Black History of Lawrence County, Ohio

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Lawrence, Ohio, United States

US Black Heritage Project Ohio Team

Contents 1 History 1.1 Census Statistics 1.2 Economy, Communities 2 Settlements of Freed Slaves 3 Polley Family 4 Underground Railroad 5 Links to Categories (Cemeteries, Churches) 6 Notables 7 See also 8 Sources

History

Lawrence County, Ohio was created on 20 Dec 1816 from parts of Gallia County and Scioto County. It was named after James Lawrence (1781-1813). There were Black residents of Lawrence County from it's earliest days. Ohio's status as a free state and Lawrence County's location on the Ohio River, bordering slave states Kentucky and Virginia, made it a location where many freed or escaped slaves settled before the end of the Civil War. In 1820, there were three households whose residents were all "free colored persons" - the heads of these households were John Briant of Upper Township, Henry Murphy of Union Township, and Rosanna Briant of Fayette Township. In the 1830 census, there were sixteen Black heads of households:

• Ben Johnston, Fayette Township
• Daniel Mors, Fayette Township
• Charles Johnston, Fayette Township
• Pleasant Roberts (abt.1788-aft.1841), Fayette Township
• John Bryant, Fayette Township
• Josiah Collaway, Fayette Township
• Essex Harris, Fayette Township
• Henry Ward, Fayette Township
• Molloy Roberts, Fayette Township
• William Randle, Fayette Township
• John Greenhill, Union Township
• Washington Murphy, Union Township
• Pollay Furgusion, Union Township
• Henry Murphy, Union Township
• George Jones, Upper Township
• Siglph Lenoy[?], Rome Township

Many of these new residents in 1830 had been slaves of John Ward of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, who freed them in his will when he died in 1826. See Ward Settlement, Lawrence County, Ohio for more details.

Census data shows that the Black population of Lawrence County continued to grow rapidly until 1880 and then remained fairly steady around 1,700 Black residents until at least 1950 (see Census Statistics below). In terms of the percentage of the population of Lawrence County, the Black population did decrease slightly after 1920. This is the period of the The Great Migration when many Black families moved from the rural southeast of America to the cities in the North. Within Ohio during this time period, similar population shifts can be seen with the African American population in primarily rural counties decreasing and the population in big cities increasing.

Census Statistics

Year	Black Population	Total Population	% Black Population
1820	23	3,499	0.66%
1830	107	5,367	1.99%
1840	148	9,738	1.52%
1850	326	15,246	2.14%
1860	685	23,249	2.95%
1870	1,241	31,380	3.95%
1880	1,746	39,068	4.47%
1890	1,761	39,556	4.45%
1900	1,651	39,534	4.18%
1910	1,789	39,488	4.53%
1920	1,691	39,540	4.28%
1930	1,669	44,541	3.75%
1940	1,598	46,705	3.42%
1950	1,658	49,115	3.38%

Economy, Communities

Economy: In addition to common occupations like farming in rural areas and general labor and domestic work in urban areas, Lawrence County had two sets of additional economic opportunities in the 1800s and early 1900s. Its southern border on the Ohio River provided opportunities for employment on steamboats^[1] while rich veins of iron, coal, and clay in the county created many jobs in mines and related industries like blast furnaces and brick manufacturing. Lawrence County is the center of the "Hanging Rock Iron Region" and part of Appalachia.^[2][3]

Communities: Locations in Lawrence County with significant Black communities include:

• Fayette Township, including the communities of Burlington, Macedonia, South Point, and North Kenova. Fayette Township is located on the Ohio River and is right across the river from Huntington, West Virginia and Catlettsburg, Kentucky. In the 1800's, census records show that many men in Fayette Township worked on steamboats.
• Ironton: Founded in 1849, it quickly became the largest city in Lawrence County, with its growth fueled by its iron industry.
• Washington Township, including the Blackfork community. Census records for Washington Township show many residents working in mines and associated industries.

Settlements of Freed Slaves

There are at least two large groups of freed slaves who settled in Lawrence County, Ohio in the early to mid 1800's:

• Ward Settlement, Lawrence County, Ohio - formerly enslaved by John Ward in Pittsylvania County, Virginia and freed in 1826. Other people who were freed at the same time settled in Gallia and Clinton Counties in Ohio.
• Burlington 37 Settlement, Lawrence County, Ohio - formerly enslaved by James Twyman in Madison County, Virginia and freed in 1849.

