150th Anniversary of the Wellington-Oberlin Slave Rescue Celebration

Wellington-Oberlin fugitive slave rescuers at the jail

This weekend marks the 150th anniversary of the Wellington-Oberlin Slave Rescue that was said to have raised consciousness nationwide regarding the anti-slavery movement and earning Oberlin the recent title , “The town that started the Civil War.”

In 1858, John Price, a fugitive slave living in Oberlin, was tricked into the hands of four slave catchers. He was secretly driven down a country road, toward Wellington, a small town south of Oberlin where the slave catchers intended to put Price on a train headed back to Kentucky. However, halfway there they were spotted by two Oberlin men.

American House Hotel, Wellington (courtesy: Oberlin College Archives)

After spreading the word of the capture, a group of men rushed down to Wellington to the American House Hotel where Price’s captors were now holding him. A crowd from Wellington and Oberlin stormed the hotel and freed Price. The rescuers immediately rushed him back to Oberlin. For several days Price hid at the home of Oberlin College Professor James Harris Fairchild until he could reach Canada safely. Thirty-seven rescuers were indicted for their roles in the rescue and twenty spent time in jail. The event caught international attention, contributing to an increased awareness of the abolitionist cause.

Among the group were freed slaves, fugitive slaves, students, townspeople, farmers and businessmen. It was a group that ignored their differences and untied in the cause for freedom. Differences that separated so many in the south. Their legacy of freedom and pride lives on today as Lorain County enjoys and maintains the cultural diversity it is so famous for.

The Back Roads and Beaches Route gets many Underground Railroad Cyclists that pass through Wellington and Oberlin. This is a great weekend to be here to celebrate and reflect on the Underground Railroad. Click here for more information on cycling and the Underground Railroad around BRaB. Click here for a list of this weekend’s anniversary events in Oberlin. Click here for more detail and photos of the rescue from the Oberlin Heritage Center.