By Stephen Kelley- From the pages of The People’s Defender/1984
Adams County was a hotbed of abolitionist activity prior to the Civil War. Numerous residents risked their reputations, fortunes and even their lives by aiding fugitive slaves who were fleeing through Southern Ohio on their way north to Canada and freedom. One of the main routes taken by the runway negroes began at Ripley. Although the Reverend John Rankin has received most of the notoriety concerning his underground activities, there were numerous individuals in that Ohio River community who opened their homes to the black fugitives. On the main escape route from Ripley, the slaves were piloted on their flight north by persons who were known as “conductors”. It was their job to safely transport their human cargo from “station” to “station” on these routes known as the “Underground Railroad”.
The next station north of Ripley was in the vicinity of Red Oak. As early as 1835, the Anti-Slavery Abolitionist Society was formed in the old stone Red Oak Presbyterian Church. This organization had three hundred thirty-seven charter members, many of whom became involved in the Underground Railroad. From Red Oak, the next area that had several stations was the small village of Decatur. Here lived the well-known abolitionist and physician Dr. Greenleaf Norton. A mile or two east of the village lived Daniel Copple who also used his home as a station. On the west end of Decatur, on present-day Ohio 125, was the residence of Garret and Margaret Snedaker, another station on the Underground Railroad.
Garret Snedaker, described as “one of the foremost abolitionists of Brown County”, was the son of pioneer John Snedaker who had been born in Virginia in 1770. John and his wife, Charity, had moved to Jefferson Township, Brown County, at an early date and raised a family of eleven children. The Snedakers were devout Presbyterians, Garret serving as trustee and ruling elder in the Straight Creek/Georgetown Presbyterian Church. One of the earliest ministers of that congregation was none other than the fiery abolitionist, John Rankin of Ripley. It was probably under the constant tutoring and preaching of such noted anti-slavery preachers as Rankin that prompted Garret Snedaker to take an active part in the Underground Railroad. In September 1850, he and Margaret bought one hundred and five acres on the west side of Decatur and erected a Gothic Revival style home. Their land was immediately south, and within view of, Dr. Norton’s farm. This arrangement was advantageous to both parties. Many times, a station was under surveillance by Southern sympathizers or professional slave hunters. When it was believed one particular station was being watched, conductors would use alternate routes and stations. Thus, if it was believed the Snedaker home was under the watchful eye of informants, fugitive slaves could be guided to the Norton or Copple home and vice versa.
Two years after moving to Decatur, Garret and Margaret permitted their seventeen-year-old son, William Harris Snedaker, to begin conducting on the Underground Railroad. Although it could be extremely dangerous work, they felt their tall, muscular son was fitted for the task. On his first “run” he safely piloted four negroes from his parents’ home to the next station at General William McIntire’s home on Grace’s Run in Adams County. We will tell you more about this remarkable man in next week’s column.
Pictured is William Harris Snedaker, conductor on the Underground Railroad. Courtesy of Carolyn Charles of Columbus, Ohio, granddaughter of Mr. Snedaker.
