An underground railroad of history

Mike Venturini plops into the armchair in his home, the Munro House. He found his old house in an ad online when he searched for vacation bed and breakfast houses near Rome, Italy. His wife had him click on the link and they bought it. They moved in with their two black Scottish terriers Ozzie and Gilly and continue to run the bed and breakfast. They give tours of the house to elementary students.
They give tours not because it's the oldest standing house in Hillsdale, not because it was the first brick house in the county, and not even because its founder, George Munro, who built Jonesville's first mill, hardware store and hotel, traded and befriended Potawatomi Chief Baw Beese. It's toured because, legend has it, the house was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Munro bought the federal style wood frame house in 1834 after successful trading ventures with Chief Baw Beese. In 1840 Munro planned a grand expansion, adding a new front and two wings. According to a Jonesville historical pamphlet, a publisher said the new house was "a landmark to the dawn of civilization in southern Michigan." People drove for miles to see it. It was a sensation.
When Munro designed the extensions, he requested odd dimensions. Venturini said the main house has a 12-foot ceiling. The north wing, now a bedroom for bed and breakfast guests, is 20 feet wide and has a 10-foot ceiling. The room behind it, which in Munro's time was used to store firewood for his 10 fireplaces, is 7 feet high. A space 20 feet long, 6 feet wide and 5 feet high is unaccounted for.
Today, if you go into the bathroom and look at the white ceiling, you'll notice a small square for an attic entrance — an attic entrance on the first floor of a three story building.
This is where Munro was rumored to hide runaway slaves. By hiding standards, it was fairly comfortable, room enough for 10 people and two separate rooms. You could almost stand upright.
Venturini said no one can know for sure if the Munro House was a part of the Underground Railroad; it was an illegal activity so no documents were preserved. He said Munro lived during the right time and Hillsdale Historian, Dan Bisher, said Munro was a well-known abolitionist.
"I can't think of anything else it would be used for in that point in time," Venturini said.
To add credence to the legend, former Munro House owner Joyce Yarde said an archeology team from Michigan State University came to Munro house to look for secret tunnels, one evidence of Underground Railroad activity. Venturini said the group scoured the basement, which was attached to the original frame of the house via corridor, but didn't find anything — until they left.
During the 1940's, a part of the house was knocked down by Munro House owner Hugh Keys to make room for a garage. He poured concrete and laid a foundation. He bought the house for $1 and a promise to restore it.
Venturini said the team was leaving the basement and heading up a set of stairs when a student stopped and looked at the corridor's walls.
"He stopped and said, ‘Guys, we're in the tunnel,'" Venturini said.
Venturini said the tunnel was disguised by a flight of stairs and the concrete foundation of Keys' garage. The original tunnel spanned 200 feet and connected the Munro House to Munro's Carriage house. Yarde said the tunnel was used to get slaves into and out of the house, before they left for "Midnight," Underground Railroad code for Detroit and freedom in Canada.
It is estimated that 100,000 slaves were freed by the Underground Railroad. Roughly 45,000 slaves followed the drinking gourd, a code for the big dipper and the northern star, to southern Michigan. Houses participating in the Underground Railroad can be found all over southern Michigan.
Yarde said safe houses were identified by quilts hanging in the front lawn. The quilts had a particular pattern, called a log cabin, with a black square in the middle. Yarde said these quilts were common for the times. The Episcopal church in Jonesville, founded by Munro, is thought to be a part of the Underground Railroad as well.
Yarde said the house was searched several times. If caught, the slaves would be returned to their owners. If Munro was caught, he could serve six months in jail and pay $1,000. He was never caught.
Venturini said he enjoys showing elementary students where and how the slaves hid.
"It's a piece of history," he said. "It's interesting, you can bring to life the importance of the Underground Railroad."
Yarde agrees. She said a student once asked what the runaway slaves did for food.
"He said ‘McDonald's closes at 11,'" Yarde said. "I hope they never tear that house down."