The Underground Railroad in West Milton
Side A:
In the year 1798, several prospectors traveled north from their North Carolina homes in search of new lands for themselves and their friends. Four of these known Quaker prospectors were John Mast, Jr., Martin Davenport and David Hoover from North Carolina and Benjamin Iddings from Tennessee. These men examined the country on both sides of the Stillwater River and returned to North Carolina to prepare their families for the long journey. Upon departure, sixty-four relatives and abolitionists made up the wagon train. The first group arrived in September of 1801; the second group in 1802, and a third group from Georgia in 1805.
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Side B:
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The founders of the Village of West Milton were Joseph and Rachel (McCool) Evans. His birth and that of his brothers and sisters is recorded in the Bush River Quaker Records in Newberry, South Carolina. Shortly after they arrived, he decided that Section 21 would be ideal for a village. The first sale of the 62 lots was made in 1807. The Society of Friends (Quakers) required that all church members were to help their fellow man. As the Quakers built their homes, many had places for the slaves to hide. The slaves knew that when they arrived in this area, they would find a safe place to stay. A group of runaway slaves from South Carolina found shelter at the home of Marmaduke Coate, where they stayed for several days on their way to Canada. An enslaved woman named Flossie was one of them. After the Civil War, Flossie mysteriously found her way back to the Coate home dressed in fine clothes.
Marker is on Tipp Pike (Ohio Route 571), on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
