In 1850, eight freed slaves of the Polley family were kidnapped from Ohio and sold back into slavery. William Ratliff of Wayne County bought four of the children. A suit for freedom brought on their behalf was not settled in their lifetimes. The Polley case concluded in 2012 when a judge ruled that the 1850 sale was illegal and decreed that the children were free as of 1859. Born in May 1802, Ratliff was a prominent landowner and political figure in Wayne County who served as a county magistrate for thirty years. Though a slave owner, he supported the Union, and in 1861 he served as a delegate to the Second Wheeling Convention and as a member of the General Assembly of the Restored Government of Virginia. He died in Wayne County in February 1885.