The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 37

THE ENQIT1U THURSDAY, OCR 13, 2005 E3 COVER STORY GET TO IT 1 1 -X 'T ft-J" 1 1 I If i 1 i 1 v. 5 i -J Photos by Joyce Rudowski for The Enquirer The John Rankin House in Ripley displays family memorabilia, and a guide recounts anti-slavery movement history. Andrew Coombs an organizer of the Gilead Anti-Slavery Society and a conductor on the Underground Railroad, is buried in the Lindale Baptist Cemetery. Driving trips take you through scenic slice of freedom's history ffl 4 Going out Raul Malo, 8:30 p.m. today, Southgate House, 24 E.

Third Newport. $18, $1.5. 513 779-9462. Comedy Jeff Jena and Dennis Piper, p.m. today, Funny Bone, Newport on the Levee.

$10. 859 957-2000. Craig Robinson, 8 p.m. today, Go Bananas, 8410 Market Place, Montgomery. $7.

Ages 18 and up. Through Sunday. Reservations required. (513) 984-9288. Halloween Haunted Hike, 7 p.m.

today, Doris Wood Branch Library, 180S. Third Batavia. Tour haunted sites. All ages. (513) 732-2128.

USS Nightmare, 7-11 p.m. today, Newport on the Levee. Floating haunted house. Weekends through Oct. 31 $1 5, $6 matinee; group discounts available.

(859) 261-8500; Theater Putting It Together, 8 p.m. today, Westwood Town Hall Recreation Center, 3017 Harrison Ave. Stephen Sondheim musical revue presented by Showbiz Players. Through Sunday. $17, $15 seniors and students.

(513)981-7888; www.showbizplayers.com. South Pacific, 8 p.m. today, Stained Glass Theatre, 802 York Newport. Musical. Presented by Footlighters Inc.

Through Oct. 23. $17. (513) 474-8711. Garden show Fall Harvest, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

today, Krohn Conservatory, Eden Park. Through Oct. 28. Free. (513)421-5707.

Fashion show RetroFittings, 6-9 p.m. today, 20th Century, 3021 Madison Road, Oakley. Thrift store finds by University of Cincinnati fashion students. Benefits St. Vincent de Paul Society.

$30, $1 5 students. (513) 562-8841, Ext. 25. Education German American Heritage Month Exhibit, 7:45 p. today, University of Cincinnati, Langsam Library lobby.

Centers around Germantown, the first permanent German settlement in United States. Through Oct. 556-1955; www.gacl.org. Looking ahead S4 hours out Roebling Mural Project Unveiling, 10:30 a.m. Friday, base of Roebling Suspension Bridge, Covington.

Six new murals by Robert Dafford. Discussion with artist. Free. (859) 344-0468. Pauly Shore, 7:30 p.m., 10:15 p.m.

Friday, Funny Bone Comedy Club, Newport on the Levee. $25. Through Sunday. (859) 957-2000. 3G hours out Art Off-Pike Art Show and Rehab-A-Rama, noon-5 p.m.

Saturday. Art exhibits along Pike Street in Covington. Silent auction at Marx Building, 520 Madison Ave. Free. (859) 491-2220.

Karen Andrew OHIO Cincinnati Batavia 52 New Richmond Moscow to Felicity VT Ripley Minerva Germantown Washington Maysville KENTUCKY Fee family members are buried in the Moscow Cemetery. New Richmond Continue west on U.S. 52 to New Richmond, where prominent residents became involved in the anti-slavery movement in three ways: the Philanthropist newspaper, the American Colonization Society and the Clermont County Anti-Slavery Society. Homes of two activists can be seen on Front Street and the newspaper office is at Willow and Walnut streets. Cranston Memorial Presbyterian Church, led by the Rev.

Amos Dresser from Lane Seminary in Cincinnati, was the site of many fiery abolitionist speeches. Return to Cincinnati on U.S. 52, or take Ohio 132 to Ohio 125 for one more stop at the Baptist church and cemetery in Lindale. South Central Ohio From Cincinnati, take U.S. 52 east along the Ohio River Scenic Byway, to New Richmond to see Underground Railroad sites on or near Front Street, two blocks off U.S.

52. New Richmond was the original site of the Philanthropist newspaper and the Anti-Slavery Society of Clermont County. Cranston Memorial Presbyterian Church on Union Street had frequent preachers from pro-abolition Lane Seminary in Cincinnati and John Rankin from Ripley. Continue east through Point Pleasant, birthplace of Ulysses S. Grant, to Moscow.

In Moscow, view the homes of two Fee family members and the cemetery that is the final resting place of many Underground Railroad activists (see previous day trip). Ripley Drive east on U.S. 52 to Ripley. The visit starts on Front Street, two blocks from the highway. Highlights along Front include the Liberty Monument, honoring abolitionist heroes, and the homes of Underground Railroad activists: the Campbells, Poag-es, Beasleys, Kirkers, McCagues, Rankins, and the Signal House.

John Parker House, 300 Front Parker, a former slave and an inventor, gained his freedom and then risked it to help others. He often transported slaves across the river, delivering them to safe houses. Parker's story of courage is told at his home and foundry site. ($3, $1 for students.) John Rankin House: Return to U.S. 52 (Second Street)and follow signs up Liberty Hill to the Rankin House, which contains Rankin family memorabilia and furnishings.

A guide tells the story of the family's anti-slavery activities. ($3, $1 for students.) The Rev. Rankin was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church that still stands at Third and Mulberry streets. Maplewood Cemetery: The last stop is Maple-wood Cemetery. Return to U.S.

