An Ohio town where races have mixed freely for more than 200 years

[brer cat]

It has only been in fairly recent years that I have augmented my piss-poor education by finding articles, books, and museums that tell wonderful stories of communities and rich cultural experiences that exist{ed} beyond the white history/sociology taught in schools. Even learning along with my granddaughters during Black History Month leaves much to be desired: the endless repetition of the biographies of the "big" names in AfAm history, and more in-depth study of slavery, Jim Crow, etc., while essential knowledge, fails to address much in the way of social processes. The town in this article is news to me and probably to many of the other white members of this group.

Amid the corn and soybean fields of western Ohio lies a progressive crossroads where black and white isn’t black and white, where the concept of race has been turned upside down, where interracial marriages have been the norm for nearly two centuries. The heavy boots of Jim Crow have never walked here.

Founded by James Clemens, a freed slave from Virginia who became a prosperous farmer, Longtown was a community far ahead of its time, a bold experiment in integration.

snip

“I don’t think the public was aware this was here,” Keiser said. “Black history is not talked about a lot in general, and I think {the fact} that we have that kind of history means something to a lot of people.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/an-ohio-town-where-the-races-have-mixed-freely-for-more-than-200-years/2015/09/26/7ab3b250-4cfa-11e5-bfb9-9736d04fc8e4_story.html

[bvf]

1. Born and raised in Ohio and never knew about

Longtown. Fascinating read, and all success to Connor Keiser and his civic efforts.

Thanks, brer cat!

On edit, a little more background:

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/oh11.htm

[brer cat]

2. Thanks for adding that link.

I vaguely remembered the Clemons name from reading about the Underground Railroad, but nothing about the history of Longtown. It is fascinating.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. Screen play idea -Ohio

Thanks for this!

[nc4bo]

4. Gouldtown (aka Bridgeton to me lol) New Jersey is another one. My Dad's family rooted there.

250 years for them.


http://www.mixedracestudies.org/wordpress/?tag=gouldtown

Gouldtown traces it’s history back 250 years, began with an interracial marriage

The march of history has all but bypassed Gouldtown, N.J., a sprawling farm community 40 miles from Philadelphia, but the Negro townsfolk still preserve their unique heritage and identity and are quietly proud of their past. The continuity of Gouldtown’s main families remains unbroken for 250 years and local legends still abound about how it all started. Today’s generation of Gouldtowners dwell less on tradition than their forebears did. But they know the main facts of their history, especially how their town came to be born. They are aware of Gouldtown’s origins and conversant with the picturesque personalities that shared in its development. But they have refused to be isolated by the sweep of history and the quickened tempo of modern living.

Gouldtown has been called the oldest colored settlement in America, and it may quite possibly be. The New Jersey land on which it stands was bought by its founder, John Fenwick, an English nobleman, in 1675. The community derived its name from a black man named Gould who married Elizabeth Fenwick, granddaughter of the wealthy colonist. The union caused a scandal which rocked the area for miles around and inflamed Fenwick with shame and rage. Intermarriage between Negroes and whites in those days was rare. The couple were subjected to scorn and ridicule but remained together as man and wife and raised children who became the first of a long line of hardy farmers.

All of the Goulds of present-day Gouldtown are their descendants. Today there are over 800 Goulds still living in the five square miles that comprise the community. A total of 1,000 persons bearing the name of Pierce inhabit the section, along with 300 Murrays, 200 Cuffs and 100 Wrights. These are the five principal family names of Gouldtown…

Little islands exist in this nation but the history has been so sadly neglected.

[brer cat]

6. There is too little of this history taught,

and for many of us only happenstance leads us to it. It sounds like Gouldtown is still thriving with the descendants of the original founders.

[nc4bo]

11. It's amazing isn't it?

Sad that these little nuggets of history aren't well known.

Black folks' family history seem to get loss in the mix. I always think of it as collateral damage from slavery (thanks a bunch Amerikkka).

[brer cat]

12. I agree.

I get so excited when I stumble upon a nugget like this one, but it is also sad. This is the history we should be learning and teaching our children. How much richer our lives would be if the stories and culture of Longtown and Goudtown replaced who-shot-who at Pickett's Charge and the Battle of Gettysburg in our studies!

I am sure for individual families it is very hard to reconstruct ties that go back to slavery when relationships weren't formalized and written records don't exist, plus all of the hidden relationships between slaves and their white owners. Look at how long it took to establish the Thomas Jefferson-Sally Hemings family. And as JAG mentioned in another post, she had a part of her family history that was "lost" for 50 years because an uncle didn't want it known he had been a "rebel." Essie Mae Washington-Williams was denied her birthright for over 70 years, and there are countless numbers of others in her situation who were never able to come forward. History denied is history lost, and that is truly sad.

[JustAnotherGen]

7. Are you serious?

My screenplay with a hit or two - one of my main characters hides out there - the other comes there trying find a friend after witnessing a murder. My first cut had the one on the run finding the one hiding in plain site to Niagara Falls.

Then a little pup I work with has roots there - and shared it with me.

I have a neat article for you - brb . . .

ETA its in there at your link - I have a hard copy original of this issue of ebony:

http://nativeamericansofdelawarestate.com/MoorsOfDelaware/Ebony1952-LargeImage.htm

I'm so excited to "meet" a descendent.

[nc4bo]

10. Thank-you for that article! We're a branch off Pierce/Cuff line.

From what I understand, the family moved over the bridge to Philadelphia when my grandpa was young and did not stay in close contact with the family left behind - except for an Aunt I can barely remember and perhaps a couple others. I'm assuming the move was related to better employment prospects or some family riff of some sort.

Very nice to meet you JAG!

ETA - What is this I see about a screen play? Do tell more?!!

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Henry Louis Gates' "Finding Your Roots" series went to a town like this ...

I think it was from Gates' own family tree -- he went to a family reunion of his (almost all) white relatives. The town was one in WV which was basically founded by several interracial couples. Wish I could find which episode for certain.

[JustAnotherGen]

8. Could it have been in

The African Americans? I have that PBS series and think he explored it in there.

You can't make this stuff up. It was a secret in my dad's family - at least in regards to my cousins and me knowing - the the Irish an in our family pictures - there were other pics of him in his CSA Colonel's uniform. That was a this request when he died.

About 20 years ago my great Aunt Jenni said enough - her grand daddy was a Johnny Reb and his great great grandchildren had a right to know. He died in the late 1940's at about 107/108 and the knowledge was deliberately "lost" by my dad and his peers for about 50 years.

[Number23]

9. This is very cool. K&R