[ inscribed on tombstone of John VanSandt ]
BORN SEPTEMBER 23, 1791
FLEMING COUNTY, KENTUCKY
DIED MAY 25, 1847
PIERPOINT, HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO

"IN HIM CHRISTIANITY HAD A LIVING WITNESS. HE SAW GOD AS HIS FATHER AND
RECEIVED EVERY MAN AS A BROTHER. THE CAUSE OF THE POOR, THE WIDOW, THE
ORPHAN, AND THE OPPRESSED WAS HIS CAUSE. HE FED, CLOTHED, SHELTERED, AND
GUARDED THEM. HE WAS EYES TO THE BLIND, AND FEET TO THE LAME. HE WAS A TENDER FATHER, A DEVOTED HUSBAND, AND A FRIEND TO ALL. HE WAS WHAT IS HERE DESCRIBED BECAUSE HE WAS A CHRISTIAN PHILANTHROPIST, WHO PRACTICED WHAT HE BELIEVED,
AND WHO THUS LIVED PRACTISING HIS FAITH"

OVERVIEW:

        THE BEGINNING OF THE 1800's found that the United States had increased in size by 885,000 suare miles with the purchase, by President Thomas Jefferson, of the Louisiana Territory in 1803 and the Lewis & Clark Exploration to the Pacific Ocean, thus moving the boundaries of our country further West and opening up more migration to the West. This time frame also created more states with the inherited problem of Slave States and Free States. Abolitionists, in United States history, was a term pertaining to people from about 1835 to the close of the Civil war that were extreme opponets of
Slavery, distinguished from persons of moderate Antislavery opinions, to the extremists who denied the validity of any laws which recognized Slavery as an Institution; thus they refused to obey the Fugitive Slave Laws....extremists such as John Brown, who was hanged for freeing slaves by force and those who
organized and operated Underground Railroads. Such was the case of our ancestor, JOHN VANSANDT .... perhaps not the most likeable situation to be in, but in his lifetime, he stood for what he believed to be right and justifiable.
        John VanSandt was born in Fleming County, KY on Sept. 23, 1791 and was the son of Elisha and Margaret (CRAWFORD) VanSandt. He was married twice. His first wife, Nancy Northcott, bore him eleven children. They were married June 16, 1814. His second wife, Nancy 'Mercy' Bowen bore him four children. They were married on Apr. 17, 1838. John VanSandt died on May 25,1847 at Pierpoint, in Hamilton County, Ohio.
        The VanSandt name holds a place of honor among those who believe in freedom for all people for John VanSandt was the actual prototype "JOHN VAN TROMPE", a character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's book, UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. Like John VanSandt, Van Trompe, who appears in chapter IX of the book, had made his home a haven for runaway slaves en route to Canada. He takes in Eliza and her
child and risks all to get her safely on her way.
        The real John VanSandt was once a slave owner in Kentucky, but he was troubled by his belief that slavery was morally wrong and that "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL" applied to all humanity. He gave his slaves their liberty, sold his plantation and moved to Hamilton County, Ohio. He purchased a home known as Mt. Pierpoint. There he gave protective shelter and care to any in need.
        In this period of the early 1800's, it was not safe to be an Abolitionist.  But John could not have lived with his conscience had he not tried to help the Black People find freedom and equality.
        The critical point in his life came on Saturday, Apr. 23, 1842. He was on his way to Cincinnati with a load of farm produce. Having disposed of it, he drove to the home of Mr. Moore on Walnut Hills, where he stayed until early Sunday morning. While he was hitching his horses to the wagon he discovered eight blacks standing in the shadows of the nearby trees. They were running away to Canada. John invited them to get into the wagon. He fastened the curtains securely, gave the reins to one of the Blacks, a lad named Andrew, and proceeded northward.
        Among his neighbors were many friends of the institution of slavery. They knew there were rewards for capturing runaway slaves. They were suspicious of John VanSandt's actions. Two of them, named Margraves and Hefferman, were awakened that Sunday morning to the sound of VanSandt's wagon being rapidly driven down the road. The two men mounted their horses and started after him.
        They overtook John and his passengers near Bates, a small town southwest of Lebanon, Ohio. VanSandt was captured and seven of the Blacks were returned to their owner. Only the young driver escaped. John was arrested, imprisoned, and fined $1200.
        Salmon P. Chase, later Chief Justice of the United States, and Thomas Morris, were John's lawyers. But it was clear that the defendant had broken the law as it then existed and nothing could be done to help him.
        The case was appealed by Chase, and contested until it finally reached the Supreme Court of the U.S. Chase now was assisted by the Hon. Wm. H. Seward.  The law's delays continued with the final settlement of the case not coming until January 1847 when Justice Woodbury confirmed the ruling of the Circuit Court. Before the execution was issued, VanSandt had passed beyond earthly jurisdiction and appeared before the higher Tribunal of Heaven, dying in May 1847.
        It was said that no stronghold of the Abolitionists was better known through the South than John VanSandt's Mt. Pierpoint. The kindness and bravery of the owner led many a slave to seek refuge there.
        On a rainy night in June, 1843, an Attorney was returning from Cincinnati with a team attached to a hay wagon. Two young Blacks, a boy and a girl, asked if they might ride. The driver suspected they were trying to reach VanSandt's underground railroad station.
        Finally Mt. Pierpoint loomed up in the distance and the lad impulsively exclaimed "There it is!". They dismounted and started towards the house on the hill. "I have no doubt they met with a hospitable reception at the home of John VanSandt", he later wrote.
 

