Ohio Historical Marker

   
John Malvin historical marker side 1 & side 2, 2007

Location of the Marker
   The present day address is 2320 East 30th Street, which is two blocks south of Carnegie Avenue, the site of Malvin’s last home in Cleveland. (The pre-1906 address was 391 Sterling Street).The marker was placed in 2003. The Marker Number is 58-18.

Text of the Marker
   John Malvin (1795-1880) was an operative on the Underground Railroad and an ardent member of anti-Slavery and abolitionist causes. Born in Dumfries, Virginia of a free mother and enslaved father, Malvin was apprenticed at an early age to learn carpentry and taught himself to read and write. In 1827, he moved to Cincinnati where he became an ordained preacher and an activist in the cause of freedom. In 1831, with his wife Harriet, he moved to Cleveland where he became a charter member of the First Baptist Church, a sawmill operator, and captain and owner of the canal boat Auburn.

   John Malvin later owned the lake vessel Grampus and transported limestone from Kelly’s Island to Cleveland. Malvin was a founding member of the School Fund Society that established schools for African Americans throughout Ohio. He also was an agent for the “Colored American” newspaper, and abolitionist sheet published by African Americans in New York City. As an abolitionist, Malvin personally helped at least 5 slaves escape to freedom in Canada. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he recruited African Americans for service in the Union, some joining the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.

The Ohio Bicentennial Commission
Cinergy Foundation
The Ohio Historical Society