An outspoken opponent of slavery and widely known abolitionist, Dr. Robert Mitchell harbored five fugitives from slavery on his property here in September 1845. After a raid by bounty hunters, two men escaped and three were returned to slavery. Mitchell was tried and convicted for violating the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 and suffered heavy financial losses. The incident contributed to the more restrictive Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.