Hiding in the Light

To most people, the light of lighthouses showed the way to go.

But to runaway slaves in the 1800’s, the Fairport Harbor Lighthouse was a place to hide, temporarily.

Built in 1825, the Fairport Harbor Lighthouse in Ohio is located at the mouth of the Grand River where it flows into Lake Erie.

Fairport Harbor Lighthouse, 1859, photo courtesy National Archives

Fairport’s townspeople were strongly against slavery and when the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850, the people were violently opposed to it. Tavern owner Samuel Butler became chairman of a citizens’ group that sought to repeal the law, and his Eagle Tavern became a safe haven for escaping slaves, and the headquarters for those willing to help them. Anti-slavery sea captains, sailors, townsfolk, and lighthouse keepers worked together to protect the runaway slaves and smuggle them aboard ships bound for Canada.

Fairport Harbor Lighthouse, 1859, photo courtesy National Archives

Often the slaves were hidden high in the lighthouse, safe from slave masters of the neighboring state of Kentucky, who roamed the streets of Fairport, searching for their runaway slaves.

To these slaves, the lighthouse was the last stop on the Underground Railroad and the first step toward freedom.

I find the idea of hiding in a light rather contradictory. Light reveals, it illuminates, it shines. So how would one hide in it? Wouldn’t it be better to hide in darkness? However, the Bible says in Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”

So hiding in the light is a good place to hide, if it’s the light of the Lord.

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