Renovated Rankin House tells story of slaves running to freedom
Uncovered details restore appearance to when it served as a station on the Underground Railroad
OUR HISTORY
RIPLEY, Ohio – The John Rankin House looks as good as new. Or at least as it looked 185 years ago when the Rev. John Rankin, a Presbyterian minister and ardent abolitionist, made his home a temporary haven for slaves escaping from Kentucky.
The two-story house perched on Liberty Hill in Ripley, 50 miles east of Cincinnati, has undergone a major renovation of the exterior and interior, and will be rededicated on Saturday, Aug. 23.
Visitors to the National Historic Landmark will find the home looking much as it did when the Rankins lived there.
In the decades leading to the Civil War, the Rankin home was a station on the Underground Railroad, a network of abolitionists and free blacks who helped slaves escape to freedom.
A light in the window served as a beacon for runaway slaves crossing the Ohio River. Ohio was a free state, but federal law required that fugitive slaves be apprehended and returned.
The Rev. Rankin, his wife, Jean, and their 13 children gave refuge to more than 2,000 escaping slaves by hiding them in the cellar beneath the barn or in the attic, as many as 12 at one time, according to the Ohio History Connection, formerly the Ohio Historical Society, which has owned the site since 1938.
Uncovering history takes looking below the surface
Efforts were made to set the house as authentic to the period of the 1830s and 1840s as possible. The first renovation in 1948 had added historically inaccurate details, like a portico at the front door that has been removed.
"Methods of research are very different today than they were in 1948 for restoration," said Betty Campbell, the site manager and president of Ripley Heritage Inc., the nonprofit that operates the house.
Paint analysis of the exposed brick exterior showed that the house had been painted twice – the original brownish red, then ochre. It has been repainted brownish red, as Rankin had it.
Chris Buchanan, the project manager from the Ohio History Connection, acted as a "detective architect" to deduce the details of the house. He figured out the type of locks used from the outline left on the original front door, and added shutters to the windows based on the hardware still attached outside.
"The real surprise is the stenciling," Buchanan said.
The doorway into the parents' bedroom had been enlarged for double doors in 1863. To restore the original single door, the door frame molding was removed, revealing a patch of wallpaper.
"We were excited about that," said Campbell, "but then they did analysis of the plaster and wallpaper, and underneath the wallpaper was this stenciling, even earlier and original to the house."
Research identified a few houses in New York state from the same period with similar stenciling patterns, which they were able to recreate.
Artist Kris Lemmon of Deco Works Studio in East Walnut Hills, who specialize in historic restoration and replication, was brought in. Her team carefully measured and painted the stencils by hand. The parlor walls are now cream colored with turquoise trim; the bedroom is salmon with green stenciling.
A sampling of the original stenciling has been preserved so visitors can compare it to the new decor.
The $1.1 million renovation included a new roof, electrical wiring, heating and air conditioning, and a parking lot.
Telling stories of 'Eliza' and fending off bounty hunters
The renovated house tells the story of a brave family who took great risks to help their fellow man. The focus is on two incidents that occurred at the site during this period.
In February 1838, a runaway slave and her infant daughter crossed the frozen Ohio River from Dover, Ky., to reach the Rankins.
The Rev. Rankin recounted the story to family friend Harriet Beecher Stowe, who adapted it for the character Eliza in her 1852 novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which helped shape public sentiment against slavery.
In their autobiographies, the Rev. Rankin and his son, Adam Lowry Rankin, wrote of defending their home against bounty hunters in 1841.
Often overlooked is the role of Jean Rankin, who sewed clothes and kept her children and the runaway slaves fed while under the threat of bounty hunters when her husband was away preaching for days at a time.
"Jean cast as big a shadow as John," said Erin Bartlett, regional site coordinator for Ohio History Connection.
Picturing that many people living in the cramped four-bedroom house becomes more vivid thanks to the details of daily life uncovered by the restoration crew.
"We don't know how accurate it is," Bartlett said of the renovation, "but we're doing the best we can to tell the story."
IF YOU GO
What: The Rankin House rededication
Where: 6152 Rankin Hill Road, Ripley
When: Saturday, Aug. 23, 11 a.m.; free admission at rededication ceremony
Open: First weekend in May through October, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday
Admission: $4; grades K-12 $2; age 5 and under and Ohio History Connection members free
Information: 937-392-1627; 800-752-2705 or Ohio History Connection website: www.ohiohistory.org/rankin
MORE ON RANKIN HOUSE
http://retro.cincinnati.com/Topics/Rankin-House
http://retro.cincinnati.com/Topics/Article/410/Pieces-of-puzzle-being-dug-up-at-Rankin-house