Editing Ripley, Ohio (section)

==History==
Colonel James Poage, a veteran of the [[American Revolution]], arrived in the free state of [[Ohio]] from [[Staunton, Virginia]] in 1804 to claim the {{convert|1000|acre|km2}} he had been granted in what was called the Virginia Military District. Poage was among a large group of veterans who received land grants in what was first organized as the [[Northwest Territory]] north of the [[Ohio River]] for their service in the [[American Revolutionary War]], and freed the people that they had enslaved when they settled there. Poage and his family laid out the town of Staunton in 1812; it was renamed in 1816 to honor General [[Eleazar Wheelock Ripley]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_udUyAQAAMAAJ | title=The History of Brown County, Ohio: Containing a History of the County, Its Townships, Towns, Churches, Schools, Etc. | publisher=Higginson Book Company | year=1883  | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_udUyAQAAMAAJ/page/n396 416]}}</ref> an American officer of the [[War of 1812]].

Given its location on the river, Ripley became a destination for slaves escaping from slavery in [[Kentucky]] on the other side. Both black and white residents developed a network, making Ripley an early stop on the [[Underground Railroad]], to help slaves escape north to freedom.  A number of prominent [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionists]] lived in the town in the 19th century, mainly on Front Street near the river.  [[John Rankin (abolitionist)|John Rankin]] moved from Kentucky to Ripley in 1822 and later built a house on Liberty Hill overlooking the town, the river, and the Kentucky shore. From there, he signaled escaping slaves with a lantern on a flagpole<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/page.cfm?ID=4626|title = African Americans in Ohio}}</ref> and provided them shelter. The house is now known as the [[John Rankin House (Ripley, Ohio)|John Rankin House]], and has been designated as a [[National Historic Landmark]]. Rankin was also the minister at the Ripley [[Presbyterian Church]] for twenty-four years.