Lumber boats were prominent sites in the harbor of Sandusky, Ohio at the time when freedom seekers were crossing Lake Erie to Canada. When Josiah Henson was able to arrange passage by boat upon reaching the lake, he was warned “…there were Kentucky spies…on the watch for slaves, at Sandusky, who might get a glimpse of me…” Henson escaped to Canada in 1830 upon arriving to Sandusky.