Religion Aside: The Connection between Rev. Jonathan Cable, Thomas Craven, Levi Coffin and the Underground Railroad

I haven't had as much time as I would like to spend on my research this summer.  The kiddos are busy and often times is nearly impossible to write a sentence let a lone a few paragraphs (I've been at this post for about four hours...ugh). So with that said, excuse any imperfections in my writing  below....

A Little Background (before I get to the point..ha!)

When looking into our homes history I decided to figure out for myself whether or not there was any likelihood the family who lived here would have had any connection/involvement to the Underground Railroad.  Locals and past caretakers of our home mentioned it being a home involved in the UGRR, but I'm not one to just believe what could be a rumor. 

In order to try and formulate my own opinon, I decided to look at the community in which the Wehr's lived. I wanted to know who they spent time with socially, their education, who they would have bought/sold/traded with, and their religious affiliation. From there, I mapped everyone in their community, and beyond, based on their church affiliation so I could have a clear picture of the religious communities in and around Reily. 

In the early 1800s it was a melting pot of religions in our area... Presbyterians, Quakers, Universalists, Baptist and Methodist Episcopal, all whom have a history of being abolitionist.  With mapping property owners and their religious affiliation, I had a birds eye view of Reily and the surrounding communities (into Indiana as well) that instantly showed a large area that would have been sympathetic to freedom seekers.  In the areas just outside of Reily, there are some documented UGRR activity, but as for Reily itself, there are no accounts that I have come across. Which one could then assume, based on religious affiliations and so forth, that Reily was in fact involved in the UGRR...they were just excellent at concealing their involvement. 

With that said, I'm not for a second saying the people in Reily were necessarily harboring freedom seekers, but they could have helped in passing along information or turning a blind eye to activity around them. We will never know....but with the information I have gathered there is reasonable speculation. 

Now to the point. 

For those of you who have been reading and following along this may be somewhat repetitive for you but it's needed to complete the "picture."

Thomas Craven, who married Sarah and John Wehr’s son, Martin in 1841, was a well known abolitionist. What makes Craven unique is his connections to Cincinnati, Butler County, and Indiana. When looking at a map of known Underground Railroad paths, Craven is at the crux of it all.  His connections with people, who have been identified as having been involved in the UGRR, are far reaching.  I have to guess that Thomas Craven serving as President of the Anti-Slavery Convention in 1844,  put him in a position of forming many connection with those apart of the UGRR. 

Rev. Johnathan Cable was a Presbyterian minister at Farmer's College and was the VP of the Anti-Slavery Convention in 1842 -only 2 years ahead of Craven becoming President. While Craven was not a Presbyterian minister the fact that both Cable and Craven were both active/prominent members within the convention leads me to believe they had to have some form of relationship even if it was just “business.” 

Rev. Johnathan Cable is noted as having helped Levi Coffin (and John Van Zandt..another

story for another day), Quaker, in Indiana with moving a large group of slaves to freedom

(Photo from Bidsquare)

through Hamilton, Ohio then northward. Knowing Levi Coffin had a connection with Rev. Johnathan Cable makes me wonder if at any point Thomas Craven would have at some point worked with Coffin and Cable....something I still need to dig around and look into more. 

What I find to be of most value through learning about the relationship between Rev. Cable and Levi Coffin is that whether you were Quaker, Methodist Episcopal, Baptist or Presbyterian, religion was not a barrier to the success of the UGRR.  If anything, those involved in the UGRR, regardless of their religious affiliation, were more of a fraternity working together to reach people in their own communities and further the mission of the UGRR . 

The punch line...

While my research provides an illustration that Reily and the surrounding areas could have been a safe place for freedom seekers to travel through,based on religious affiliation and connections/relationships,  it is important to note that identifying a "path" of the UGRR network is more complicated than a color-coded map. To be honest there is really no way I'll ever be able to confirm any kind of path but that's because that was the nature of the UGRR.  As I have said before, my research can really only be a well educated guess based on the research I have completed.  So in reality, everything I have shared could mean absolutely nothing. However, I personally feel there is validity to my work and my "educated guess" has been formed around credible resources. 

Why is this of interest to our home's history? 

REV. A.B. GILLILAND
(Photo Credit)

REV. JAMES GILLILAND
(Photo Credit)

Back to the question in the beginning. Was our home a part of the UGRR? Whether the Wehr family was ever involved in the Underground Railroad will never be known. What we do know is they were connected to Thomas Craven which leads me to assume they were well aware of his abolitionist point of views. With the Wehr's involvement with the Reily Presbyterian Church led by James Gilliland's son, Rev. A.B Gilliland, it helps me form my own opinion that the Wehr Family, or some of the members of the family, were likely abolitionist.  Now whether or not they aided freedom seekers by opening their home, lending transportation, or passing along a message we will never know.