| After boarding Miami & Erie Canal barges on Main Street in Cincinnati, they
began their journey north to Mercer County. Arriving in Dayton, the local newspaper
reported some of the former slaves’ apprehension about their destination and the mood
prevalent in Mercer County with these words. "They are a fine looking company of
blacks. Some of them regretted being compelled to leave Virginia, where they would much
rather have remained, and anticipated an unfavorable reception in Mercer County. Since the
arrangements for settling the Randolph blacks in that county have been in progress, a
great deal of opposition has been manifested by the citizens, and meetings have been held
in the various parts, at which resolutions were passed to take measures to prevent these
Negroes from coming into the area. We have no idea that they will be permitted to remain
in Mercer County." Signs of racism followed them north through Tippecanoe (Tipp City) and Troy before their arrival in Piqua, where the Town Marshal refused to allow them to disembark to quench their thirsts, ostensibly, because of a water shortage, and insisted that they move on. It is believed that compassionate individuals in the Johnston Farm area of the canal allowed the party to drink from a spring on the property. Continuing north on the canal, the barges moved into Shelby County, passing through the locks at Lockington on to Berlin (Ft. Loramie) where they were not allowed to land, and their final destination New Bremen, Mercer County (Auglaize County was not created until 1848), where the promised land, detailed in Randolph’s will, was waiting for them. Upon their arrival in New Bremen, they disembarked, made camp, and wagonmaster Cardwell contacted the local residents who, by now, had, in a mass meeting, determined a course of action unfavorable to the Randolph group. Cardwell’s humanitarian plea for the blacks, their rights, and the various resolutions he proposed to resolve the problem were rejected. That same evening, a mob of whites, fully armed with guns and bayonets, surrounded the camp; reading three resolutions that included the following, "Resolved, That we will not live among Negroes; as we have settled here first, we have fully determined that we will resist the settlement of blacks and mulattoes in this county to the full extent of our means, the bayonet not excepted." Taking Cardwell into custody, they forced him, on the next morning, to charter two canal boats to remove the blacks from their county. With an armed citizen escort, the boats—with their occupant’s dreams and aspirations shattered, replaced by uncertain futures—left Mercer County. They eventually disembarked close to Piqua (an area that became Rossville, a Randolph slave community) in Miami County where charitable whites brought them food. They also later located in Sidney, Troy and West Milton and in other small communities like Hanktown and Marshalltown. An editorial in the Sidney newspaper, "Aurora", condemned the Mercer County residents for selling land to the Negroes, receiving wages for constructing buildings and pocketing "a large amount of money for provisions not two weeks before the arrival of the poor creatures whom they so unjustly treated." [Back] [Next] [Up] [New Search] 'Black History' segment written in June, 1998 by David Lodge |