The Carter Lee family, ancestors of Sidney’s first black mayor, James P. Humphrey, were registered as free slaves on April 30, 1846, prior to their departure from Virginia and settlement in Shelby County. The document lists them as: No. 421 - Carter - a man of black complexion, aged thirty-three years, five feet, nine and one-half inches high. No. 422 - Pheobe - (wife of Carter) black complexion, aged twenty-two years, five feet three inches high. No. 423 - Clemina - (daughter of Carter and Pheobe) black complexion, aged six years, three feet two and one-half inches high. No. 424 - Betsey - (daughter of same) black complexion, aged four years, three feet high. No. 425 - Suckey - (daughter of same) black complexion, aged six months, two feet high.

The original Randolph slaves, a great family of 383 individuals who’s arduous trek west to Ohio as freed people in 1846 is a true American saga that rightfully deserves a place in the milestones of our region’s history. This elusive recognition, denied through decades of discrimination, for a moment in time, that saw them journeying hundreds of miles to be dispossessed of all that was legally theirs, is now a growing reality in the history of this area. Suffering humiliation, personal indignities and injury at the hands of some, and compassion and concern at the hands of others, they began their new life in Ohio evolving around the churches they formed and the growth of their families.

A group that shared such joy and grief did not forsake the gathering of friends and kin. The Randolph Ex-Slaves Association was formed in July, 1900, at a reunion held at Midway Park near Piqua. This was the first time since their members were brought to Ohio in 1846 that any considerable number of the old Randolph slaves met together. In attendance were 62 of the original Randolphs, those who had been born in Virginia, held in slavery and then transported to Ohio as small children. This distinction separated them as the originals, "Old Dominions" and the "Buckeyes" (those born in Ohio or children of the originals). The Buckeyes were easily distinguishable by the Buckeyes they each wore to the event.

Gradually, the younger Buckeyes outnumbered the Old Dominions and began taking over the reunion planning. Their gatherings followed a predictable pattern with an elaborate meal, singing, reminiscences and talks. Attendance ranged from 100 to 300 annually with the reunions held in Piqua, Troy and at the Shelby County Fairgrounds.   A July, 1902, edition of the "Shelby County Democrat" reported that the old slaves gathered, "...and the tales they told of their peculiar master were highly interesting." The reunions of 1900 to 1906 had Manson Brown of Sidney (his relatives still reside in Sidney) serving as an elected officer of the Randolph Slave Association.

It was reported in the 1904 "Shelby County Democrat" that Reverend J. Berney, pastor of the Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, during his address of welcome, told the Randolphs to have "great patience...Time would solve the problem of their reclaiming their land the same as time solved the race problem and the same as time has solved all other problems."