GHOST TOWN 4: Tranquility and the Civil War

by Randy McNutt

When the Civil War began, Tranquility was a tiny but prosperous town in the middle of a great sea of green in rural Adams County, Ohio. The owner of the local store, John T. Wilson, had built a brick "mansion" there, complete with an escape tunnel behind the main room's wall. This was to allow runaway slaves to escape from the other side of the house if bounty hunters forced their way into Wilson's home. Tranquility, on one of the Underground Railroad's main escape routes, wasn't far from the Ohio River. Wilson was a larger-than-life character in his town and county. He was a U.S. congressman and the richest man in the county--a millionaire when a million really meant something. He organized a local unit to fight in the war, and Tranquility's men fought at major campaigns. Sadly, the town just petered out over the years. Wilson died. The war ended. The place hung on until the mid-1900s, when it became a ghost town. The photo of the cover, with author Randy McNutt, shows an abandoned store in Tranquility. Though the little town is nothing but a house or two and a lot of hills, it is a symbol of the Union's drive to win the Civil War and restore America. "Ghost Town 4" is Randy McNutt's latest venture into the back roads of America. He is the author of "Finding Utopia," a travel narrative and history of travels in search of missing Americana.

19 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 20, 2017