Research At The National Archives And Beyond!

Kathy Lynne Marshall’s most endearing tale of heroism was about her three times great-grandmother, Margaret Booker, and the grisly reason she left Beverly, West Virginia, with her young children in tow, for freedom in Barnesville, Ohio.  Imagine Marshall’s surprise when an 1855 newspaper article connected Margaret’s possible father, Edward “Ned” Backus, to the Fusion (aka Republican) Convention in Ravenna, Ohio. After many unsuccessful attempts to free his wife and children, Ned’s lawyer suggested he seek legal and financial assistance at the convention. What was it like for a newly freed man traveling 150 miles from the slave state of Virginia to north-central Ohio, five years before Abraham Lincoln was voted the first Republican President? Marshall will discuss her research process and reveal the many twists and turns which culminated in an unbelievable story that was broadcast in many newspapers east of the Mississippi River. The new knowledge of who Edward’s likely slaveowner was, as well as serendipitou