My mother is convinced that her great grandfather who was an abolitionist in Ohio was involved in the Underground Railroad. His family lived in Pennsylvania, bought land and lived in Virginia, and then moved up to Ohio, supposedly because they were opposed to slavery. Or so the family story goes. What sources are there for figuring this out, if any?
He lived in Xenia, which I read had many supporters of the Underground Railroad.
Here's a stop on the railroad in Xenia (I think): http://www.blackvoicenews.com/ugr/urg_2001/1998/day-to-day/tuesday1...
Here is a mention that a Richard Franklin Petticrew's parents were involved in the Underground Railroad. Perhaps he is related to you Petticrew.
http://books.google.com/books?id=rtRFyFO4hpEC&pg=PA683&lpg=...
Thanks, I don't think he's closely connected to the Petticrew family that moved from Dauphin Co, Pennsylvania to Rockbridge County, Virginia and then to Montgomery and Greene Counties in Ohio. His family was in Vermont at the time. He has a profile on Geni by the way that Doug Robinson created. An interesting fellow.
I'm in the midst of learning about the Scotch-Irish, including the Petticrews and Pettigrews, who came to Pennsylvania and then moved southward to Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. Some moved back to the North, like my Petticrews. While most of the Scotch-Irish appear to have settled inland and not in the Northeast, some may well have gone to the frontier of Vermont.
I just found an interesting quote about the Harshbarger family of Botetourt County. My Petticrew ggg grandfather married Sarah Kenney of Botetourt. Sarah's brother married a Harshbarger in Botetourt.
"...David Harshbarger Sr. moved with his family to Cabel County, Virginia, which was on the Ohio River. Again, it is believed that the Harshbargers moved because of their opposition to slavery and the feeling that they could not compete economically against it. Cabel County, along with many other Virginia counties separated from Virginia at the time of the Civil war..."
Have you seen the Underground Railroad project? Perhaps this project will eventually run across the answer on your gggrandfather.
http://www.geni.com/projects/Underground-Railroad/369
http://www.geni.com/path/Elijah+Parish+Lovejoy+is+related+to+Allen+...
I originally started following the project because Allen Perry Lovejoy married my great great aunt, Julia Stowe Lovejoy, sister of my g grandmother, Hattie Stowe. As you see Allen Perry Lovejoy is a close relative of Elijah Parish Lovejoy. To this day, my Lovejoy cousins are social activists and religious :)
My mother wrote me about Algernon Sidney Petticrew tonight out of the blue:
http://www.freedomcenter.org/genealogy/
"My grandfather, Algernon Sydney Johnson was a Presbyterian Minister and a staunch Abolitionist. He worked for Clark Lane of Owens, Lane and Dyer, a large manufacturer of steam wood working equipment who was a prominent citizen, a live wire, and a strong Abolitionist too. He and my grandfather were friends as well as co-workers. Johnson was from Zenia Ohio and moved to St. Louis after the Civil War. I have a strong feeling that both men must have been involved with the Underground Railroad"
Dear Hatte
I've been thinking and thinking about A S Petticrew. He lived a short distance north of the U R route where it crossed the Ohio River at Ripley. He was a strong abolitionist and a Presbyterian Minister,(they were notable abolitionists) and a close friend of CLark Lane, a prominent activist citizen, live wire, business success, and strong abolitionist.
After he moved to St. Louis he spent much money and time on a Presbyterian Mission in So St. Louis.
http://www.lanepl.org/hb_2.htm re the friend and employer of my gg grandfather, Algernon Sidney Petticrew -- Clark Lane:
According to One Square Mile, a history published by the Mt. Healthy Historical Society in 1992, the Lane home was said to
be a station on the so-called “underground railroad.”
Hatte,
Many of the towns along the Ohio River were stops on the Underground Railroad. I've been to the house mentioned in this Wiki article -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripley,_Ohio#History. as well as some in Cincinnati. Mt. Healthy is not that far from where my parents grew up.
There were some Quaker settlements in the counties that bordered the Ohio River. Many Quakers worked the Railroad. I'm currently working on some Quaker lines. If I find anything that ties into your line, I'll certainly let you know.