Rial Cheadle

Rial Cheadle (or Rial "Chedle") (1801 – 1867) of the Ohio Cheadles, was a prominent conductor in the Ohio Underground Railroad. Born in 1801 at Big Bottom (the site of the Big Bottom Massacre and near the present-day site of Stockport, Ohio ), he, along with the abolitionist Rev. Bennett Roberts, taught school and spoke against slavery. Under the influence of both Cheadle and Roberts, the school at Big Bottom became known as "The Abolition School."

Cheadle's work in transporting slaves northward in the underground railroad is reported to have taken place over the span of 20 years and there are a number a local writings which refer to the work of this energetic and unique man. References to Rial Cheadle's activities can be found in Morgan County histories, a pamphlet published by Eck Humphries in 1931, and in first-hand accounts collected by Professor W.H. Seibert of Ohio State University in the late 1880s and 1890s. but "As a result of his visits it is said, the slaves were frequently missing..."

He died in 1867.