Ripley, Ohio
Encyclopedia
Brown County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 42,285 people, 15,555 households, and 11,790 families residing in the county. The population density was 86 people per square mile . There were 17,193 housing units at an average density of 35 per square mile...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, along the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
50 miles southeast of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. The population was 1,745 at the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
.
History
Colonel James Poage, a veteran of the American RevolutionAmerican Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, arrived in the free state of Ohio from Staunton, Virginia
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....
in 1804 to claim the 1000 acres (4 km²) he had been granted in what was then the Virginia Military District. Poage was among a large group of veterans who received land grants beyond the Ohio for their service and freed their slaves when they settled there. Poage and his family laid out the town of Staunton in 1812; it was renamed in 1816 to honor General Eleazar Wheelock Ripley, an American officer of the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, .
The proximity of the river and of the slave state of Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
on the opposite shore led to Ripley's role as an early stop on the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
, a network of citizens helping slaves escape north to freedom. A number of prominent abolitionists
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
lived in the town in the 1800s, mainly on Front Street near the river, including John Rankin
John Rankin (abolitionist)
John Rankin was an American Presbyterian minister, educator and abolitionist. Upon moving to Ripley, Ohio in 1822, he became known as one of Ohio's first and most active "conductors" on the Underground Railroad...
, former slave John Parker
John Parker (abolitionist)
John P. Parker was an African-American abolitionist, inventor, iron moulder and industrialist who helped hundreds of slaves to freedom in the Underground Railroad resistance movement based in Ripley, Ohio. He was one of the few blacks to patent his inventions before 1900...
, Thomas McCague, Thomas Collins and Dr. Alexander Campbell
Alexander Campbell (American politician)
Alexander Campbell was a National Republican politician from Ohio. He served in the United States Senate.Born in Frederick County, Virginia, Campbell moved to eastern Tennessee and then to Kentucky with his parents. After studying medicine at Transylvania University, Campbell moved to Ohio in...
.
Rankin moved from Kentucky to Ripley in 1822 and later built a house (now a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
) on Liberty Hill overlooking the town, the river and the Kentucky shore. From there, he signaled escaping slaves with a lantern on a flagpole http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/page.cfm?ID=4626 and provided them shelter. A slave woman who crossed the frozen river to Ripley and stayed in his house in 1838 inspired the character Eliza in Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
's landmark book, Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman....
. The bestselling book of the nineteenth century, it aroused controversy and strengthened the abolitionist movement. Rankin was the minister at the Ripley Presbyterian Church for twenty-four years.
Geography
Ripley is located at 38°44′22"N 83°50′28"W (38.739416, -83.841102). The town is surrounded by steep, rolling hills on the northeast, Red Oak Creek on the southeast, and the Ohio River on the southwest.According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the village has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.8 km²), of which, 1 square miles (2.6 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (5.56%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 1,745 people, 745 households, and 467 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,722.2 people per square mile (667.1/km²). There were 896 housing units at an average density of 884.3 per square mile (342.5/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 91.69% White, 6.65% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.17% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.69% of the population.
There were 745 households out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 16.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.2% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.97.
In the village the population was spread out with 24.9% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 83.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.8 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $30,000, and the median income for a family was $39,330. Males had a median income of $29,318 versus $20,977 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $15,268. About 11.7% of families and 15.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.9% of those under age 18 and 15.7% of those age 65 or over. The village celebrates an annual "Tobacco Festival" to celebrate tobacco, the primary source of income in the area for decades.
Notable residents
- Steve StiversSteve StiversSteve Stivers is the U.S. Representative for He is a member of the Republican Party. Stivers previously served in the Ohio Senate, representing the 16th district...
- U.S. RepresentativeUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for - Steven M. NewmanSteven M. NewmanSteven M. Newman is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first man to walk solo around the world. In 1983, the journalist set out from his Bethel, Ohio home, traversing 20 countries and hiking just over 15,000 miles in four years. Throughout his journey Steven would send letters to...
- The Worldwalker, the first man to walk solo around the world. - Charles Young
- John ParkerJohn Parker (abolitionist)John P. Parker was an African-American abolitionist, inventor, iron moulder and industrialist who helped hundreds of slaves to freedom in the Underground Railroad resistance movement based in Ripley, Ohio. He was one of the few blacks to patent his inventions before 1900...
- John RankinJohn Rankin (abolitionist)John Rankin was an American Presbyterian minister, educator and abolitionist. Upon moving to Ripley, Ohio in 1822, he became known as one of Ohio's first and most active "conductors" on the Underground Railroad...
, abolitionist and Presbyterian minister
See also
- Underground RailroadUnderground RailroadThe Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
- List of Underground Railroad sites
- List of cities and towns along the Ohio River