Statue honoring Lancaster's first Black business owner completed
LANCASTER, Ohio (WCMH) — There is a new statue in the city of Lancaster honoring Scipio Smith, the man who became the city's first Black business owner in the 1800s.
The statue is along Main Street, not far from where Smith's tinsmith shop was located. The statue shows Smith holding an open shackle with the day he was emancipated inscribed on it. He was enslaved in Virginia before being brought to Ohio.
'That was his way of showing you can't stop me, even this chain didn't hold me down,' said Michael Johnson, a local historian and the marketing director for the Fairfield County Heritage Association. 'You can't get much more of an underdog than being born a slave and losing your leg as a child.'
Johnson found a brief entry about Smith in a history book. He said he'd never seen an entry quite like it, so he dug deeper. Eventually he learned about Smith's history as a slave. Four years after Smith was freed, he founded the AME church in town, which is now Allen Chapel.
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'To know he was right here, to know he was responsible for this church,' said Evan Saunders, Pastor of Allen Chapel. 'You don't even know the lives he's touched but yet here 2025 we realize he's touching a whole community with that so his legacy still continues to live on.'
About two years after opening the church, Smith opened a tinsmith shop in Lancaster. That made him the city's first Black business owner, according to Johnson.
'He was pretty quick to act once he got his freedom. He knew what he wanted,' Johnson said. 'Opened door for other Black business owners.'
Johnson wrote about Smith's story. But he wanted to do more to honor the local legend. About two years ago he started fundraising for a statue. It's now completed, full of symbols and Smith's story.
'For me I think statues are celebrations, they are people we should be looking up to, the ideals they represent, and Scipio, you can't beat his work ethic, his faith, his tenacity, the ability to overcome unbelievable obstacles. You can't beat that story,' Johnson said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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