The High Point Museum and the Historic Jamestown Society have joined together to host a program about the free people of color and African American families of Jamestown. Descendants of these families were located through DNA research.
“Jamestown Freedom Pioneers Presentation and Oral History Workshop” will also connect these families to the free Black settlement of Weaver, Ind. Weaver’s first settlers were free people of color and former slaves who migrated from North and South Carolina in the early 1840s. Weaver is named for Thomas Weaver who was born in Guilford County in 1841.
Dr. Kersten Priest, a retired sociology and behavioral science professor, will speak on “Jamestown’s Freedom Pioneers: How Families of Never-Enslaved People of Color ‘Made a Way.’” She will be bringing artifacts from the Underground Railroad.
“We look forward to sharing a little-known aspect of the history of Jamestown, N.C., and how this small town made a big impact in the history of building America,” said Dr. La Tanya Bowman, a member of the Historic Jamestown Society Board of Directors.
“You will hear stories and learn about the history of who were the Free People of Color and the African American families in the area and where they resided in Jamestown. You will learn how they assisted with the abolitionist movement in helping to build the nation, and where are they now.
“This presentation is important for this is the first time these families were acknowledged,” Bowman said. “It captures the true essence of who these families were.”
Bowman has done her own family genealogy and met cousins she never knew. She mentioned to one new cousin from Indiana that she was from Jamestown, N.C., and the cousin recognized the town because of the Mendenhall name. There is a connection between Mendenhall Homeplace and this settlement in Weaver, Ind. There were several settlements of free people of color who helped free slaves. They were abolitionists.
Many people have asked if Mendenhall Homeplace was part of the Underground Railroad but the answer has always been that there is no proof that was so. The Mendenhalls were abolitionists and Richard Mendenhall was even president of the North Carolina Manumission Society. This program ties the Mendenhall Homeplace to Weaver’s history.
“Dr. Priest is from Marion, Ind., and will be coming to the High Point area to present her program,” said Jay McQuillan, HJS president. “I’m sure it will be an interesting piece of Jamestown history.”
Bowman hopes this presentation will be an aid in placing a North Carolina Historical Marker in Jamestown for these families. Local families include John and Tamara Curry Pettiford, Wil Fuller, and Henry and Sarah Burden Weaver.
The program will be at 12 noon March 15 at the High Point Museum. It is free and open to the public.
The High Point Museum is located at 1859 E. Lexington Ave., High Point, www.HighPointMuseum.org. For more information contact the Museum at 336-885-1859.