Hill, Leverett B.

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Leverett B. Hill was a conductor on the Underground Railroad in Huron County, Ohio.

Little is known of Hill's youth, other than he was born in Huron County to Leverett and Esther Hill. The Hill family, including Leverett B. Hill, was active in the Congregational Church. Leverett B. Hill also participated in the Underground Railroad. Hill assisted as many as 103 slaves to freedom in 1852 alone. All of these fugitive slaves made their way to Canada, gaining their freedom. Hill earned his living as a farmer and remained in Wakeman, Ohio for most of his life. He died in 1892.

Hill represents the growing tensions over slavery between Northerners and Southerners during the early nineteenth century. While many Northern states had provisions outlawing slavery, runaway slaves did not necessarily gain their freedom upon arriving in a free state. Federal law permitted slaveowners to reclaim their runaway slaves. Some slaves managed to escape their owners on their own, while others sometimes received assistance from sympathetic Northerners, such as Hill.

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