Dossier 3578Historic SiteMedium 68

Hanby House

Westerville, Ohio1 min readFile amended October 2, 2026Directions

Hanby House is a historic site in Westerville, Ohio, an NPS Network to Freedom. The songwriter’s house—where "Darling Nelly Gray" was written. HauntHunt files it with Underground Railroad history, the Underground Railroad and African American history. The dossier holds 3 documented facts — the record is history-forward, no paranormal claims on file. The site is open to visitors.

Archive note: 3 sources on file

Status

Operating

Access

Open to public

Designation

NPS Network to Freedom

Coordinates

40.123, -82.913 · Approximate (city centroid)

Signal: cold trace

Is Hanby House haunted?

No claims are filed here — the record keeps this place for its documented history, not for a haunting on file.

Dark History Historic Sites

The record — long form

The Hanby House is the songwriter's — the 1853-70 home where 'Darling Nelly Gray' and 'Up on the Housetop' were composed. The song was the abolition — the 'Uncle Tom's Cabin of song' that sold a million, the Kentucky auction that broke the composer's heart. The Selby was the source — the dying runaway who told of his Nelly, the story that became the ballad.

The Underground Railroad was the family's — William Hanby's station work, the Otterbein presidency that helped. The desk is the artifact — the walnut that Ben built, the plates for the first edition. The Hanby House is the composer's museum — the parlor where the songs were written, the abolition that was sung.

The file keeps the Hanby House: the 1853 residence, the songs, the Selby story, and the Otterbein connection.

The Hanby House is the archive's Westerville file — the abolitionist songwriter's home.

Why this file matters

The Hanby House is the archive's Westerville file — the 'Nelly Gray' house.

A house keeps its song — the file's suggestion being that the Hanby's hold is the ballad: the runaway's story that became the hit, the desk that's still there, and the station that was the home.

Documented history

NPS includes this site in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. The site's documented history is the record the rest of the file stands on. This belongs to the verified spine of the entry, the layer everything else is measured against. The detail is preserved in 'Public NPS Network to Freedom listings, row 2, ID 01GA01'. Documented ground is what separates this file from pure legend — this is part of it.
Verified historyNational Park Service
Hanby House is documented on the National Park Service Network to Freedom for its role in the Underground Railroad. The site's documented history is the record the rest of the file stands on. The record holds it as fact — documented, not retold. The detail is preserved in 'NPS Network to Freedom listing'. The date is part of the site's documented spine.
Verified historyNational Park Service
The 1856 song’s origin is documented. The site's documented history is the record the rest of the file stands on. It's verified history: the dossier's load-bearing detail. 'NPS Network to Freedom listing' documents the entry. The record keeps it — history, not lore. It remains the site's standing claim.
Verified historyNational Park Service