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Underground Railroad
Alonson Bull and his brother Jason were abolitionists, Jason serving as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad from Clinton Chapel at 3100 North High Street. Jason’s photograph is in the Wilbur H. Siebert Collection at the Ohio Historical Society.
Edward L. Sebring (1839?-1905) worked with Jason Bull to aid fugitive slaves escaping to freedom in Canada from Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, to the next safe station. His photograph is in the Wilbur H. Siebert Collection of the Ohio Historical Society.
James G. Bull
James G. Bull (1838-1927) was a grandson of Thomas Bull. James served as Columbus Mayor from 1865 to 1868 and from 1871 to 1875. His grandfather, Thomas Bull, was the first white settler of the area and James’ father, Alonson Bull, founded Clintonville in 1846. (Photo courtesy of Columbus Metropolitan Libraries)
Other early settlers…
include the Smiths, Websters, Coes, Whipps, Hunts, Wilsons, Bucks, and the Cookes. John Buck acquired land around Henderson and High early on, and then sold some of the land to Chauncey Cooke. Cooke in turn donated the land to the Clinton Township in 1842 to be used as a school.
Bishop Philander Chase
… is credited with starting Kenyon College somewhere near North High Street and Selby Roads, in a house that has since been razed. An earlier home of Chase still stands at 62 Lincoln Avenue.
The Webers
I found this little biography about Frederick Weber (1806-1885) and his son George (b. 1843) in A Centennial Biographical History of the City of Columbus and Franklin County Ohio (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1901) pp. 278-280. I admit I have done little research on this Clinton Township family and have not even researched where their farm was located.
Barnabas Phinney (1813-1899)
Barnabas Phinney (ca. 1813-1899) came to the area in 1838, and purchased 60 acres of land near the northwest corner of today’s Henderson Road and North High Street. In addition to farming, Phinney was an investor in the toll road running from Columbus to Worthington, and in the electric streetcar company. His house was said to be majestic. He and his wife had no children, and after his death most of the property was sold. A bit more biographical information can be found in A Centennial Biographical History of the City of Columbus and Franklin County Ohio (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1901) p. 872 excerpted here. His obituary from the Columbus Dispatch January 30, 1899 is here.
