John Hart Crenshaw (November 19, 1797 – December 4, 1871) was an American landowner, salt maker, kidnapper and

slave trader The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and religions from ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The social, economic, and legal positions o ...

, based out of

Gallatin County, Illinois Gallatin County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it has a population of 4,946, making it the third-least populous county in Illinois. Its county ...

Slave trader

Although

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

was a free state, Crenshaw leased the

salt works A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The salt pans are shallow and expansive, allowing sunlight to penetrate and reach the seawater. Natural salt pans are formed throu ...

in nearby

Equality, Illinois Equality is a village in Equality Township, Gallatin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 539 at the 2020 census. Near the village are two points of interest, the Crenshaw House and the Garden of the Gods Wilderness. Equality ...

from the government, which permitted the use of

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

for the arduous labor of hauling and boiling brackish water to produce

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

. Crenshaw was widely believed to be involved in the kidnapping and sale of free black citizens in free states as slaves in the south, an enormously profitable trade later known as the Reverse Underground Railroad. Crenshaw was twice prosecuted for kidnapping, but never convicted. Due to Crenshaw's keeping slaves and kidnapping free blacks, who were then pressed into slavery, his house became popularly known as The Old Slave House and is alleged to be haunted. Stories of strange noises upstairs, coming from victims, date to 1851. Despite accounts that the rooms were slave quarters, Crenshaw family stories indicate a distinction between the plantation's household servants and field hands, and the victims of Crenshaw's criminal activities."The Old Slave House." National Park Service Network to Freedom Database. National Park Service. Accessed online May 23, 2010

/ref>Taylor, Troy. "Hickory Hill." www.prairieghosts.com, accessed May 23, 2010

Musgrave, Jon. 2005. ''Slaves, Salt, Sex & Mr. Crenshaw: The Real Story of the Old Slave House and America's Reverse Underground R.R.'' Published by Illinoishistory.com. 608 pages. A grand jury indicted Crenshaw for kidnapping, once in the mid-1820s (the outcome unknown) and again in 1842 when a trial jury acquitted him. The case's victims, Maria Adams and her seven or eight children, ended up as slaves in Texas. In 1828, Crenshaw took Frank Granger and 15 others downriver to

Tipton County, Tennessee Tipton County is a County (United States), county located on the western end of the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the Mississippi Delta region. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 60,970. Its county seat is Covingt ...

, and sold them as slaves. Crenshaw also kidnapped 'Lucinda' and her children in 1828. She ended up in

Barren County, Kentucky Barren County is a County (United States), county located in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 44,485. Its county seat is Glasgow, Kentucky, Glasgow. T ...

. Contemporary letters identify Crenshaw's role back both cases. Crenshaw also kidnapped Peter White and three others in the 1840s. They were sold into slavery in Arkansas, but were later rescued.

Underground Railroad National Network to Freedom

In 2004, the National Park Service named the Crenshaw Mansion, referred to as "The Old Slave House", as part of the

Underground Railroad Network to Freedom The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by Fugitive slaves in the United States, freedom seekers to escape to the slavery in the United States#Abolitionism in the North, abolitionist Northern Un ...

program to acknowledge its importance in the "reverse underground railroad" and the role John Crenshaw played in condemning free blacks to slavery for profit. File:The Old Slave House.jpg, 1970s photograph of the " Old Slave House" built by John Hart Crenshaw. File:Salineriverilscenic.jpg, The Saline River of southeastern

where John Crenshaw at the

Illinois Salines The Illinois Salines, also known as the Saline Springs or Great Salt Springs, is a salt spring site located along the Saline River in Gallatin County, Illinois. The site was a source of salt for Illinois' prehistoric settlers and is now an ar ...

, in

, leased out

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

slaves from their owners who boiled down

salt brine Brine (or briny water) is a high-concentration solution of salt (typically sodium chloride or calcium chloride) in water. In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawate ...

water from wells and the river into usable

for sale. File:Kidnapping a free black to be sold into slavery, 1834 woodcut.jpg, Kidnapping a free black in a non-slave state to be sold into American slavery, 1834 in which Crenshaw was an active participant. File:James Ford Spawn Of Evil Inside Book Cover Illustrations.png, James Ford, the ferry operator and outlaw across the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

in western

, knew John Hart Crenshaw and probably used his criminal gang to illegally transport kidnapped free blacks from

The South The United Kingdom has a well developed and extensive network of roads totalling about . Road distances are shown in miles or yards and UK speed limits are indicated in miles per hour (mph) or by the use of the national speed limit (NSL) symbol ...

to be sold into slavery.

References

External links

* ttp://www.illinoishistory.com/osh-ugrr-app-21-25.pdf A timeline of the Crenshaw House (pdf)br>Black Kidnappings in the Wabash and Ohio Valleys of Illinois by Jon Musgrave
''This article includes public domain text from the National Park Service website'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Crenshaw, John 1797 births 1871 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople People acquitted of kidnapping People from Gallatin County, Illinois 19th-century American slave traders

Slave trader

Underground Railroad National Network to Freedom

See also

References

Further reading

External links