By REBECCA SLOAN

By REBECCA SLOAN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

RIPLEY, Ohio — High on a hilltop overlooking the Ohio River in a tiny town called Ripley sits a little house with a larger than life history.

It is a modest abode with humble rooms and weathered mortar, but it is somehow majestic, somehow closer to heaven on its lofty bluff beneath the changeable mists of blue sky.

And how could this place be anything but holy?

This is the Rankin House — the house that harbored an estimated 2,000 runaway slaves on their journey to freedom along the Underground Railroad.

Beckoned by a single light burning in the home’s window, fugitive slaves on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River would cross the water and climb the steep hill toward John Rankin’s sheltering doorstep.

Rankin, a Presbyterian minister, made aiding runaways his life’s mission and was one of the first and most active conductors on the Underground Railroad.

His work and writings influenced other prominent abolitionists including William Lloyd Garrison, Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, and his “Letters on American Slavery,” which was published in 1826, became standard reading for abolitionists all over the United States.

Rankin also inspired Stowe in her writing of the infamous “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

After telling Stowe about a courageous slave woman who arrived at his little house on the hill after crossing the frozen Ohio River clutching her child in her arms, Stowe was so moved she wove the account into her book.

But Rankin didn’t always live in the little, brick house atop the hill.

He was actually born a Southerner in Tennessee where he was educated in theology.

His opposition to slavery eventually prompted him to move further north to Kentucky where he started a school for slaves. The school ended when Rankin was driven away by a pro-slavery mob.

In 1822, Rankin and his wife and children came to Ripley, Ohio, a river town where many anti-slavery Southerners had settled.

A stone’s throw from Kentucky, a slave state, Ripley was a gateway to the North and a crucial stop on the Underground Railroad and eventual liberation in Canada.

After settling in Ripley, the Rankins first lived in a home along the banks of the Ohio River.

However, the close proximity to townsfolk and the bustle of the wharf made it a precarious location for helping escaped slaves. Rankin decided a more secluded location on higher ground would serve his purpose better.

He selected a spot on a 540-foot-hill overlooking the town and completed a house there around 1828.

The rest is history.

Along with his wife and 13 children, Rankin consistently outwitted slave catchers and was particularly proud of the fact that no runaway seeking shelter in his home was ever recaptured.

Today visitors to the Rankin House will find a peaceful, little dwelling decorated with period furnishings and Underground Railroad memorabilia.

In a front room, a faithful oil lamp sits in the window and serves as a stirring reminder of what that single light must have meant to frightened fugitives on the Kentucky side of the river scanning the hilltop for the signal that it was safe to cross.

Visitors to the Rankin House will also find an airy tranquillity that’s hard to put into words — especially when they step outdoors and stroll the spacious yard.

Maybe it’s the breathtaking view of the sleepy Ohio River as it bends through wooded hillsides.

Or maybe it’s the whispering breeze and the serene silence of the remote location far removed from traffic noise.

Or maybe it’s the poignant history that still lives here — the poignant history that seems to have saturated the very ground.

In 1850 when the Fugitive Slave Laws were passed, it became illegal for Ohioans to help runaways, but Rankin and his family continued to do so.

The Rankins’ rare conviction earned them a place among historical figures, and at their graves in Ripley’s town cemetery is a monument titled “Freedom’s Heroes.”

The Rankin House continues to make history.

Besides being listed as a National Historic Landmark, the home was featured in a 2004 film titled “Brother’s of the Borderland,” which tells the tale of a white minister and freed black man who join forces to help escaped slaves.

The movie was narrated by Oprah Winfrey, who visited the Rankin House in 2003.

The film plays continually at the Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.