At the corner of Blake and Prospect in Downtown Medina sits the McDowell-Phillips House Museum. This historic home-turned-museum belonged to Elizabeth McDowell, the daughter of H.G. Blake, a 19th century Medina lawyer and member of the Ohio House of Representatives.
The spent over $700,000 to buy and restore the house in 2019. Shortly thereafter, while cleaning out the attic, Brian Feron, president of the Medina County Historical Society, says he and his team found a number of artifacts that shared new details about Blake鈥檚 life and his family's commitment to the abolitionist movement.
鈥淗e was a very busy active man and he only lived to his mid- to late 50s, but he got an awful lot done in his lifetime,鈥� Feron said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e so proud to have these artifacts in our museum because it really tells a story of somebody who might have been forgotten.鈥�
Blake, who lived in another house nearby, harbored enslaved people as a stop on the Underground Railroad.
鈥淗e would feed them, get them nourished and help get them to the next safe stop,鈥� Feron says.
In one vivid example, the family took in a man named Thomas King, who escaped from enslavement in the South as a young man. Robert McDowell, Blake鈥檚 son-in-law, met King in Maryland while he was stationed there during the Civil War.
At the end of the war, McDowell invited King to come to Medina County as a new member of the family. Blake ensured he got a formal education 鈥� uncommon for freed slaves at the time.
There鈥檚 not much detail about King鈥檚 life, but on the back of a photo of King found in the attic, a handwritten notes recounts the story of his move to Medina, concluding, 鈥淗e lived with us until he died.鈥�
That was in 1875 鈥� one year before Blake's own death.
Feron says King's story is unique both because of his closeness with the Blake family and because not many enslaved people made it North.
鈥淢ost (escaped slaves) were captured and returned. And if you were caught helping, you could be in big trouble. So some people may have looked the other way鈥� in King's case, Feron says.
But life in the North wasn鈥檛 perfect either. Though Ohio was a free state, it had enacted legislation called the , which restricted voting, economic and social opportunities for Black people.
Blake introduced a law to repeal the Black Laws Ohio House of Representatives in 1846, though it took another three years before the repeal went into effect.
Feron says learning about Blake and his family鈥檚 contribution to racial equality can also teach us lessons about today.
鈥淚 think it's important that people realize how far the country has come, yet we still see things even in today's political world that are concerning,鈥� Feron said. 鈥淚 think it is really important that people see how people can make a difference by working together.鈥�
To learn more about King and the Blake-McDowell family, you can visit the museum every second Sunday of the month from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
