BY RANDY McNUTT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEW RICHMOND - While a book about abolitionist editor William Lloyd Garrison was recently considered for the National Book Award, another major anti-slavery publishing figure rested in obscurity.
In 1834, editor James G. Birney arrived in this little Ohio River town to publish an abolitionist weekly called The Philanthropist. From his office at Walnut and Willow streets, he attacked slaveholders and promoted the idea that slaves should be freed gradually, by applying religious and political pressure.
"Sometimes people inquire about him," said Hazel Davis, curator of the Ross-Gowdy House museum. "He's a part of our lore - and the nation's."
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5-PART SERIES
In the past eight years, thousands of new residents have relocated to Southwestern Ohio and Southeastern Indiana. Their arrival has turned once-isolated farms into sprawling subdivisions, and small towns have struggled to maintain public services to the residents.
Also threatened have been the rich pasts and historical icons found in Butler, Warren, Clermont and Warren counties in Ohio, and Dearborn, Switzerland and Ohio counties in Indiana.
Wednesday through Sunday, Enquirer reporters profiled historic people and places in the region. It's an opportunity to tell new and old residents alike of the area's famous and sometimes forgotten past.
Wednesday: Legacy of the Shakers of Warren County.
Thursday: Hamilton's Millionaire's Row
Friday: Runyan family cemetery
Saturday: Switerland Co. winery
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The paper's reputation shone briefly, but sensationally, in towns that hosted the Underground Railroad.
Mr. Birney, a former slave owner-turned-publisher in Danville, Ky., moved to New Richmond after threats from pro-slavery people in his hometown. At least symbolically, New Richmond was a good location for the paper; slaves escaping from Kentucky had to cross the Ohio.
"You could walk across the river back then," Mrs. Davis said. "It was that low. Today, you couldn't do it, of course. It's hard for people to understand how anybody could actually walk across the river."
Mr. Birney's four-page paper carried advertisements from local people and groups such as the New Richmond Anti-Slavery Society. Although town sentiment ran 50-50 on the slavery issue, Mrs. Davis said, people on both sides guarded his printing shop.
"New Richmond protected his right to publish," she said. "We were in the Underground Railroad network then. Years ago, I remember living in a house on Market Street that had a tunnel leading to a house across the street. I think it was used for runaway slaves, but we don't know that for certain. What else would a tunnel be used for?"
Seeking greater visibility, Mr. Birney moved the paper to Cincinnati in 1836. By then, The Philanthropist had become a recognizable abolitionist publication and organ of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society. "We deem this new abolitionist effort an insult to our slaveholding neighbors, and an attempt to browbeat public opinion in this quarter," The Cincinnati Whig responded.
Mr. Birney's paper didn't last long. A mob burned its office and threw its lead type into the Ohio. An abolitionist associate, Achilles Pugh, relocated the paper to Springboro, in Warren County, where it was published briefly, said Don Ross, a Springboro historian.
By then, Mr. Birney had become interested in seeking national office. He ran for president on the anti-slavery Liberty Party ticket in 1840 and 1844. His running mate, U.S. Sen. Thomas Morris, came from Bethel, in Clermont County.
These days, too few people come to New Richmond to inquire about Birney, his paper and the Civil War era, said Village Manager David Kennedy. People are too busy recovering from the disastrous 1997 flood to think much about ancient history.
"New Richmond is the old and the new," he said. "People are moving up on the hill overlooking the business district. We have to convince them of the importance of the old section of town. The history is here. That's the key."
It is kept alive by Historic New Richmond Inc., which purchased the red-brick Ross-Gowdy House in 1972 to open it as a museum. The prominent house near the river was built in 1853. The group has also reprinted The Philanthropist and encouraged the state to erect an historic marker for Mr. Birney on U.S. 52.
At his death in 1851, he was considered a leading abolitionist, although overshadowed by Mr. Garrison and others. Yet Mr. Birney helped arrange the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London and assisted runaway slaves who were captured and tried in Cincinnati. "Unfortunately, we don't know much about his personal life or even where he's buried," said Aileen Whitt, a genealogical researcher and member of Historic New Richmond. "By reading his paper, we know he was fiery and provocative."
The Ross-Gowdy House is open 1-5 p.m. Sundays, or by appointment. Call 553-2375.
