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After witnessing the slave trade in Wheeling, Virginia, Quaker abolitionist Benjamin Lundy (1789-1839) resolved to battle the institution, first organizing the Union Humane Society in St. Clairsville in 1815. In 1821, Lundy moved to Mount Pleasant and began publishing the Genius of Universal Emancipation, a newspaper devoted wholly to anti-slavery issues. The newspaper would later be published in Tennessee, Baltimore, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia. Lundy traveled widely to promote circulation, lecturing on the moral evils of slavery and its associated negative economic and social effects. The Lundy home served as an Underground Railroad stop.
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The Lima Chapter of the American Women’s Voluntary Services Organization established a community-based, free canteen during World War II for troops traveling on the Pennsylvania Railroad and adjacent Baltimore & Ohio-Nickel Plate Railroads. Meeting as many as forty trains a day, the ladies served 2.5 million troops between 1942-1945. Food, coffee, and other items were donated to the canteen from a twelve county area. The “AWVS” disbanded in 1945, but succeeding volunteers continued to provide service throughout the Korean Conflict and Viet Nam War. Lima’s “Servicemen’s Free Canteen” was the longest, continuously operated service canteen in the United States. An estimated four million soldiers, sailors, and marines were served between 1942-1970.
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In 1849, the city of Ironton was founded by local ironmasters, railroaders, and financiers associated with the Ohio Iron and Coal Company. They saw the city as a manufacturing and shipping point for their products. As a young industrial city, Ironton prospered when river transportation facilitated the development and export of Lawrence County’s natural resources and manufactured items. The Iron Railroad Company was also established to transport pig iron and manufactured goods from nearby towns to Ironton, to awaiting steamboats on the Ohio River. Steamboats, in the form of towboats, packet boats, and showboats, traveled the river providing the city with goods, services, and entertainment. The Ironton wharf and boat landing once served the community as a gathering place to greet incoming passengers, receive mail, and hear the latest news.
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By the mid 1830s, Ohio had developed a canal system that linked Lake Erie in the north to the Ohio River in the south. Despite the success of the canals, transportation companies searched for other methods to traverse the state. They found their answer in the railroad industry, which proved to be much faster, cheaper, and more reliable than canals. Located on Lake Erie, Sandusky, Ohio was a major trading depot in the area. Plans were made to connect Sandusky to Cincinnati’s port on the Ohio River. On September 4, 1835, construction began in Sandusky on the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad line, forming the first railroad line located entirely in Ohio. The railroad reached Tiffin by 1841 and Springfield by 1848, where it merged with the Little Miami Railroad line, connecting Lake Erie to the Ohio River.
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In the first quarter of the nineteenth century, when the general public believed that the insane and paupers could be rehabilitated into productive citizens, the Ohio Legislature gave authorization to county commissioners to establish county “poor houses.” The Athens County Home, formerly known as the Athens County Infirmary, opened on this site in 1857 to provide care for indigent citizens of Athens County. When fire destroyed the original building in 1903, a new building was constructed from 1904-1905, designed with the capacity to house up to one hundred people. When it was built, it was considered to be one of the finest and most modern charitable institutions of its time. The facility continued to provide housing for indigent and elderly residents until 1997 when the County Commissioners closed the home and it became a primary location for the delivery of social services in Athens County. (continued on the other side)
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The Hopewell Associate Reformed Church and Cemetery, now known as Historic Hopewell, was founded in 1808 in a log building that was replaced in 1826 with the present building. It was built by the area’s first settlers, mainly Scotch-Irish who left Kentucky and South Carolina because of their opposition to slavery. The church encouraged worship by African Americans and played an important role in the Underground Railroad. It became the parent church for four “Daughter” Presbyterian congregations: Fairhaven in 1835, Oxford in 1837, College Corner in 1849, and Morning Sun in 1876. Reverend Alexander Porter, the first pastor, was committed to education and constructed a school near the Hopewell Spring that still produces clear water. “Old Hopewell” was completely refurbished in 1880, but by 1915 the membership declined and regular services discontinued. Today Hopewell holds Sunday services in the summer and is maintained by a generous and devoted group of volunteers.
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Thirteen African American families migrated to Pebble Township in Pike County in the early 1820s from Virginia. Some of the families were former slaves while others were freeborn people of color. Their farm knowledge and skill helped to make them prosperous, angering some of their white neighbors who began a campaign of harassment. Ten of the original African American settlers eventually moved away, but despite the difficulties with the white population, other African Americans continued to arrive to the settlement. They founded a church, later known as the Eden Baptist Church, built a meeting hall, and organized a school. Several of the families were also involved in the activity of the Underground Railroad. The PP Settlement thrived until the 1950s when, for economic reasons, residents moved to other communities.
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William Green, President of the American Federation of Labor from 1924 until death, 1952, began his amazing and strenuous climb to the top rung of labors ladder at age 16, in the Morgan Run Coal Mines in Coshocton County. Born in Coshocton County to parents of English descent, Hugh and Jane Oram Green, he learned their devout Baptist faith. Educated in a one room school house, he studied by coal oil lamp at night and was an avid reader all his life. Married Jennie Mobley, a Coshocton native on 14 April 1892. They were the parents of six children. Held his first union office in Local 379 at 18; then President of Sub-district 6; President of District 6, which included Ohio; Secretary-Treasurer, the United Mine Workers of America; finally, President of the American Federation of Labor. Member of Ohio Senate, 1910-1914; author, Workman’s Compensation Law of Ohio. Member of the Peace Treaty Commission after World War , the Board of International Labor Organization. Advisory Council to Commission on Economic Securtiy, and American Academy of Political and Social Science. Author, Labor and Democracy. Recipient, honorary degrees; Doctor of Industrial Science, Ogelthorpe University and Doctor of Law, Kenyon College. Active Baptist layman; dedicated American; a leader in drive for public education; awarded gold medal for distinguished service in promotion of Industrial Peace by the Roosevelt Memorial Association; received Award of Merit from Secretary of War Robert Patterson for leadership of American workers during World War II; awarded Certificate for Distinguished Service, National Foundation The March of Dimes.
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