Pandenarium
East Lackawannock Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Arriving in November 1854, 63 African Americans settled an agricultural community north of Indian Run. Freed through manumission by Va. plantation owner Dr. Charles Everett, many of these formerly enslaved men and women worked to purchase the freedom of others. Abolitionist-built houses on land provided by Everett awaited them. Archaeological investigations have uncovered their stories of hard-fought freedom, collaboration, and perseverance.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In November 1854, sixty-three African Americans freed from a Virginia plantation arrived in Mercer County to build a new life. Manumitted by Dr. Charles Everett, they settled an agricultural community on land he provided, where abolitionists had already raised houses to receive them. Many of these newly free men and women went on to labor toward purchasing freedom for others. Archaeology has since recovered the traces of their determined, self-made community.
Why it matters
Pandenarium is a rare, documented example of planned emancipation and Black community-building in the antebellum North, testifying to the resolve of the formerly enslaved to secure freedom for one another.
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Related people
- · Charles Everett
Themes & tags
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