SUNDAY DRIVER Museum stands for slaves on run

ASHTABULA -- The sleepy blue waters of Lake Erie must have been the most beautiful sight in the world for a runaway slave fresh from the brutal oppression of the antebellum South.
To the weary, frightened slave who had just covered hundreds of miles of unfamiliar terrain and dodged repeated risk of capture, those shining waters must have seemed like the long-elusive golden gates to freedom.
And that's exactly what they were.
Canada waited just 35 miles across the rolling waves, and in the years before the Civil War, Canada promised every former slave a new life with no one to call master except God above.
Final stop
Ashtabula Harbor's Hubbard House sits a stone's throw from Lake Erie's sandy shores, and in the days before the Emancipation Proclamation, this stately brick home was a final stop on the Underground Railroad.
Today the Hubbard House is an Underground Railroad museum where modern folks can learn more about how fugitive slaves found their way to freedom in the North.
On their way to Canada, an estimated 300 runaways stopped at the Hubbard House, built in 1841 and nicknamed "Mother Hubbard's Cupboard" by Underground Railroad conductors.
Helping them during the final leg of their treacherous journey was staunch abolitionist William Hubbard and his wife and family.
A prominent citizen and successful merchant, Hubbard used a sailing ship to transport goods across Lake Erie to Canada.
He also used the ship to secretly transport fugitive slaves.
Before they set sail, most runaways hid in Hubbard's barn or lakeshore warehouse.
Some slaves might have also hidden inside the house itself, and during renovations, a small, mysterious compartment was uncovered inside the home's pantry.
During a tour of the Hubbard House, visitors will see where this cubbyhole was located and will receive an impromptu education on some of the little-known facts of the Underground Railroad.
Clues from quilts
For instance, many people don't know that quilts often provided runaways with the clues they needed to get them safely to the next stop on their journey.
Quilts with distinctive patterns were often hung outside on clotheslines as a way to signal fugitive slaves about which way to go and how to get there.
For example, a quilt sewn with a zigzag pattern might indicate to a runaway that he or she should avoid traveling in a straight line.
Another pattern that resembled a bear would warn the runaway to watch for danger in the woods.
A hand-sewn quilt with patterns such as these is on display in the Hubbard House.
The quilt is just one of the numerous slave and Civil War-era artifacts and memorabilia museum visitors will see.
In the basement of the home, for example, Civil War enthusiasts will find items used in battle, including rifles, swords and a primitive-looking surgeon's kit.
And in the upstairs ballroom, visitors can study a display honoring famed Underground Railroad conductor and escaped slave Harriet Tubman.
Daily life
The Hubbard House museum is also dedicated to providing visitors with a glimpse of what daily life was like for an 1850s upper-middle-class family, and with its original woodwork, four working fireplaces, upstairs ballroom and period furnishings, the Hubbard House invites visitors to soak in the gentle warmth and simplicity of yesteryear.
The museum is open from noon to 6 p.m. Fridays through Sundays Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. Call ahead for winter hours.
Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $3 for children.
For more information, call (440) 964-8168.