Lakewood In The Civil War: More Underground Railroad Tunnels In Lakewood?
The Lakewood Historical Society continues to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with a series of articles focused on Rockport Township (now Lakewood) during that time.
In addition to the Summit Avenue tunnel described in an earlier article, other tunnels in Lakewood have also been erroneously attributed to the underground railroad. It is possible that some of this confusion stems from the work of Wilbur Weibert, noted 1890s historian of the underground railroad in Ohio, suggested that Lakewood was part of a route for the underground railroad. Unfortunately, it appears he based his theory partially on the existence of a tunnel emptying into Lake Erie just east of Lakewood
Interestingly, this tunnel was also featured in a Plain Dealer article, dating to 1950 and focused on Dr. Siebert’s work on the underground railroad in Ohio. Included in the article was an image of a, “slave-escape tunnel, somewhere in Cleveland…photo from Dr. Siebert’s collection, but the exact location is not known.” Sharp-eyed readers quickly inundated the paper with calls and letters correctly identifying the tunnel as belonging to “Ednawood,” the 1891 mansion of Julius Feiss at 10530 Edgewater Drive.
In fact, son Paul Feiss described the tunnel as, “leading from a basement recreation room with a big fireplace and small rooms where bathers could change before and after swims in the lake.The tunnel is said to have cost about $11,000 when built.” The correction article goes on to say the tunnel, “attracted dozens of boys who swam or rowed along this section, for many have written or phoned about the fun they used to have around it. But they couldn’t get beyond the great iron entrance door in the cliff.”
This is perhaps just one of several tunnels built to serve the large lakefront mansions. While they were originally built for access to the beach and water, legends still persist that they were later used by rumrunners during Prohibition. While that legend may be even more difficult to prove, it is certainly more likely then expecting tunnels built in the 1890s or early 1900s to be used by escaping slaves forty or fifty years earlier.
During the society’s restoration of the Nicholson House, visitors often spoke of mysterious tunnels in the basement. Paul Gaydos, who led the restoration of the house, states that these earthen tunnels were merely practical pathways from one end of the basement to the other, giving access for utilities and other pipes.
Another early Rockport home was purported to have a slave tunnel, but the same 1934 Plain Dealer article refutes this.The author interviewed Mrs. H.E. Williard, who in 1934 lived in the former home of Jared Potter Kirtland. Mrs. Williard stated that she sometimes received requests to visit the underground railroad tunnel leading from her basement, but, “a thorough search of the cellar has revealed no trace of one and, to her knowledge, none has been unearthed by the many excavations which would have cut into such a subterranean passage when the three-quarter mile stretch between her house and the lake has been allotted and built upon.”
While it may be disappointing to some to learn that there were no underground railroad tunnels in Rockport Township (now Lakewood), we do know that several members of the community were active in anti-slavery activities. Earlier articles in the Lakewood Historical Society’s newsletter outlined the anti-slavery activities of James Nicholson, Jared Potter Kirtland, Philander Winchester and several others. In addition, over fifty Rockport men served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Rockport seems to have been an anti-slavery community, but unfortunately poorly situated to be an active stop on the underground railroad.
2011 is the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War- an appropriate time for the Lakewood Historical Society to consider Rockport Township’s participation in the war. For more information on Lakewood’s fascinating history, go to www.lakewoodhistory.org.