With 50 people gathered in his front yard Sunday, it was a good day to be John Campbell.

He said so himself - sort of.

That afternoon, Campbell's home, now the Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization building, was honored with a marker from the Ohio Historical Society, designating the home as a historical landmark.

Ohio University Southern professor Bob Leith, dressed in a mid-1800s costume complete with top hat and walking stick, strolled up to the podium at the ceremony, but not as Bob Leith. For a brief period of time, he was John Campbell.

"Campbell" talked about his early life in Brown County and how his father tried to make him into a farmer. Campbell rebelled and became a storekeeper and when that occupation did not work, he worked as a clerk on a steam ship. That is when he overheard a conversation between ironworkers from a place called Hanging Rock. Campbell then learned the trade and eventually went on to invest money in furnace building, which led to his fortune.

However, there was another side of Campbell that was not openly discussed until years after his death.

"I'm glad it's after 1865, so I won't get arrested," "Campbell" said.

Campbell was an abolitionist who kept runaway slaves from Kentucky, a slave state before the end of the Civil War, in his home and his stable, which was a block away from his home.

Wagons frequently left the Campbell home, going toward Jackson County. What many people did not know, Leith said, was that those wagons had false bottoms. Between Cincinnati and Gallipolis, 40,000 former slaves crossed the Ohio River to find freedom.

Campbell knew the consequences of his actions - six months of being incarcerated and a $1,000 fine, Leith said. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made it federal law for a slave that escaped to the North to be returned to his southern master. A statute commonly referred to as the "Kidnap Law" meant that if an African-American person was taken to a commissioner, the person taking him/her there would receive $10 if that African-American was certified as a runaway slave and $5 if he/she was not certified.

However, abolitionist sentiments were heavy. A runaway slave named Anthony Burns was captured in Boston after the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. To be taken back to his master, he had to be transported by armed U.S. soldiers because no one wanted to see him taken back, Leith said. The transport cost the U.S. government $14,000.

Mike Ring, marketing and public relations director for the Ohio Historical Society, said the practice of putting up historical markers began in 1957. Out of the approximately 900 markers across the state, 600 are the result of the state's bicentennial celebration. These markers and the bicentennial barns in every county are popular places for tourists to visit, he said. The office frequently receives calls regarding where the markers and barns are because some people are wanting to visit every marker and bicentennial barn in the state.

Ironton Mayor Bob Cleary said the historical markers becoming a tourist attraction could be a possible economic boost. Besides the Campbell marker, the city has a marker at Tanks Memorial Stadium and will have a new one in October at the Center Street landing.

"It's a drawing card for people to come here," he said.

Under the new leadership of Dr. Bill Dingus at the Greater Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce and Lawrence Economic Development Corporation, the city and Lawrence County could be further marketed as a tourist attraction, Cleary said. Drawing more people into the city could result in more people relocating here.

Lawrence County becoming a tourist destination will be an important piece of economic development, Dingus said, adding the Higgins Bicentennial Barn in Linnville has had many visitors.

The county's Convention and Visitor's Bureau also has a number of items about the area already in place for tourists.

"Campbell" encouraged the current Ironton residents to keep their pride for their past alive, so it will filter into the future.

"Ironton will present great things, even if it may not be iron," he said.