Francis Drake Parish portrait   Save
Ohio History Connection
Description: Woodcut portrait of Francis Drake Parish (1796-1886), a lawyer and Underground Railroad operator from Sandusky, Ohio. This portrait and an accompanying article from the Firelands Pioneer (published in July 1888 by the Firelands Historical Society) were collected by Wilbur H. Siebert as part of his Underground Railroad research. According to the article, Parish was at one time a "bitter enemy of the fugitive slave" who on multiple occasions served as a prosecutor in cases against those seeking their freedom, but later became an abolitionist around 1835. Two fugitive slaves from Kentucky were cared for at Parish's home and protected from arrest by their benefactor in February 1845. Parish subsequently helped the fugitives on their journey. In 1849, the Circuit Court of the U.S. for the District of Ohio fined Parish for the estimated value of the slaves at the time. This sum, together with court costs and legal expenses ($1,250) was paid by friends of Parish, who raised the necessary amount by subscriptions of one dollar each. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P116_B54_V0l4_Parrish
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century; Abolitionists;
Places: Sandusky (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)