The Underground Railroad Exhibit| Escaping from slavery is as
old as slavery itself. And slavery is as old as mankind. In
Ashtabula County in the years prior to the end of the Civil War,
the Underground Railroad kept fugitive slaves safe from harm. As
early as 1813, the county's anti-slavery attitude was expressed
by Alba Coleman of Andover. He refused to use sugar because it
was harvested by slaves. In 1828, our first sheriff, Quintas
Atkins, continued that philosophy and committment by opening the
Jefferson Inn, known in Underground Railroad code as "Anno
Mundi," Latin for "in the year of the world." Ashtabula County
had over thirty known Underground Railroad stations. or
safehouses, and many more conductors. Nearly two-thirds of those
sites still stand today. The Hubbard House, known as Mother
Hubbard's Cupboard and The Great Emporium, is the only Ohio UGRR
terminus, or endpoint, open to the public. At the Hubbard House,
there is a large map showing all of the currently known sites.
Ashtabula County was in