Freedom drew blacks to metro-east
BY RAMONA CURTIS
News-Democrat
There are no historical markers on Illinois 3, but off the highway is a church that symbolizes the heritage of freedom and black self-determination in Brooklyn.
The historic village that today has 676 residents is considered the nation's first settlement of former slaves to become an incorporated town. Brooklyn was established 180 years ago by a group of slaves from Missouri who crossed the Mississippi River to freedom in Illinois.
A former slave named Priscilla Baltimore led them.
"In 1825, Priscilla Baltimore brought families over here from Missouri. They squatted at Freedom Village, which was later named Brooklyn," said retired teacher and historian Charlotte E. Johnson.
Southwestern Illinois was attractive to enslaved blacks because it bordered two slave states -- Missouri and Kentucky -- and was the nearest free state for blacks fleeing the deep South, according to the book "America's First Black Town" by former Southern Illinois University Edwardsville history professor Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua.
Like Harriet Tubman, Mother Baltimore, as she was called, worked hard to help blacks escape slavery. Born in the early 1800s as the daughter of a slave and her white master, Baltimore was sold to missionaries in St. Louis and given the opportunity to buy her own freedom.
Within seven years she had paid the $1,100 price to call herself free. Then Mother Baltimore began ferrying families across the Mississippi River to freedom in Illinois.
According to Cha-Jua, Freedom Village became a haven for blacks seeking freedom and a major hub of the Underground Railroad. Cha-Jua writes: "The black settlement that became Brooklyn ... was a beacon of hope for those still trapped in thralldom on the other side of the river."
The settlers' courage in providing refuge for escaped slaves was heavily influenced by William Paul Quinn, a free black man who was bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal church. The settlers established Brooklyn Methodist Church in 1825 and later renamed it Quinn Chapel in 1836 in his honor. Quinn Chapel still holds services at 108 N. Fifth St.
Brooklyn was not the first settlement of blacks in Illinois. In 1819, Edward Coles, the second governor of Illinois, freed the slaves he inherited and gave them land in Pin Oak Township near Edwardsville. About 10 years later, Free Frank McWorter, a former slave, founded a black settlement in Pike County. In 1836, McWorter incorporated the settlement as New Philadelphia. It was settled four years after Brooklyn.
In 1837 a group of white men headed by Thomas Osborn made plans to plat and incorporate the village of Brooklyn. Cha-Jua speculates that the decision was based on the "locational advantages" that Brooklyn held.
"Situated directly across from St. Louis, the rapidly developing 'Gateway to the West,' Brooklyn lay near the center of a growing transportation network," Cha-Jua wrote in his 2000 book. "The multitude of settlers heading west, accelerating agricultural trade along the Mississippi River, and the development of manufacturing in St. Louis suggested that a town in the American Bottoms would be quite profitable."
Brooklyn's economy was greatly diminished when it did not become part of a major railroad as did Illinoistown, later to become East St. Louis. Brooklyn remained a racially mixed town, however it thrived as a refuge from white dominance and racism.
"At one time there were whites and blacks in Brooklyn and then Brooklyn became predominately black," recalled Brooklyn native George McShan, 71. "Brooklyn was established by slaves and they felt freer there."
Only four whites were counted by the government in the 2000 census of Brooklyn.
McShan, who has been the church secretary of Quinn Chapel for 40 years, recalls a time when Brooklyn had its own movie theaters, grocery and drug stores, restaurants and social clubs. He said that before desegregation in the 1960s, Brooklyn was home to many blacks who came to the metro-east from the South to work.
"Things were really segregated and people put the word out that Brooklyn was a free black town," McShan said. "That's where most of the blacks were because they couldn't stay in certain places. So that's why you had all of the people there in Brooklyn until they broke down segregation in housing and in schools and a lot of people moved out."
Brooklyn today is a village in the shadow of St. Louis where half the residents live below the poverty level, 75 percent of the students cannot meet state academic standards, and village government depends heavily on money from the adult entertainment businesses.
But McShan said the spirit of the forefathers' self-determination still exists in the small community.
"That's my hometown and I love it and I hope it comes back," he said. "I try to impress something on these young people: You can be something if you want. Just look at where you came from."
