George French Ecton was a civil rights activist and Illinois' second black state legislator. He was born a slave in Winchester, Kentucky in 1846 to Antonio Ecton and Martha George. In June, 1865, after the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery, George and a friend received free papers in the mail and set off to escape slavery, as they were still being held in bondage. When they arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio they were hired as deck hands on the steam packet, Sherman, working a route between Cincinnati and Wheeling, West Virginia. Later, in Cincinnati, George took a job at a number of hotels, including the Broadway House, Walnut Street House, Burnett House, and Spencer House. He became ill with small-pox while at the Walnut Street House, but recovered. He also began to attend night s