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The Lo-Lathrop Genealogy site is here

Sainthood proposed for Rose Lathrop of Hawthorne                                                                           A Family United in Service to God and Country

Help Save this Historical

Underground Railroad Site

The Lathrop house in Sylvania Ohio was owned by Rev.Lucian Lathrop and his son Miles from about 1847 until after 1880. Rev. Lucian was a Unitarian minister and took up the abolitionist cause at great personal sacrifice. It is believed that the Lathrop family sheltered slaves in the basement and transported them to freedom. Lucian also tried to change the political climate of the day by being a candidate in the Free-Soil party and a representative in the Ohio state congress. Sylvania has lived with the rumor of slaves being sheltered in the home for 150 years and the reality of the rumors becomes clearer everyday through the involvement of the Friends of the Lathrop House. Your involvement will help make the realities of the home's history even more clear. In 2001 the home was sold to the Catholic church. The church decided to expand its parish and unfortunately it is believed the home will have to be demolished for their plans. Citizens in Sylvania created the Friends of the Lathrop House in order to preserve the home but disagreements on the home's history and its fate continue. 
Before Preservation               Click to Enlarge

Ongoing Preservation        Click to Enlarge 

Your help is needed desperately!

Your relatives in the Lothropp Family Foundation have collected funds and notified the family through our newsletter. Please join the charitable foundation and leave your calendar open for the family reunion in Salt Lake City, Utah, October 15-19, 2003 

Lothropp Family Foundation
P. O. Box 462
Barnstable, MA 02630-0462

See their website!
www.lothropp.org
info@lothropp.org

If you are a direct descendant of the Lucian Lathrop family and possess diaries, journals, documents, photographs, etc, or have an oral history passed down through the generations please contact the Friends of the Lathrop House. 

The Friends of the Lathrop House are trying to get the home registered as a National Heritage site, you maybe their only hope! 

Friends of the Lathrop House
    6751 Convent Dr. 
Sylvania, OH 43560

Lathrop@sev.org

Friends of the Lathrop House website


House News
4-29-03 Lathrop hearing canceled; talks continue 
A hearing scheduled for today in Lucas County Common Pleas Court on the Lathrop House controversy has been canceled after attorneys for Sylvania and the Catholic Diocese of Toledo agreed to continue negotiations. 

Other Lathrop "abolutionists"
  • Frank Lathrop of Green Bay Wisconsin
 Other Underground Railroad Stations
  • The Harroun barn of Sylvania, Ohio
  • The "Freedom Trail" of Sylvania, Ohio
Other Lathrop Heritage Sites
Our Involvement

Getting involved with this project felt like unintentiality being at an accident and diving in to help. I literally was just surfing the web and found out the bad news and then went to Sylvania. I learned the struggle to save the home has been going on a while without us but I'm certain Sylvania needs our help with their "accident". I have and continue to help however I can. Read what I have done and what you can do to help as well.

Rev. Lucian Lathrop's half first cousins, fourth and fifth removed-Richard and Mary of Berkley, MI and Robert and Amy of South Lyon, MI. 
  Join us in saving this handsome home! 
The Lathrops of Sylvania, & Richfield Twp. Ohio

Click to enlarge

The Abolitionist, Rev. Lucian Bonaparte Lathrop and family of Sylvania, Ohio.


Click to Enlarge

The Lathrop families in Richfield Township, Ohio.
These three brothers were involved with each other in family life and business.
The Historical and Genealogical Research
Ongoing research has revealed independent sources of evidence of Lucian and the home's historical role in the abolitionist movement.  The abolitionist movement in Sylvania, OH was not limited to Lucian however and the research aims to tell Sylvania's abolutionist story as well. The search for evidence continues but the Friends of the Lathrop House believe that members of the Lathrop family presently living may provide additional needed evidence, so please help in any way you can.. 
The Historical Preservation
Ongoing preservation of the home has been halted pending the outcome of the legal battle. Previously, the home was prepared for movement to another site. During this preparation nonhistorically significant structures were removed. An archealogical dig by students from Heidelburg, Germany revealed interesting clues of the home's historical role as well. 
House Supporters

Support for the historical significance has been given by the following:

And of course the Friends of the Lathrop House

"The Friends of the Lathrop House are truly friends indeed!"

          Robert Lathrop
Continued 
The Preservation Dispute

The preservation debate at council meetings has created a charged atmosphere amongst the community. The council has called for three special sessions regarding the house alone.

Three disputed ideas have been proposed for the home.

  • Demolition
  • Moving the home off site
  • Leaving the home on site