Crossing the Ohio River

I'm not really sure how to approach this idea that popped into my head today, but it seems like a good idea or question to mention here and maybe help me think about it or about how to approach it. This will probably be kind of a stream-of-consciousness post as I figure out what to say or how to explore it.

I live in northern Kentucky and work in Cincinnati, so I cross the Ohio River every day, along with thousands (or tens of thousands) of others, some going north like me, but many heading south. It's not a big deal; I've even walked home from work many times, a distance of about 2.5 miles.

150+ years ago, however, even that short distance was much longer than it seemed, at least for many African-Americans. The Ohio River was an unofficial border between the slave state of Kentucky and the free state of Ohio (as well as Indiana and Illinois - check out a map - Kentucky has a long northern border along the Ohio.)

If a slave tried to run away, oftentimes reaching the Ohio River, with stations on the Underground Railroad along its banks, north and south, was a major goal and milestone. It did not guarantee safety - Cincinnati was not the most progressive city regarding racial relations (some people even today say Cincinnati is like part of Kentucky, while others claim Northern Kentucky is more like Cincinnati than the rest of the state) and if escaping slaves could cross the river, so could slave catchers.

Nonetheless, it was an important boundary between North and South, free and slave, and it made cities like Cincinnati and Louisville into important trading ports. The border along the Ohio River was a key reason Abraham Lincoln considered keeping Kentucky in the Union to be so important. If the Confederates could set up defenses along the lower banks of the river, they could devastate Union trade in the west, prevent Union forces from penetrating the Deep South in the West (think Vicksburg, Shiloh, Corinth, Nashville among the key southern cities in this theater) and perhaps have a launching pad for attacking the Illinois, Indiana, Ohio or other Northern states with more than an occasional John Hunt Morgan raid.

Despite this, I cross this river twice a day and until today never really thought about it in a historical context. Does it make sense for me to try to picture escaping slaves (like Margaret Garner for one famous, though unsuccessful, example) while I'm in an air-conditioned (in the summer, heated in the winter) bus? Should it help me appreciate my good fortune or to understand better the differences between now and the past? How many African Americans would have absolutely loved to have safe, reliable transportation from my beloved Kentucky into Ohio or another northern state?

To me, the Ohio River is just a piece of everyday life, nothing really special or noteworthy, except for an occasional flood. Historically, however, this was a key border, a major crossing point, a place of hope for people to try to reach freedom, to escape bondage, to try to have some control over their lives. It is not a famous battlefield of dozens or hundreds of acres, with monuments and gift shops and tourists taking pictures. It is simply a wonder of Nature that human mapmakers once used as a separation point of what we call states, and which continues to flow southwards, just as it did 150 years ago. It has no mind or desires or other human emotions, but steadfastly flows until it reaches the mighty Mississippi. Yet this river, one of many throughout the country, even as constituted in 1865 and before, was very important, as a border into potential freedom and as a goal, to countless people who wanted to better their lives.

I often wonder what it would be like to live near a really famous battlefield like Gettysburg or Antietam or Shiloh. My appreciation for Perryville grows as I understand it more, but even that is a couple of hours away.

Yet here is an important place, just a few minutes from my home, that absolutely played a role in 19th century America and in the slavery controversy that at least contributed (though I believe caused) the bloody Civil War.

This is a perspective I had not considered before. I'm sure I'll think about it more often now, as I routinely cross this border so frequently and easily.

The above is a picture I took in April 2009 from downtown Cincinnati, with a brief view of the river separating the states.

Slave Chose Death for Her Child

Many people may already be familiar with the story of Margaret Garner and her actions when she tried to escape from slavery, but here is a Cincinnati Enquirer account of her story. It is a remarkable tale and shows how unhappy she was in slavery, even though some slaveholders (and non slave-holding whites) insisted that African-Americans were content in their role as slaves. That she would prefer her child to die rather than to become someone else's property is a strong statement of her feelings about slavery.

