Letter from George Duncan to Thomas Rotch, Bainbridge, August 14, 1820

A three page letter 8" x 10.1/4"(20.5cm x 25.5cm) from George Duncan, a fugitive slave who was given refuge in Thomas Rotch's Springhill home, a stop on the Underground Railroad. After leaving Kendal, Duncan informs Rotch that he arrived safely in Geauga County on his way to Canada and is being well-treated by avowed enemies of slavery. He asks Rotch's help in finding Edy, his wife and protecting her from S. Spriggs, a known slavecatcher. Duncan offers suggestions for an alternative route to Bainbridge to avoid Spriggs. He asks Rotch not to mention any of this letter to anyone. According to Dr. Roy E. Finkenbine (Ohio History, 2016. Issue 1), West Liberty to which Duncan refers is in West Virginia north of Wheeling; fugitive slaves followed that route across the Ohio River to Quaker Communities in Mt Pleasant, St Clairsville, Ohio, then went northeastward to Massillon, then to Lake northward where by 1820 vessels carried fugitives to Canada and usually southwestern Ontario. Samuel Spriggs was a lawyer, landowner, important figure in early Wheeling and probably Duncan's owner. Martin Kents in Suffield is Martin Kent, a Quaker farmer; Elihu L Kent in another Quaker farmer in Bainbridge who was also active in the Ohio Underground Railroad network. John Braydays is probably John Brady in West Liberty