In September 1893, BIXBY'S Magazine had a multiple page article on "A SKETCH
OF JOHN VAN SANDT" (VOL VIII), which concluded:
 

        "The costs of the case were now enormous. His Administrators compromised and paid off the judgement and costs, a procedure that caused Mt. Pierpoint to be sold, and scattered the family to various states. VAN SANDT was buried in the THE OLD SALEM CHURCHYARD, within sight of his home.
        "Time made its ravages in the little churchyard at Salem and with a view to better preserving his remains, VAN SANDT and his wife, NANCY were removed to the cemetery at Cunnisville, the original epitaph on the tombstone being preserved."
 

         Lewis L. Applegate, familiarly known as "Lew" Applegate, is one of the prominent grain and stockmen of Cincinnati, whose record is alike creditable to him and those with whom he has associated. He was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1860, a son of Samuel and Agnes (McDowell) Applegate. The father moved with his family to Cincinnati in 1869 and there spent the remainder of his days. He engaged in grocery business in New Jersey but after arriving at his new home became a manufacturer of hat racks. Fraternally he was connected with the Masonic order and advanced through the various degrees at his old home in New Brunswick, including that of the Knights Templer. He died about 1891, at the age of fifty-five years.
        Mr. Applegate whose name stands at the head of this sketch attended the public schools of Cincinnati and Newport, Kentucky. At the age of eighteen he began to learn the grain and stock business and has now been engaged a greater number of years in this business than any other man in the city. The firm of which he is the head was established by W.F. Greely in 1878. F.A. Bradley became proprietor the following year and conducted the business until 1893 when he was succeeded by Frazier & Applegate. Two years later the name was changed to the Phoenix Grain and Stock Exchange, of which H.M. Foster was president and Mr. Applegate was manager. The firm went out of business January 7, 1911. Mr. Applegate is now in business for himself and has an office in the Mitchell Building.
        In 1879 Mr. Applegate was married to Miss Julia Edwards and they have two children: Charles, a resident of Newport, Kentucky; and Lewis L., Jr. of Covington Kentucky. The mother of the children was a woman of many admirable characteristics and a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She died in 1903, at the age of forty-three, and in 1904 Mr. Applegate was married to Miss Julia Francis McKenna, of Xenia, Ohio. Politically he has given his support to the Republican Party ever since he arrived at manhood. He served one term as a member of the city council at Covington, being the only republican who was elected at that time. He has taken a great interest in fraternal organizations for many years and is a member of Covington Lodge, A.F. & A.M.; Covington Chapter, R.A.M.; Kenton Council, R. & S.M.; Covington Commandery, K.T.; Louisville Consistory, S.P.R.S.; and Syrian Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S. He is past exalted ruler of the Elks lodge of Covington; past worthy president of the Eagles of Covington; past counselor of Cincinnati Council, No.2, U.C.T.; a member of the National Union; and in its day was a member of the Supreme Body of the Knights of the Essenic Order. While he has closely applied himself to his business he has also taken an active part, as is indicated above, in various lines of helpfulness to others and is one of the best known and most popular men in Cincinnati. His success is the direct result of close application, thorough knowledge of his business and of a reputation for "square dealing," which is acquired only by years of conscientious endeavor.