The Randolph Freedpeople Part Three: An Act of Becoming

Posted February 28, 2017

Topics: Settlement & StatehoodHistoric PreservationAfrican American History

Tagged with: CanalMercerRandolphRoanoke

Part Three: Becoming.

Those enslaved on the Roanoke Plantation were granted their freedom on May 4th, 1846, along with the promise of a future in Ohio. Their former captor, John Randolph, planned for their resettlement in his will and named Judge William Leigh as executor in charge of their manumission. Leigh and Randolph were close friends, so he was trusted to carry out the difficult process of their relocation. Exact totals vary, but a large sum of money was designated for the purchase of around 3,200 acres of land in Mercer County in the free state of Ohio. Any man among the 383 emancipated people who was above the age of 40 would receive “not less than ten acres of land each.”[1]

[1]As with many details of this story, accounts vary as to the exact amount of acreage. While many newspapers report 2,000, the plaintiff’s brief in Moton v. Kessens suggests 3,200.

Ohio may have seemed like a potential refuge for the Randolph Freedpeople, considering that it was the first state from the Northwest Territory to prohibit slavery and a number of Black settlements were already established.[2] However, severe anti-Black legislation worked to effectively uphold the institution. On January 5th, 1804, Elias Langham and Nathaniel Massie, Speaker of the House and Speaker of the Senate respectively, created an act designed to limit the actions of Black people in the North. These so called “Black Laws” demanded that any Person of Color caught without free papers would be sent to the South, regardless of whether they had been enslaved before. Furthermore, those papers had to be recorded by the Clerk of Courts in the Ohio county in which they resided. This also required a fee of twelve and a half cents per family, costly for those who had spent much of their lives toiling for free.[3] Ultimately, Ohio’s opposition to slavery was not a marker of pro-Black advocacy.

Leigh selected Mercer County as the location for the Randolph Settlement for two reasons. First, it was sparsely settled. It was also near to several established free Black communities. In addition to purchasing the land, he also made arrangements to hire local whites to build homes for his newly freed charges.[4] Furthermore, he hired a white man named Tom Cardwell to guide them to their new territory. They set out on June 10th, 1846.[5] The caravan included sixteen wagons carrying furniture, food, and cooking utensils, while most of the freedpeople walked alongside. With babies bound to their breasts, the Randolph Freedpeople covered hundreds of miles on foot. They also brought along tents in which they camped by the road every night.[6] Overcoming many hardships along the way, they were said to have filled the night air with the same songs that sustained them against darkness of slavery during their time at Roanoke.[7]

Their trip was long, arduous, and covered a wide variety of terrain. From Roanoke they headed to the Natural Bridge, through the Valley of Virginia and up to Lewisburg, in present day West Virginia. When they reached Point Pleasant on the Ohio River, they boarded flat boats that took them up through Cincinnati to the Miami & Erie Canal. Fountain Randolph later recalled how their songs transformed to cheers of joy as they neared their destination.[8] Local papers described the scene a little differently, “In front of our office and occupying the center of the street for half a square, was a crowd of negroes, men, women, and children, like a drove of sheep coming to market. They were dressed in coarse cottons.”[9] The Cincinnati Gazette mirrored the sentiments of many local white residents, “And now, the poor creatures are among us! Why should this be?” The paper protested the evils of slavery, but argued that the North had little responsibility to survivors. Freedpeople were viewed as a liability. This attitude would confront the travelers throughout their journey as they walked down Main Street from the Public Landing and continued up the Miami & Erie Canal.

Miami County, Clerk of Courts, Register of Blacks and Mulattos, 1833 - 1847
Digitized by Special Collections and Archives, Wright State University and CORE Scholar

In 1804, Ohio passed the first in a series of laws designed to support the institution of slavery, called the Black Codes. These laws also reinforced that idea that African Americans were outsiders or "others," rather than Americans who had helped build the nation. One such rule required all freed people of African descent to register with the Clerk of Courts in the counties where they lived. White migrants were not required to do the same. When the Randolph Freedpeople reached Ohio's Miami County, their names were recorded in the book pictured below to prove they were free.

[2]Henry Noble Sherwood, "The Settlement of the John Randolph Slaves in Ohio," pg 41, presented at the 5th annual meeting of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, 1912.
[3]An Act to regulate black and mulatto persons. Elias Langham, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nathaniel Massie, Speaker of the Senate, pg 335-336. January 5, 1804.
[4]“Famous Slave Case Now Up” Piqua Daily Call, August 31st, 1916.
[5]In some newspaper accounts, such as the article, “Freed Slaves’ Journey to Ohio Filled with Many Problems” appearing in the June 12, 1985 edition of Echoes of the Miami Valley, Caldwell is described as a “white man.” In Henry Noble Sherwood’s article, “The Settlement of the John Randolph Slaves in Ohio,” he is a “noted negro driver.” His race is not specified in Frank Matthias’ “John Randolph’s Freedmen: The Thwarting of a Will” but he is listed as “Caldwell” and a hired driver.
[6]“Whole Caravan of Slaves Move to Ohio,” History of The Randolph Slaves: and Other Colored People Who Came to Mercer, Shelby, and Miami County. Comp. Roy E. Lacy. Nd.
[7]Henry Noble Sherwood, "The Settlement of the John Randolph Slaves in Ohio," pg 43, presented at the 5th annual meeting of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, 1912.
[8]“Blind Negro, Age 81, Tells Vividly of Early Slave Days,” Piqua Daily Call, July 14, 1913.
[9]Henry Noble Sherwood, The Settlement of the John Randolph Slaves in Ohio, pg 45, presented at the 5thannual meeting of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, 1912.

The Randolph Freedpeople Part Three: An Act of Becoming

Hon. Benjamin Arnett and Hon. Jere Brown were African American State Representatives who succeeded in repealing Ohio's Black Codes in 1886.

Painting by Linda Hamilton depicting the Randolph Freedpeople's journey to Ohio. From NAAMCC, B 2018.005.064.

The Randolph Freedpeople journeyed nearly 500 miles to their promised home in Ohio.

Read More Blogs & Posts

Objects from the Octagon: Archaeological Collections and the Stories They Share

Remembering a Forgotten Legend: Hallie Q. Brown

Winter Sports: Activities in the cold to help keep you warm

The Case of the Curious Artifact

Subscribe to Our Blogs