Hanktown

Side A: Hanktown, settled in 1846, was home to eighty-nine of the three hundred and eighty-three slaves, owned by John Randolph (1773-1833), a wealthy Virginian landowner and cousin to President Thomas Jefferson. Randolph had decided to free the slaves and indicated the decision in his will. His family, however, found three different wills and protested. Thirteen years passed before the slaves left the plantation. In 1846, Judge William Leigh arranged for the slaves to travel to Mercer County and purchased two thousand acres. (Continued on other side) Side B: (Continued from other side) Reaching their destination in Mercer County, the freed slaves were attacked, forced to turn back, and lost their land. They traveled south towards Miami County, some stopping in Sidney, Piqua, and Troy. The remaining former slaves purchased two hundred acres in Union Township. On this spot was the Hanktown Baptist Church and nearby stood the Hanktown School. Hanktown produced seven Grand Army of the Republic Civil War soldiers: Hillary White, Julius Young, Silas White, Harrison Gillard, James Gillard, Israel White, and Spencer White.