Contact Ramona Curtis at rcurtis@bnd.com or 239-2501
BY RAMONA CURTIS
News-Democrat
There are no historical markers on Illinois 3, but off the highway is a church that symbolizes the heritage of freedom and black self-determination in Brooklyn.
The historic village that today has 676 residents is considered the nation's first settlement of former slaves to become an incorporated town. Brooklyn was established 180 years ago by a group of slaves from Missouri who crossed the Mississippi River to freedom in Illinois.
A former slave named Priscilla Baltimore led them.
"In 1825, Priscilla Baltimore brought families over here from Missouri. They squatted at Freedom Village, which was later named Brooklyn," said retired teacher and historian Charlotte E. Johnson.
Southwestern Illinois was attractive to enslaved blacks because it bordered two slave states -- Missouri and Kentucky -- and was the nearest free state for blacks fleeing the deep South, according to the book "America's First Black Town" by former Southern Illinois University Edwardsville history professor Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua.
Like Harriet Tubman, Mother Baltimore, as she was called, worked hard to help blacks escape slavery. Born in the early 1800s as the daughter of a slave and her white master, Baltimore was sold to missionaries in St. Louis and given the opportunity to buy her own freedom.
Within seven years she had paid the $1,100 price to call herself free. Then Mother Baltimore began ferrying families across the Mississippi River to freedom in Illinois.
According to Cha-Jua, Freedom Village became a haven for blacks seeking freedom and a major hub of the Underground Railroad. Cha-Jua writes: "The black settlement that became Brooklyn ... was a beacon of hope for those still trapped in thralldom on the other side of the river."
The settlers' courage in providing refuge for escaped slaves was heavily influenced by William Paul Quinn, a free black man who was bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal church. The settlers established Brooklyn Methodist Church in 1825 and later renamed it Quinn Chapel in 1836 in his honor. Quinn Chapel still holds services at 108 N. Fifth St.
Brooklyn was not the first settlement of blacks in Illinois. In 1819, Edward Coles, the second governor of Illinois, freed the slaves he inherited and gave them land in Pin Oak Township near Edwardsville. About 10 years later, Free Frank McWorter, a former slave, founded a black settlement in Pike County. In 1836, McWorter incorporated the settlement as New Philadelphia. It was settled four years after Brooklyn.
In 1837 a group of white men headed by Thomas Osborn made plans to plat and incorporate the village of Brooklyn. Cha-Jua speculates that the decision was based on the "locational advantages" that Brooklyn held.
"Situated directly across from St. Louis, the rapidly developing 'Gateway to the West,' Brooklyn lay near the center of a growing transportation network," Cha-Jua wrote in his 2000 book. "The multitude of settlers heading west, accelerating agricultural trade along the Mississippi River, and the development of manufacturing in St. Louis suggested that a town in the American Bottoms would be quite profitable."
Brooklyn's economy was greatly diminished when it did not become part of a major railroad as did Illinoistown, later to become East St. Louis. Brooklyn remained a racially mixed town, however it thrived as a refuge from white dominance and racism.
"At one time there were whites and blacks in Brooklyn and then Brooklyn became predominately black," recalled Brooklyn native George McShan, 71. "Brooklyn was established by slaves and they felt freer there."
Only four whites were counted by the government in the 2000 census of Brooklyn.
McShan, who has been the church secretary of Quinn Chapel for 40 years, recalls a time when Brooklyn had its own movie theaters, grocery and drug stores, restaurants and social clubs. He said that before desegregation in the 1960s, Brooklyn was home to many blacks who came to the metro-east from the South to work.
"Things were really segregated and people put the word out that Brooklyn was a free black town," McShan said. "That's where most of the blacks were because they couldn't stay in certain places. So that's why you had all of the people there in Brooklyn until they broke down segregation in housing and in schools and a lot of people moved out."
Brooklyn today is a village in the shadow of St. Louis where half the residents live below the poverty level, 75 percent of the students cannot meet state academic standards, and village government depends heavily on money from the adult entertainment businesses.
But McShan said the spirit of the forefathers' self-determination still exists in the small community.
"That's my hometown and I love it and I hope it comes back," he said. "I try to impress something on these young people: You can be something if you want. Just look at where you came from."
Contact Ramona Curtis at rcurtis@bnd.com or 239-2501