Chapter 10: 1810-1817, Getting settled in Ohio

Early in 1810, another one of Robert Dickey’s children began to think about marriage. Amid his new ministerial duties, James Dickey found time to begin courting Miss Mary Depew. Later that year, they announced their engagement. James, however, was dismayed when Samuel Depew (Mary’s father) announced that her dowry would include five slaves.

2 “I am opposed to slavery and have no interest in becoming a master,” he told her. “In fact, I have decided that the only way to liberate myself from this slave power is to cross the Ohio River and make my home there!” he declared. “We will take them with us to Ohio and free them,” Mary assured him. That settled, the couple were married in late October.

3 Polly became pregnant almost immediately and gave birth to a son. They named him Theophilus Lyle Dickey and made arrangements to move north with their former slaves. Toward that end, James had accepted a position with the Concord Presbyterian Church in Ross County, Ohio.

4 Like its Kentucky counterparts, the congregation met in a very plain log cabin and was closely associated with the other Presbyterian congregations in the area. Among these, over the years that followed, James would forge close relationships with two churches in particular:  The Reverend John Rankin’s congregation in Ripley and the Reverend Samuel Crothers’ (his brother-in-law) congregation in Greenfield.

5 James and Mary were just getting settled in their new home, however, when news of his mother’s death reached them. She had died in March of 1812, and his older brother William had informed him of the event.

6 William was grief-stricken. “Our dear mother is gone!” he had sobbed. Although Mary Henry Dickey was technically his stepmother, William had been only five years old when his father had married her. Consequently, she was the only mother that he really remembered.

7 Robert too was completely bewildered. “I don’t know what to do,” the old man fretted. “You should come to Ohio and live with us, daddy,” James told him.

8 William encouraged his father to accept his younger brother’s offer. “I’m also looking for a position in Ohio, and we can all be together there,” he revealed.

9 As a consequence, Robert accepted his son’s offer and moved into his home in Ross County. He was immediately fascinated by his new grandson and spent many hours watching young Theophilus play and sleep.

10 “Grandfather, come out and play with me!” the little boy demanded one day. “I’m afraid your grandfather is too old to play,” Robert had informed him with a wistful smile. “You not too old!” the child pouted.

11 Robert reached down and gently rubbed the top of the little guy’s head and laughed. “God has given me this joy in my old age to sustain me through my grief,” he told his daughter-in-law.

12 His joy, however, was cut short when Mary died suddenly in May of 1816. “What are James and Theophilus going to do now?” he wondered. “I am sorry you had to experience this loss at such a young age,” he told his son. “I buried two wives, so I know how hard this is for you,” Robert empathized.

13 In the meantime, William had secured a place with a congregation just to the northwest of them. He would be attending to the needs of the Presbyterians in Washington Court House in Fayette County.

14 William, however, had only been in place a couple of months when Robert died. Even so, it was almost a year to the day after Polly had passed, and the date’s proximity to that horrible anniversary had not escaped his younger brother’s attention.

15 “I am praying for you and Theophilus every day,” he told his brother. “We need those prayers,” James replied as their father’s coffin was lowered into the ground.

16 A few months later, the Washington Court House congregation decided to split. William took part of the group a few miles to the north and began a new church at Bloomingburg. Although most of his time and energy would be devoted to his new congregation, the move would also allow him to continue his missionary work among the Indians.

17 Over the years that followed, James’ and William’s decision to move to Ohio would prove to be a momentous one for them and would immerse them in the anti-slavery movement in Ohio. Together with the Reverends Rankin and Crothers (along with many others), they would help thousands of slaves move northward to freedom.