Polley Family

The family of Peyton Polley moved to Lawrence County after becoming free. In 1850, several of his children were kidnapped and sold back into slavery. The children who had been sold into Kentucky were eventually freed after intervention by the governor of Ohio and the attorney general of Kentucky. The children who were sold into Virginia remained enslaved until the end of the Civil War. The Virginia legal case to have the children freed was not settled until 2012, when a judge ruled in favor of the Polley descendants, saying that the children had been illegally sold.

Underground Railroad

Lawrence County is often said to have had significant involvement in the Underground Railroad. More research is needed into this aspect of its history.

Links to Categories (Cemeteries, Churches)

Categories related to the Black community in Lawrence County:

• Lawrence County, Ohio, African-American Cemeteries category
• Lawrence County, Ohio, Black Churches category

Notables

Notable African Americans from Lawrence County include:

• Donald Russell Long (1939-1966), Medal of Honor recipient
• Lander McCoy Bacon (1943-2008), professional football player

See also

• Lawrence County, Ohio
• African-American Resources for Ohio

Sources

1. ↑ "The Bay Brothers Steamboats," The Lawrence Register, https://lawrencecountyohio.com/river/bay-brothers-steamboats/ : accessed 4 Oct 2023.
2. ↑ Henry Howe, "Lawrence County," Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II (Cincinnati, Ohio: C.J. Krehbiel & Co., 1907 edition), pages 56-64; image copy, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historicalcollec02howe/page/56 : accessed 4 Oct 2023).
3. ↑ A Standard History of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio, Volume I (The Lewis Publishing Company, 1916), Eugene P. Willard, general supervising editor, Part III Lawrence County, Chapter 1, pages 234-248; image copy, Internet Archive, (https://archive.org/details/standardhistoryo01will/page/n525 : accessed 4 Oct 2023).

• US Federal Census records for Lawrence County and statistical reports from the Census bureau:
  • "1870 Census: Volume 1. The Statistics of the Population of the United States;" Table II: Population, 1870-1790, in each State and Territory, by Counties, in Aggregate, and as White, Free Colored, Slave, Chinese, and Indian; Ohio, page 55-56 [1].
  • "1880 Census: Volume 1. Statistics of the Population of the United States;" Table V: Population, by Race and by Counties: 1880, 1870, 1860; page 404-405, Ohio [2].
  • "Eleventh Census [1890] - Volume 1. (Part I & Part II) Report on Population of the United States," General Tables: Part I; Table 22: Native and Foreign Born and White and Colored Population, Classified By Sex By Counties; page 511-512, Ohio [3].
  • "1900 Census: Volume I. Population, Part 1," Table XV: Increase in population of counties...; page 50-51 (l-li) [4]
  • Twelfth Census (1900) of the United States, Census Bulletin #90, 4 Sep 1901, Population by Sex, General Nativity, and Color, By Groups of States and Territories, Group 8: North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Oregon; Table 4: Native and Foreign Born and White and Colored Population..., using last column with "Negro" population; Ohio, page 3-4 [5].
  • "1910 Census: Volume 1. Population, General Report and Analysis;" Chapter II: Color or Race, Nativity, and Parentage; Table 51: Population by Sex, Color, or Race, Nativity, and Parentage, and Males of Voting Age, By Counties, 1910; Ohio, page 241 [6].
  • "1920 Census: Volume 3. Population, Composition and Characteristics of the Population by States;" Summary Tables and Detailed Tables—Ohio through Rhode Island; Table 9: Composition and Characteristics of the Population, For Counties, 1920. [7].
  • "1930 Census: Volume 3. Population, Reports by States;" Ohio and Oklahoma; Ohio, Table 11: Population by Age, Color, Nativity, and Sex, For Counties: 1930, page 466ff [8]
  • "1940 Census of Population: Volume 2. Characteristics of the Population;" Ohio; Table 22: Age, Race, and Sex By Counties, 1940 and 1930 [Ohio], pages 572ff [9].
  • "1950 Census of Population: Volume 2. Characteristics of the Population;" Part 35: Ohio, General Characteristics; Table 42: General Characteristics of the Population For Counties [10].