John Rankin House

Saturday
The forecast promised us a fine day, and not too hot and humid, so we decided to get out for the day, heading east along the Ohio River to the John Rankin House in Ripley.
Built in 1825, the Rankin House was home to abolitionist and Presbyterian minister John Rankin, his wife Jean, and their 13 children. Reverend John Rankin was one of the most active "conductors" on the Underground Railroad. It's estimated that the Rankins helped around 2,000 slaves on their road to freedom, and never lost a single "passenger" along their stretch of the line. Though slavery was illegal in Ohio, slaves could still be apprehended and returned to their owners, due to the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. In order to avoid danger, they had to cross from the US into Canada.. Whilst making it to the Rankin House was certainly a huge milestone, the final trek from southern Ohio to northern Ohio and ultimately out of the United States still had many obstacles to maneuver.
The Harriet Beecher Stowe novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, cites a true story of a young escaped slave woman carrying her child across the thin ice on the Ohio River, desperate to cross to the Rankin House. A slave hunter met her on the other side, but he had been so moved by watching her determination that he let her pass through to the home on the hill with its light shining in the window at night to guide her and so many other escaped slaves to potential freedom. It seems hard to believe seeing the size of the river today, but in those days, before the river was dammed, the river was narrower and shallower.
We had taken a picnic with us, and we had that first at a picnic table by the river, watching swallows come and go from some of the numerous bird houses on poles there are along the river. Then we drove up to the house, and enjoyed a very interesting and informative guided tour. Four years ago the house underwent a thorough and detailed renovation, inside and out. Using detailed research, they have restored it as closely as possible to its appearance at that time. We then walked along the riverside road, admiring some of the beautiful riverside homes, and having an ice cream at an old fashioned ice cream parlor. Instead of returning the way we came, we crossed the river to Augusta Kentucky, using the small ferry, and enjoyed a walk around before returning home on the Kentucky side of the river
One year ago: Flower Friday