The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad, but a loosely connected system of safe havens where people escaping the brutal conditions of slavery were sheltered, fed, clothed, nursed, concealed, disguised, and instructed on their journey to freedom. Because this movement was one of America’s greatest social, moral, and humanitarian endeavors, its details were often kept secret to protect those involved from civil law and slave catchers. One such safe haven stood in what is now the City of Whitehall, where in the 1800’s several free blacks settled in Truro Township, Franklin County, and began assisting runaway slaves to freedom. Among them was John T. Ward, born a free black man in 1820 in Richmond, Virginia, who came to Ohio with his wife in 1836 and built a home on a sixteen acre tract in 1838. Along with farming and serving as an Underground Railroad conductor, Ward worked as a clerk in a downtown Columbus hardware store. During the Civil War, he also held federal contracts to haul supplies to Camp Chase, the U.S. Army camp and Confederate prison on the National Road four miles west of Columbus. His son, William S. Ward, learned the hauling business and founded the Ward Transfer Line in 1881. Many of John T. Ward’s activities were recorded in his diary and later recounted by his great-grandson, Eldon Ward, the first black chairman of the Columbus Foundation and owner of the family’s moving company before his death. Today, the E. E. Ward Transfer and Storage Company preserves this heritage, rooted in once hauling people to freedom by night and transporting goods by day.

Whitehall, Ohio · United States