Person:James Poage (1)

Colonel James Poage, the founder of Ripley, Ohio, was a staunch Presbyterian who was taught to hate slavery and attracted other abolitionists to the settlement, making Ripley a key point in the Underground Railroad. Source: Abolitionist towns - Ripley, Ohio

In 1804, Colonel James Poage, a slave holding Virginian, brought his family and his slaves down the Ohio River to settle on a plot of land that had been deeded to him by the state of Virginia in gratitude for his service in the American Revolution. The land was on the north side of the Ohio River, in the new state of Ohio. Ohio had been formed out of the Northwest Territory, where the Founding Fathers had decreed that slavery would be illegal. And now that Ohio was a state, slavery would be banned by its own constitution. But that was no worry to Colonel Poage. In fact, that's largely why he came. Colonel Poage had grown to loathe slavery and slave holding. But Virginia law made it difficult for him to free his slaves there, and his opinions about slavery made him some powerful enemies.

So he came to Ohio, freed his slaves, and started a new settlement that would eventually come to be known as Ripley. Shortly thereafter, anti-slavery Southerners from Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and the Carolinas would also find their way to the settlement. They had seen slavery first-hand in their native states, and some of them, like Colonel Poague, had owned slaves themselves. Some others had been slaves. And now for the first time many of them would be able to voice publicly, without fear of reprisal, their disdain for slavery. And together they would do something about it. Ripley would become one of the pioneer abolitionist towns, and would spread its anti-slavery seeds all over the northern United States. Over the following decades, Ripley would inspire abolitionist towns to spring up throughout Ohio and the North, and Ripley citizens would become the inspiration for subsequent generations of abolitionists, including William Lloyd Garrison.

Poage's Influence:

Colonel James Poage, a surveyor and veteran of the Revolutionary War, laid out the town of Ripley (originally Staunton) in 1812. He was determined to live in a free state and settled on his claim as early as 1804.

Anti-Slavery Views:

Poage's anti-slavery views attracted other southern abolitionists to the settlement, including Dr. Alexander Campbell, Ripley's first physician and Ohio's first abolitionist, and Rev. John Rankin, a fiery Presbyterian minister.

Ripley as an Underground Railroad Hub:

Because of its location on the Ohio River, across from the slave state of Kentucky, Ripley became a key point in the Underground Railroad.

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Sources that provide names of children

1821 Will of daughter Polly Poage names the following family members:

Polly Poage [decedent]

James Poage [Father]
Mary Poage [Mother]

Elizabeth Poage [Sister]
Ann Poage [Sister]
Rebecca Poage [Sister]
Peggy Poage [Sister]
Sarah Poage [Sister]
Thomas H Poage [Brother]
George G Poage [Brother]
John C Poage [Brother, Executor]

1831 Will of son Thomas H Poage names the following family members:

Thomas H Poage [decedent]

James Poage [Father]

Patsey Poage [Sister]
Elizabeth Shepherd [Sister]
Ann Morrey (s/b Mooney) [Sister]
Rebecca Poage [Sister]
Margaret Williamsen [Sister]
Sarah Poage [Sister]
John C Poage [Brother]
Andrew W Poage [Brother]
George G Poage [Brother]
Robert Poage [Brother, Executor]

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Find A Grave.

Col James Crawford Poage
Birth 17 Mar 1760
Augusta County, Virginia, USA
Death 9 Apr 1820 (aged 60)
Ripley, Brown County, Ohio, USA
Burial
Old Ripley Cemetery
Ripley, Brown County, Ohio, USA

James founded the village of Staunton Ohio in 1812.
Staunton was later renamed Ripley in honor of General Ripley an officer in the war of 1812

children
John
James
Robert
Thomas
George
Patsy
Elizabeth
Patsy
Polly

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13891222/james-crawford-poage

Updated/Merged Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13891169/jas.-crawford-poage

CHILDREN: Andrew Woods Poage; Rebecca Knox; Sarah Pond; James Poage; Thomas H Poage; Elizabeth Shepherd; Margaret Williamson; John Crawford Poage; Polly Poage; George Gilliland Poage