Beyond the River: The Untold Story of the Heroes of the Underground Railroad

From the highest hill above the town of Ripley, Ohio, you can see five bends in the Ohio River. You can see the hills of northern Kentucky and the rooftops of Ripley's riverfront houses. And you can see what the abolitionist John Rankin saw from his house at the top of that hill, where for nearly forty years he placed a lantern each night to guide fugitive slaves to freedom beyond the river.

In Beyond the River, Ann Hagedorn tells the remarkable story of the participants in the Ripley line of the Underground Railroad, bringing to life the struggles of the men and women, black and white, who fought "the war before the war" along the Ohio River. Determined in their cause, Rankin, his family, and his fellow abolitionists — some of them former slaves themselves — risked their lives to guide thousands of runaways safely across the river into the free state of Ohio, even when a sensational trial in Kentucky threatened to expose the Ripley "conductors." Rankin, the leader of the Ripley line and one of the early leaders of the antislavery movement, became nationally renowned after the publication of his Letters on American Slavery, a collection of letters he wrote to persuade his brother in Virginia to renounce slavery.

A vivid narrative about memorable people, Beyond the River is an inspiring story of courage and heroism that transports us to another era and deepens our understanding of the great social movement known as the Underground Railroad.

"Beyond the River" brings to brilliant life the story of John Rankin and the forgotten heroes of the Ripley, Ohio, line of the Underground Railroad during the fierce "war before the war, " pitting abolitionists against slave chasers along the banks of the Ohio River. 8 pages of photos.

Ann Hagedorn, an award-winning author and journalist, has been a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal and has written for other publications, including The Washington Post. She has taught writing at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Her previous books are Wild Ride, Ransom, and Beyond the River.

Contents

Preface: A Double Life

Part I: THE WAR BEFORE THE WAR

1. The Kindling and the Spark

2. Visions and Ideals

3. On the Wings of His Words

4. River of Anguish

5. "My Dear Brother"

6. The Lantern in the Window

7. 1831

8. Speak Truth to Power

9. Family

10. Agitation

11. Mobocracy

12. The Seventy

13. Two Abductions and a Murder

Part II: 1838

14. Waves Break on Either Shore

15. "Mercy Enough?"

16. The Trap

17. "The Matter Is Highly Mysterious"

18. Exposing the Chain

19. "These Men Are Dangerous"

20. The Unappeasable Spirit

Part III: MIDNIGHT ASSASSINS

21. A New Season

22. Double or Nothing

23. By Fire and Sword

24. "Thus Have I Been Attacked"

25. "A Victim of the Slave Power"

26. Parker's Ferry

27. With Spur and Rein

28. Neighbors

Part IV: BEYOND THE RIVER

29. Prison Doors

30. The Quickening Flow

31. Broken Vessel

32. Echoes

Acknowledgments

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index