On the eve of Tuesday, June 11, Ohio Republican Dontavius Jarrells of Columbia announced plans to pass a resolution recognizing Randolph Freedpeople’s history. It’s a dim but largely forgotten incident in Ohio’s history, and Jarrells hopes his effort will be the first step toward making amends.
In 1846, a white mob in New Bremen detained a group of nearly 400 recently freed blacks. When the Randolph Freedpeople are released, their former owner will save money to buy the land. His executor settled in Mercer County because there was a prospering Black settlement there called Cartagena. But white residents balked at the prospect of hundreds of fresh black neighbors.
When the Freedmen disembarked from the canal boats in New Bremen, they were heading for land that belonged to them. The white mob simply wouldn’t let them in and forced them to leave the county.
“You know, tomorrow we’ll be celebrating June 11,” Jarrells said, “and the fight for freedom is still going on.”
A white mob in Ohio has denied land to hundreds of former slaves, and the legislature wants to right the wrong
Shines with delicate
After the dismissal, the Randolph Freedpeople spread out into neighboring counties and did what they could to keep their story alive. People like Helen and Isaac Gilmore started a petite museum in Rossville, a settlement on the outskirts of Piqua where some of the Freedmen landed. Once passed, these artifacts went to the National African American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce.
Curator Hadley Drodge brought photos, a top hat, a handmade quilt and a family Bible from her collection. She described it as “just a small cross-section of the historical evidence of this story.”
Pointing to the Bible, she explained: “This was owned by Rosa Coles and given to her by her mother at Christmas and it contained two strands of hair, which to me was so profound because, again, here is the material evidence of the story.”
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Jarrells spoke to reporters Tuesday surrounded by these photos and artifacts – physical reminders of how tough Randolph Freed’s descendants worked to preserve their history. Despite these efforts, Jarrells said, the story of Randolph Freedpeople is almost completely unknown
“The first thing most of my colleagues told me was, ‘Wow, this happened? This happened in Ohio? I didn’t even know,” Jarrells said.
“AND AND I didn’t know, to be honest,” he added.
This lack of awareness frustrates him even more in delicate of the descendants’ continued efforts to attract the attention of people in state government.
In the early 1990s, Paisha Thomas recalled how her grandmother and several other descendants gathered on her birthday and wrote letters to state leaders. “George Voinovich was the governor at the time,” she said, noting that they also wrote to several Ohio lawmakers as well as the governor of Virginia.
“And what they got through was: We’re sorry to hear that,” Thomas said, bitterly recalling that one lawmaker’s response referred to “land that you thought belonged to your ancestors.”
“But for the most part, the response was that we suggest you consult a lawyer and that’s it,” she said.
What does this thing look like?
Jarrells argues that atonement for what happened in 1846 begins with admitting it.
“The first part is awareness,” he said, “making sure our state realizes that something like this happened and that we should do something.”
“And then the second step,” he continued, “is figuring out what that thing might look like?”
While this open-ended task leaves room for many possibilities, the work also becomes complex. Jarrell’s ideas include a museum or a scholarship fund for descendants. Jarrells suggested that lawmakers consider passing state-owned land to descendants.
Local historian Larry Hamilton emphasized the importance of strengthening Randolph Freedpeoples’ story. The former history teacher with 30 years of teaching experience appeared wearing a T-shirt that read “Black History Matters.”
“I didn’t put it on for no reason,” he joked.
Hamilton argued: “One of the things I have long promoted is the idea of appreciating and honoring the fight for freedom, especially in connection with the Randolph Freedpeople.”
“There were people who were struggling and deserved to have their proprietary identity recognized,” he continued. “When it comes to public ownership, this is a small way to provide some level of restorative justice.”
Regardless of the potential challenges and whatever form the response takes, Jarrells struck an confident tone.
“I’ve been talking to the governor’s team, I’m talking to our Republican colleagues,” he said. “Nobody I talked to told me it was something we shouldn’t talk about.”
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