fail to mention a
settlement of prosperous Negroes who were keeping pace with their white
neighbors.

"In Van Buren township is a settlement of COLORED people, numbering
about 400. They constitute half the population of the township, and are
as prosperous as their white neighbors. Neither are they behind them in
religion, morals and intelligence, having churches and schools of their
own. Their location, however, is not a good one, the land being too flat
and wet. An attempt was made in July, 1846, to colonize with them 385 of
the emancipated slaves of the celebrated John Randolph, of Va., after
they were driven from Mercer county; but a considerable party of whites
would not willingly permit it, and they were scattered by families among
the people of Shelby and Miami who were willing to take them."--Howe's
"Historical Collections of Ohio," pp. 465-466.

This effort at colonizing so many Negroes in the State of Ohio led to much
discussion. There arose an anti-free Negro party which sounded the alarm
against such philanthropy and undertook to frighten all blacks away. The
sentiment of such alarmists may be obtained from the following:

"By the following letter from a gentleman on a tour through Virginia to
the editor, it will appear that we are to have a colony of free negroes
(no less than five hundred) planted in our adjoining county. Much as we
commiserate the situation of those who, when emancipated, are obliged to
leave their country or again be enslaved, we trust our constitution and
laws are not so defective as to suffer us to be overrun by such a
wretched population:

"'Richmond, Va., May 10, 1819.

"'_Dear Sir_:--Since my arrival in this county I have understood that
a large family of negroes, consisting of about five hundred, have
lately been liberated and are to be marched to Ohio, and there
settled on land provided for them agreeably to the will of a Mr.
Gess, who formerly owned them. There are persons now engaged in
collecting the poor miserable beings from different quarters and
driving them like cattle to Goochland county, from whence they will
take up their line of march to Ohio. I am told that they are perhaps
as depraved and ignorant a set of people as any of their kind and
that their departure is hailed with joy by all those who have lived
in their neighborhood. Ohio will