03/01/2026
Aunt Polly Jackson, a formerly enslaved woman, is remembered in local history as one of the many unsung figures who helped freedom seekers along the Underground Railroad.
Having endured the brutality of slavery herself, she eventually escaped and made her way north, settling in Ohio in a small community of formerly enslaved African Americans known as “Africa,” near Ripley. The area was closely tied to Underground Railroad routes, and many fugitives passed through on their journey toward freedom in Canada or northern states. Some stayed, building lives in these settlements; others pressed on after resting.
Living there, Aunt Polly saw firsthand the dangers that still followed those who had escaped bo***ge. Slave catchers, informants, and anti-abolitionist groups moved through the region, hunting men, women, and children who had already risked everything for freedom. Protection was uncertain, and many communities relied on their own courage rather than outside help.
According to stories preserved in local memory, Aunt Polly refused to stand by helplessly. Though elderly, she turned her home into a place of refuge for fugitives passing through. She is remembered for using whatever she had on hand to defend herself and others if necessary — including a butcher knife and even kettles of boiling water kept ready in case slave hunters approached.
These accounts, whether recorded in documents or carried forward through oral tradition, speak to the reality that resistance along the Underground Railroad did not always look like dramatic rescues or famous speeches. Sometimes it looked like an older woman opening her door, offering food and shelter, sharing directions, and refusing to let fear control her life.
Her story reflects the courage of countless Black women whose names rarely appear in textbooks but whose actions shaped the path to freedom for many others.
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