayor of the
town, climbed up onto a
box and intervened. "You
have done well enough," he
told the rioters, "but dont
set fire to the shop It
: might spread to the bulldr
Ings next to It." The mob
then produced a rope and
dragged the press down to
the levee and threw It Into
the river.
After that the Philan
thropist was printed at
Springboro, Warren Coun
ty, for a time and brought
to Cincinnati on a canal
boat.
MR. PUGH was a marked
man and was much wanted
as a subject for tar and
feathering, but by keeping
out of dark places, staying
at home after nightfall and
keeping away from certain
parts of the city when It
was daylight, he managed
to escape personal violence.
Besides, he was fairly well
muscled and everybody
knew It. Printers of that
day seldom dodged a fight.
Nevertheless he was the re
cipient of scowls and cold
shoulders from most Cln-
clnnatlans, while the mi
nority on the other hand
gave him clandestine but
substantial help.
UntU 1875 Achilles Pugh
was closely Identified with-
the printing business In
Cincinnati, m 1857 he
formed a partnership with
E. D. Mansfield ahd Benja
min Drake, editors, and
started the weekly Chron
icle, which turned into a
dally and kept going until
1864 with Mr. Pugh as print
er. Then all the liquor ad-
vertlsments were pulled
and the too-righteous news
paper folded up. A Quaker,
Mr. Pugh moved to Waynes-
vllle where he died In the
1880s.