Black History Month: Sloane a true friend in abolitionist movement

Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from a piece by Ohio History Central. This article appeared in the Register's first of four commemorative bicentennial editions, publishing March 18, 2018. SANDUSKY — Rush Sloane was an important 19th century northern Ohio political and business leader. Sloane was born in 1828 in Sandusky. He studied law with F.D. Parish, a local attorney and abolitionist. Sloane became a lawyer in 1849 and established his own practice in Sandusky. Sloane was one of Ohio's most prominent abolitionists during the 1850s. He utilized his Sandusky home as a safe house for fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad. In 1852, Sloane defended seven fugitive slaves against their owners. Sloane secured the slaves' release, but one of the slaveholders proved his ownership of the African-Americans. Federal officials arrested Sloane for interfering with the Fugitive Slaw Law of 1850. Tried by the U.S. District Court in Columbus, he was found guilty and fined $4,330.30. In appreciation of his efforts, local African-Americans presented him with a silver-headed cane. Many years later, Sloane said that the name Underground Railroad originated in 1831, when Tice Davids, a fugitive from slavery, crossed the Ohio River from Kentucky with his owner in pursuit. Upon reaching the Ohio side of the river, Davids' owner lost the trail of his slave and said that he "must of gone off on an underground road." Later on in life: • In 1854, Sloane bought a house, which still stands today, at 403 E. Adams St., from its first owner and builder, Samuel Torrey, according to the National Park Service. He conducted his legal services, advocating on behalf of slaves, from this residence. • In 1855, Sloane became a probate court judge in Erie County. Six years later, he became an agent for the U.S. Post Office in Chicago. While in Chicago, Sloane became quite wealthy from his real estate investments. • In 1865, he purchased Cedar Point and took the first steps to convert the site into a vacation spot. • In 1867, Sloane became the president of the Sandusky, Dayton and Cincinnati Railroad. • In 1879, he was elected mayor of Sandusky. • In 1908, Sloane died.