John and Jane Rankin photograph   Save
Ohio History Connection
Description: This photograph of John Rankin and his wife Jane (identified in some later records as Jean) Lowry Rankin was taken on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary. John Rankin (1793-1886) was a Presbyterian minister and educator who devoted much of his life to the antislavery movement. His house in Ripley, Ohio, was a stop on the Underground Railroad, and Rankin, along with his family and neighbors, is credited with helping 2,000 fugitive slaves escape to freedom. The house is situated at the top of a hill overlooking the Ohio River. Escaping slaves climbed the 100-step "Freedom Stairway" from the river to reach the house, which has several secret rooms in which slaves were hidden. A light was placed in the window of the house to indicaten when it was safe for slaves to approach. The John Rankin House is now a museum, part of the Ohio History Connection's statewide network of historic sites. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1277_781136_122
Subjects: Rankin, John, 1793-1886; Abolitionists -- Ohio; Civil Liberties; Underground Railroad; Religion in Ohio; Rankin House
Places: Ripley (Ohio); Brown County (Ohio)