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12-12 Thomas W. Burton, M.D.
Dr. Thomas William Burton, Springfield’s first Black physician, was born into slavery in a Kentucky log cabin on May 4, 1860. The youngest of 15 children, he was orphaned at 9, and his only education was the alphabet before age 21. Burton attended Kentucky’s Berea College and graduated from the Indianapolis Eclectic College of Physicians […]
11-70 The Barker Family Home / Sarah Daisy Barker Thomas
Generations of the Barker family lived in the house that stood at 89 Wood Street from 1875 to 1973. George W. Barker (1836-1913) was born enslaved in Virginia, emancipated age 13, and settled in Mansfield by 1870. He worked as a well-known chef in downtown hotels. In December 1873, Barker married Dayton-native Harriet J. Hurley […]
13-40 Providence Anti-Slavery Baptist Association / Providence Regular Missionary Baptist Association
In 1834, ministers gathered at Providence Church in Berlin Crossroads and organized the Providence Anti-Slavery Baptist Association; believed to be both the first African American Baptist Association in Ohio and among the earliest in the country. The Association’s name boldly reflected its stance: opposition to slavery and a commitment to freedom. Several affiliated churches and […]
5-34 Henry Law Farm Historic District / John Q. Law Farm, Reed Farm Huss Farm
The historic Law Farm (circa 1846) is situated in a broad valley formed by the confluence of Little Stillwater Creek and Plum Run in Monroe Township. Henry Law (1812-1869) immigrated from Ireland to Ohio in 1830. He married Elizabeth McMillan (1818-1892) in 1839, and they moved to their Monroe Township farm by 1846. The couple […]
23-27 Lincoln Colored School
The Black community of Gallipolis pooled their resources and expertise to open Gallipolis Union Colored School in 1868. Located on the northwest corner of Third Avenue and Olive Street, the public school offered primary education until, around 1877, a high school curriculum was added. In 1882, the first four students to graduate high school were […]
29-76 William Henry Morgan (June 1, 1865-March 29, 1928) / Glamorgan Castle
Colonel William Henry Morgan was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania, to parents Thomas Rees Morgan and Elizabeth Nicholas Morgan. The family relocated to Alliance in 1871. Educated in the Alliance Public Schools, Morgan completed his grade 12 exams and began working for his father’s engineering firm. Possessed of an inventive electrical and engineering mind, Morgan and […]
148-25 Robert W. Johnson Creates A Neighborhood / Flint Ridge Terrace, An Intentional Neighborhood
Robert Warren Johnson (1923-1992) purchased twelve acres of land along Flint Road between 1957 and 1960. A Black entrepreneur with his own electric business, Johnson advocated for equal housing by investing his personal resources to create a neighborhood that welcomed Black homeowners. Despite the 1948 Fair Housing Act, Black buyers were denied mortgages while neighborhoods […]
168-18 Mary Beaumont, Educator / Mary Beaumont, Visionary Leader
Mother Mary of the Annunciation Beaumont (1818-1881) was an English-born, French educated Ursuline Sister, she arrived in Cleveland from Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, in 1850, accompanied by three other Ursulines and a lay teacher. Invited to Ohio by Bishop Amadeus Rappe, the Ursulines vowed to improve society through religious education. That same year, Beaumont established the city’s […]
23-83 The Wyandot Removal Trail / Lebanon (July 17, 1843)
After decades of resistance and failed negotiations, the Wyandot were the last tribe removed from Ohio in 1843. Their removal route began on the Grand Reserve in Upper Sandusky and extended 150 miles to Cincinnati where nearly 700 Wyandots boarded steamboats bound for Kansas Territory. There, new settlers continued to place pressure on Wyandot lands. […]
110-31 The Wyandot Removal Trail / North Bend (July 20, 1843)
After decades of resistance and failed negotiations, the Wyandot were the last tribe removed from Ohio in 1843. Their removal route began on the Grand Reserve in Upper Sandusky and extended 150 miles to Cincinnati where nearly 700 Wyandots boarded steamboats bound for Kansas Territory. There, new settlers continued to place pressure on Wyandot lands. […]