Pictured is the only known picture of Pony Joe and his faithful horse, Buckeye.
By Joyce Wilson and Patsy Roberts
Each week we try and bring you interesting stories concerning the history of our ancestors and the pioneers of Adams County, Ohio. This week we are going to begin another series concerning “Pony Joe Patton”, one of the Conductors on the Underground Railroad in Adams County. This is sort of a Christmas story as it happened in December 1853.
First, let us begin with a little background. Pony Joe Patton was born in 1813, in Adams County, Ohio to John and Margaret Patton. Circa 1805, his parents had traveled with family and friends from Rockbridge County, Virginia, down the Ohio River landing at Manchester, Ohio. They belonged to the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. They didn’t believe in slavery in any shape or form and were appalled at how anyone could treat another human as such.
Life was indeed difficult as the Patton family carved out fields from the heavily wooded land and built a home before the first sign of snow fell that year. They worked hard and the days were long. Margaret had brought her worn out family Bible with her to this wilderness and never a night fell that the family did not pray and read scripture before falling into their makeshift pallets on the floor.
Pony Joe, along with his five other siblings, were raised on a farm between Eckmansville and North Liberty (Cherry Fork) in Adams County. Their family grew, with the addition of three more brothers, but in 1825, some form of a gastrointestinal disease struck, and Margaret and four of the children were taken. Home was never the same after that. Pony Joe was a quiet boy and not given to much emotion. He rose early before sunrise and milked their old cow and helped fix breakfast for the family. He attended school for about three months in the winter enough so he could write his name, cipher his numbers and read adequately for the time he had to accomplish the task.
There was always work to be done and now he was growing into his man hood. He was tall, strong as an ox and was able to work for some of their neighbors round about. In fact, this is exactly where Pony Joe received his name. It seems some men had sold several horses to one of their neighbors and they were in need of someone to break them in. Pony Joe had never been around or even seen anyone break a horse. Pony Joe loved horses. He loved everything about them. He would get up early and head for the neighbors just to rub them down, talk to them and rub his nose across their muzzle. Horses were his friends. Pony Joe just seemed to have a way with them. In no time, people from miles away were asking him to help break in teams of horses for them.
Soon, he was making trips down south to purchase and convey horses back to the Ohio valley for different clients. He became a well-known purchaser and stock conveyer of horses in many areas of southern Ohio and as well as down south. Due to his travels, he began to develop a vast knowledge of the lay of the land as to its roads, hills, valleys and streams. Growing up as a Covenanter there were certain secrets that one would carry to the grave without indulging if need be. These secrets dealt with the hiding places in which runaway slaves were taken and concealed until safe to move. The conductors were known to the young and old alike, but never spoken of at any time.
It seemed that almighty God has especially groomed Pony Joe to be a conductor on the Underground Railroad. His mental stability, his knowledge of the land, his way with horses and his overwhelming belief in God and the right of freedom for all men was at the forefront of his thoughts.
Next week we will begin to take a look into one of Pony Joe’s most heroic trips as he secrets a family of slaves across the Jordan (Ohio)to freedom on the invisible Underground Railroad!
