CLEVELAND, Ohio — Before the Civil War, Northeast Ohio was a hotbed of abolitionism, dotted with safe houses and sites where fleeing slaves could find refuge.One that still stands: The Cozad-Bates House, a brick beauty on Mayfield Road in Cleveland’s University Circle neighborhood, built in 1853 and almost knocked down earlier this century.
The Cozad family, however, had a long history of outspoken abolitionism and was absolutely involved in the Underground Railroad, said Jeanne Van Atta, vice president of Restore Cleveland Hope, the nonprofit that fought to save the home and offers tours of the property. It made the Underground Railroad – the informal network of safe houses throughout the pre-Civil War northern United States – that much more dangerous.
A map in the restored Cozad-Bates House shows the labyrinth of routes that escaping slaves might have traveled – crossing into Ohio at Cincinnati, Portsmouth or Marietta, traveling north toward Cleveland, Ashtabula and Oberlin. Still, a young Justus Cozad offered a glimpse of life in the region in his journal: “I myself have worked many a day in the field with runaway slaves and always sat at the table to eat with them.”Two other Northeast Ohio stories highlight the drama and danger that faced escaping slaves, as well as the people who helped them:
After more than a decade of fundraising and restoration work, the home opened to the public in 2021, during the COVID pandemic.Because the tours started during COVID, she said, “We didn’t promote it as much as we might have. A lot of people are still discovering us.”