52, drive through town and cross Red Oak Creek to the entrance. See the bronze bust of John Rankin and several Rankin family graves. Return to Cincinnati via U.S. 52. Joyce Rudowski History From Page El The conflict between slave and free is evident in Maysville.

Bethel Baptist Church was founded by a former slave, but the Mason County courthouse was the site of slave auctions. A slave pen stood on the site of Maysville High School, while the Bier-bower House was known as a "station" for runaways. Plan to visit the Maysville Museum Center ($2.50) or the Underground Railroad Museum, opening in January Old Washington Follow the self-drive tour south on U.S. 68 to Old Washington. The Paxton Inn was known as a railroad "station." Harriet Beecher Stowe witnessed a slave auction at the courthouse that was recalled in her novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Confederate Gen.

Albert Johnson was born here, but the Methodist Church split into two congregations over slavery. The Visitor's Center, housed in an original log cabin, offers Underground Railroad tours. (Tours range from $2 for one site to $10 for a full tour.) Germantown, Minerva and Dover The tour continues with visits to outlying towns. Take Ky. 9 to Walton Pike, a connector to Ky.

10 and Germantown. Pass the private driveway of Pine-crest Farm, the original location of a slave pen now housed intact at Cincinnati's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. In Germantown, see Broadway Christian Church and the historic marker honoring Arnold Gragston and John Fee. Gragston was a slave conductor on the railroad while Fee, who preached abolition, was the son of slave owners. Gragston eventually gained his freedom after enabling many slaves to escape.

Fee was disowned by his family and driven from Kentucky in 1859. He returned in 1863 and continued to oppose slavery. Return on Ky. 10 to Walton Pike and drive north to Minerva. Visit Minerva Baptist Church with its slave balcony and Worthington Chapel, built for blacks in the county.

Then take Ky. 1235 to Ky. 8 and to the Dover boat landing, once a lively slave depot and the nighttime launch of Gragston, who rowed slaves to freedom across the river. Travel Ky. 9 for a quick return to Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, or Ky.

8 for a leisurely drive through river towns. Clermont County Begin this excursion at the Clermont County Convention and Visitors Bureau on Main Street in Batavia and let the "Freedom Trail" brochure be the guide for the day. The National Park Service recognizes 13 Clermont County sites on the Underground Railroad network. The tour starts with the Brice Blair House, visited by Harriet Beecher Stowe and family; and the Clermont County Courthouse, site of the Margaret Garner trial. Garner, along with her husband and four chil- The Enquirer Randy Mazzols dren, escaped from slavery in Northern Kentucky, only to be caught in Ohio.

Knowing they would be returned to slavery, Garner murdered her youngest child. Her trial, however, involved property rights laws. The family was sentenced to slavery. The Garner story is the subject of an opera by Toni Morrison and Richard Danielpour, performed this summer by Cincinnati Opera. Williamsburg Follow Ohio 32 to Ohio 276 into Williamsburg.

The anti-slavery effort here revolved around members of the Huber family, who coordinated the transfer of runaways with other townspeople, including the Pease, Fee and Peterson families. You'll see several Huber homes and visit the burial sites of citizens prominent in the effort. Bethel Take Ohio 133 from Williamsburg to Bethel. A convenient distance between Felicity and Williamsburg made Bethel an obvious stop on the railroad. It is the home of Sen.

Thomas Morris, who boldly spoke out against slavery before the Civil War. Felicity Continue on Ohio 133 to Felicity. If the Huber family dominated the Underground Railroad in Williamsburg, the Fee family dominated anti-slavery in Felicity. Notice especially the O.P.S. Fee Store.

Although Felicity was an anti-slave town, Oliver Perry Spencer Fee represented himself as pro-slavery. New information shows that, in fact, he often hid runaways and sent slave trackers on wild goose chases. Moscow Continue south on Ohio 133 to U.S. 52, go west and enjoy the river views in Moscow. Notable in the Underground Railroad operation here was Thomas Fee and his family.

At least five family members were conductors on the railroad in Ohio and Kentucky. The Fee home site and villa still stand and FALL SALE (her 1,000 1 dresses in stock We'll Enicsiicp a 4 match www.tileshop.com imagine, design, create. OB any pnee ODD all things tile The Tile Shop has the widest selection of the most beautiful natural stone, ceramic and porcelain in the country, all the supplies you need to get the job done, Including our Tile Time seminars at the store every Wednesday at 6 p.m. and every Saturday at 9:30 a.m. where we'll show you everything you need to know to do the tile Job yourself! Other Underground Railroad sites Ohio Springboro: Springboro Area Historical Society Museum self-guided tour, (937) 748-091 6.

Wilberforce: Ohio National African-American Museum, (800) 752-2603. Washington County: www.mariettaohio.org or (800) 288-2577. Lawrence County: (740) 377-4550. Flushing Underground Railroad Museum, (740) 968-2080. Oberlin Heritage Center: (440) 774-1 700.

Brecksville: Experience the Underground Railroad interactive program, (800) 468-4070. Indiana Fountain City: Home of Levi Coffin, the father of the Underground Raihoad, (765) 847-2432. Fishers: Connor Prairie, living museum offers occasional Underground Railroad programs, (800) 966-1 836. Madison: Railroad conductor homes recognized by the Department of Historic Preservation, (317) 232-1646. 'fro; Open Sunday in slin tnly 1 TILE TIME CLASSES Wednesdays: 6pm 8pm Saturdays: -1 1 WWII 7844 Remington Road Olde Montgomery 513.793.2727.