I admit that the fact this story took place in Northern Kentucky, not terribly far from where I live, and Cincinnati, where I work, does make it more fascinating to me than it ordinarily might, but this also is a story of national importance and interest in terms of a slave trying to take control of a situation and fighting against the "peculiar institution" even though many Kentuckians at the time felt slavery in this state was less harsh than in the deeper south.

courtesy freedomcenter.org

Her story became an opera that premiered in 2006.  For those who appreciate and understand opera much more than I do, here is a YouTube excerpt from the Opera Company of Philadelphia's production on February 24, 2006.

I mentioned this story previously when I found an advertisement in a local newspaper. The man who took out this advertisement, offering to trade land for negroes was probably the same man who owned Margaret and likely fathered her children.

Here is a map of Kentucky (an image I've used several times) with Boone County, where the Garners lived, circled. Its northern and western borders lie along the Ohio River, with Cincinnati just across the river on its northern side. This river served as an unofficial dividing line between free states and slave states, as well as a popular escape route for slaves. Being a border state with free states just across the river was one of the challenges Kentucky slaveholders faced.

Pardons for people who helped slaves escape in KY?

The article I am linking here is from May of 2010, and I don't know how I missed it the first time, but I find it interesting and a good idea.

The timing is actually not bad for me, as I'm currently reading Creating a Confederate Kentucky, a very fine book by Anne Marshall, and this article mentions how Kentucky's role in the Civil War was "ambivalent," a description much more understandable when considered alongside Marshall's book. Also the concept of offering pardons for this type of crime, yet no  descendants of those convicted of these offenses offers an interesting perspective on how the war and slavery are remembered in current times.

This article does not mention the names of all 44 who were to be pardoned, and I have not yet found out if the pardons have yet occurred, but I will look into it more and see what I can find.(One quick question: did the people undertaking this project ever list all of the names or publicize them somehow? If not, then it is no wonder at all that no descendants have expressed interest in this work.)

Also, I do wonder if it is accurate for the writer of the article's headline to use the word "abolitionists." I tend to think of that word as being for those who wanted slavery eliminated, but does it also count for those who simply helped (or tried to help) slaves escape? Is it safe to assume that these people (I've seen them called "operators" on the Underground Railroad) favored the abolition of slavery? Is helping a slave escape the same as wanting the entire institution prohibited? I'll have to think about that some more while wondering if I'm being too finicky in asking these questions.

I also recommend reading the New York Times' Editorial on this story. The article linked above includes a link to it as well, but I am also linking it in case that makes it easier to find. It is worth the click.

(And again, it is interesting to find this commentary in the New York Times, a newspaper frequently referred to in Marshall's book for its observations and thoughts about Kentucky in the late 1800s. The use of the phrase "Modern Kentucky" in the editorial quickly caught my attention, presumably because I'm reading the book about Kentucky of the past.)

New additions to my library

I have purchased 4 books to add to my library and to my stack of "to be read," a stack which never seems to shrink (that's a good thing.)

The first is The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command by Edwin B. Coddington. This book seems to have a reputation as the best (or close to it) study of Gettysburg - not just the battle, but the time before and after it as well. It looks to have over 500 pages, plus detailed notes, so it may be some intense reading, but since I learned of this book, I have wanted a copy. Who knows when I will get to it, but I'm glad I have it now.

Civil War Commanders: From Fort Sumter to Appomattox Court House by Chester G Hearn, Rick Sapp and Steven Smith provides brief biographies of dozens of Civil War Generals. This will make a nice "quick reference" book to keep around and should be a good read too, especially on some of the commanders with whom I'm not familiar.

The third book is Escape on the Pearl by Mary Kay Ricks describes an escape attempt in the late 1840s by dozens of slaves on the ship called the Pearl. It certainly looks captivating and I am anxious to see how she desribes this event and its effects.

Last, but not least, is Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War, a chronicle of 14 important Civil War battles from the tours led by famed historian Edwin Bearss. I have never been on one of his tours, but have seen him on various Civil War programs and met people who have been on his trips, so this book is one I'm very happy to have. Mr. Bearss is a legend and I anxiously await the time I get to read this volume.