Editing Piqua, Ohio (section)

===Rossville===
[[Rossville, Ohio]] was the first free-black enclave in the region.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Purdum|first=Todd S.|title=The Republican Who Saved Civil Rights|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/03/the-movers-behind-the-civil-rights-act-105216|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=POLITICO Magazine|date=March 31, 2014 |language=en}}</ref> Virginia [[Planter (American South)|planter]] [[John Randolph of Roanoke]], who served as a U.S. representative and senator, arranged for the emancipation of [[Randolph Freedpeople|his nearly 400 slaves]] in his will of 1833.<ref>[http://studythepast.com/civilrightsundergraduate/materials/thomas%20jefferson%20and%20antislavery%20_%20the%20myth%20goes%20on%20_%20paul%20finkelman.pdf Peter Finkelman, "Thomas Jefferson and Anti-Slavery: The Myth Goes On"], ''Virginia Historical Quarterly'', Vol. 102, No. 2 (April 1994), p. 222, accessed March 14, 2011</ref> He also provided money for his executor to relocate the [[freedmen]] to the free state of Ohio, and to buy land and supplies to help them establish a settlement. The will was challenged but in 1846, his 383 slaves gained their freedom. Most of these freedmen settled in [[Rumley, Ohio]].<ref>[http://www.shelbycountyhistory.org/schs/blackhistory/randolphsohio.htm David Lodge, "Randolph Slaves Come to Ohio"], Untitled article, ''Cincinnati Gazette'', July 2, 1846, at Shelby County History, 1998, accessed March 15, 2011</ref> Some eventually founded Rossville and an associated cemetery, known as the [[African Jackson Cemetery]].<ref>[http://www.remarkableohio.org/HistoricalMarker.aspx?historicalMarkerId=106054 Randolph Settlement/Jackson Cemetery (African)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221023708/http://www.remarkableohio.org/HistoricalMarker.aspx?historicalMarkerId=106054 |date=December 21, 2013 }}, [[Ohio Historical Society]], 2008.  Accessed December 20, 2013.</ref><ref>Owen, Lorrie K., ed.  ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''.  Vol. 2. [[St. Clair Shores, Michigan|St. Clair Shores]]: Somerset, 1999, 1002.</ref> These are located on the northeast side of the Great Miami River; they may be accessed by nearby North County Road 25-A. The community has since been incorporated into Piqua.{{when|date=December 2018}}{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}