A lighted candle in an upstairs window of the Rankin house signaled slaves that it was safe to proceed on the route to freedom. From 1825 to 1865, John and Jean Rankin, along with their Brown County neighbors, sheltered more than 2,000 escaping slaves. It has been reported that the Rankins never lost a 'passenger' on the Underground Railroad.
Read more at: http://www.ohiohistoryteachers.org/03/04/sw06.shtml