The Conductor: The Story of Rev. John Rankin, Abolitionism's Essential Founding Father

by Caleb Franz

Known as the "Father of Abolitionism," Reverend John Rankin is one of the greatest heroes previously lost to history.

Sitting high above the small community of Ripley, Ohio, a lantern shone in the front window of a small, red brick home at night. It was a signal to slaves in Kentucky—a beacon of liberty in the darkness—just across the Ohio River. Anyone fleeing bondage could look to Reverend John Rankin's home for hope. To the slaveholders they fled from, Rankin's activities as a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad invoked rage. Mobs often pelted Rankin with eggs and rocks, bounties were placed on his head, and midnight assassins lurked in the darkness, waiting for the right opportunity to take out the "Father of Abolitionism." Despite frequent threats, he remained committed to the freedom of his fellow man.

Rankin's impact extended well beyond Ripley. In The Conductor, author Caleb Franz tells the story of the man who served as a George Washington-type figure to the antislavery movement. Rankin's leadership brought unity and clarity to the often factious abolitionists of the nineteenth century. William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and countless others found inspiration in his teachings. Rich with drama and adventure, The Conductor elevates Reverend John Rankin to his proper place in the pantheon of American heroes.

Genres: Biography, History

336 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2024

Reviews

[Jennifer Culp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredible! I am better for reading it. I not only learned so much it made me really think about who are the defenseless that I needing to be standing up for! What an amazing life!

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Transparently, I typically avoid Post Hill Press like the plague, but I recently learned about John Rankin from my uncle - it turns out we are relatively close relations - and came across this book when I looked him up. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot out there about him, and so this really piqued my interest.

As a biography, it's decent. Mr. Franz does a good job of situating Rev. Rankin in his historical and geographical context. It's well-researched to the extent material is available, and relies largely on primary sources. It's got some anecdotes that Mr. Franz has gone out of his way to tell in an engaging manner. And as far as I know, it serves his legacy well. It did leave me with some questions at the end about some of the controversy around whether the extent of his early anti-slavery work is exaggerated, and the author seems to uncritically dismiss those allegations without a second thought. Which, perhaps, is appropriate based on what he knows, but the reader would never know that from the way the final chapter is presented here.

I learned a lot from reading this book, and it's clear that Rev. John Rankin was an early abolitionist, at least among the earliest prominent outspoken ones, and that he staked the physical wellbeing of himself and his family, in addition to his entire reputation, on the cause of slavery abolition. His commitment to this work, displaced him twice through multiple states with infant children and left him jobless and in a great deal of debt on more than one occasion. He wrote publicly to shame his brother for purchasing slaves, demanding that he voluntarily emancipate them. He was faced with home invasions and late night threats, and yet never wavered from his commitment to personally assisting in the emancipation of many fleeing slaves crossing the mighty Ohio River to his home in the North.

It seems where Rev. Rankin did waver was in what he felt was the best approach to abolition. While he initially deeply opposed William Lloyd Garrison's preferred colonialistic approach, he did eventually warm up to the plan, hoping only to avoid the civil war that proved inevitable. He wavered on the appropriateness of compensating slave owners for voluntary emancipation, and was originally staunchly opposed to the government legislating emancipation (for fear of war), but eventually lauded the Emancipation Proclamation and later the 13th Amendment, saying about the former that "no other man ever had the privilege of making a proclamation so magnificent."

I think my biggest gripe here is that the author didn't seem to have enough material to pull from to write a proper in-depth biography. It seemed at times that he was stretching something out of very little. Perhaps trying to speak with descendants would have helped to augment his primary sources (which should stay primal to his framing, obviously). Or it seems from the material he does include that there might be many more early secondary sources, such as William Lloyd Garrison writing about John Rankin, that could have added some more depth here.

Obviously I came to this book with a vested interest in learning more about my family history, but I do genuinely think this is a good one on it's own merit and hope others will enjoy it as well.

[BJ Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ohio River marked the border of free Ohio and slave Kentucky. In her book Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Tubman wrote of a great white house on a hill overlooking that river that shone like a beacon of freedom. In reality, there was a little red brick house on that hill. It was the home of John Rankin, the godfather of abolitionism. Like a hipster freedom fighter, he was writing and preaching against the evils of slavery long before it was cool. Although they would come to differ in methodology, it was Rev Rankin's writing that first inspired Garrison to dedicate his life to abolitionism. But for many, the most important thing Rankin did was to be the first stop on the freedom train. Literally tens of thousands of slaves would cross that river and be brought to his house on the hill where they would be conducted step by step all the way to freedom in Canada. This book is a great tribute to the life of perhaps the most underrated and overlooked hero in America's fight for freedom.

[Paul Freswick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched, perhaps to the point of having too much information at times, but an excellent biography bringing attention to a too often overshadowed hero of the faith who so faithfully lived out what it means to love your neighbor (all your neighbors) as yourself.

[Annette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lake Waynoka Book club

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book that is easy to read. I like that the author included a bibliography and end notes for further research.