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Juneteenth is a powerful symbol of delayed justice and enduring hope, dating back to June 19, 1865, when Union troops enforced the end of slavery in Galveston, Texas.
In New Jersey, the story unfolded differently. The Garden State did not fully abolish slavery until 1866, a year after Juneteenth. As the last Northern state to do so, the state’s path to freedom was complex.
Nearly two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed the enslaved in Confederate States, enslavers in Texas kept Black people in bondage due to the lack of federal presence in the state. But a decree posted in areas where Black people gathered stated, without a doubt, “all slaves are free.”
A year later, the newly freed Black people in Texas dressed in their Sunday best and celebrated the decree through parades, singing gospels and prayer. Families that were ripped apart during enslavement enjoyed each other’s company during gatherings. They enjoyed red foods, which represent transformation, sacrifice and power in some African cultures, according to food historian Michael Twitty.
New Jersey didn’t ratify the 13th Amendment, which abolished enslavement, until 1866. Despite this delay, Black people in New Jersey still found their freedom and practiced their autonomy in multiple settlements in the area. This is mostly due to the Black and white abolitionists who played a role in the Underground Railroad.
In honor of the pride and resilience of Juneteenth, we rounded up a few examples of Black self-sufficiency in New Jersey:
Lawnside
The town clerk works on a document in Lawnside, N.J. A note that accompanied this photo stated that all officials, from the may to the dog catcher, are Black. "In this respect the town is unique," the note said.New Jersey State Archives
More than a century before the annulment of slavery, abolitionists were already forging pathways of freedom in Camden County, N.J.
Enslaved Africans fled to the area during the 1700s due to its proximity to the Quakers, who were known for their anti-slavery attitudes. The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia states that the population of formerly enslaved people increased from 180 in 1790 to 1,104 by 1840. The settlement that later became known as Lawnside was first called Free Haven because of its connection to the Underground Railroad. In 1845, Black freedom fighters Peter Mott and his wife Elizabeth Thomas purchased one of the first lots in the town and constructed a one-and-a-half story home. According to oral histories, Mott hid and snuck the enslaved to a neighboring town where Quakers helped escapees flee further north.
A few years after the Civil War, Free Haven’s name changed to Snow Hill. Lumbers created white sand by sawing down trees and shrubs on a hilltop. The land was sold to African Americans because of its poor soil quality. Freedmen became homeowners during an era of loan discrimination thanks to the creation of the Home Mutual Investment Company in 1909.
In 1926, the borough of Lawnside became an incorporated municipality, making it the first self-governing African-American town in the northern United States.
The community had a thriving social life during the Great Depression. Black Americans lounged and frolicked in Lawnside’s park and two man-made lakes. During the 1930s, locals and travelers from Philadelphia savored barbecue and danced the night away at restaurants and venues. Some of the more popular establishments were Dreamland Café, The High Hat Club and Club Harlem. Jazz icons such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday performed in these spaces until the 1960s.
The Lawnside Historical Society has taken up the mission in preserving the borough’s legacy. The nonprofit renovated the Mott House into a museum that details the town’s connection to the Underground Railroad. The property is listed on the National Registers of Historic Places.
A man works at Hi Hat Inn Bar, which was one of many clubs that supported a thriving jazz scene in Lawnside, N.J. during the 1930s.New Jersey State Archives
Timbuctoo
When Hezekiah Hall, Wardell Parker, David Parker and Ezekiel Parker escaped enslavement in Maryland, they founded a settlement that honored their past and manifested a promising future for their descendants.
In 1826, they bought land from a Quaker in Burlington, N.J., which became known as the “Cradle of Emancipation.” Local historians of the town believe it was named after Timbuktu, the eleventh-century African Kingdom that was known as a center of wealth, culture and trade. It is believed the founding settlers of the New Jersey community wanted to create a town where they could exercise their independence and become economically and educationally free, just like their ancestors.
More than two dozen land transitions would occur in Timbuctoo over the next two decades to make room for homes, a school and Zion Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal African Church. A cemetery next to the church became the burial ground for U.S. Colored Troops who fought during the Civil War.
In 1834, a resident sold a part of his land to build the African Union School. In the deed for the land, the buyers and sellers of the property stated that the people of color in Timbuctoo “seem sensible of the advantages of a suitable school education and are destitute for a house for that purpose.” The deed also explained that board members had to be “people of color” who lives no more than 10 minutes from the premises. This documentation was recorded in the Burlington County Clerk’s office at a time when it was illegal to educate Black people. Historians are still trying to figure out if the people of Timbuctoo was deliberately defying the law of the times or if they had an “ally” working for them in the clerk’s office.
Timbuctoo was also a site of Black resistance. In December 1860, Maryland slave catcher George Alberti traveled near the community to capture Perry Simmons, a runaway slave who had been enjoying his freedom in Timbuctoo for more than 10 years. When Alberti and his men arrived at Simmons’ home, Simmons gathered his weapons, hid himself and his family in an attic and threatened to shoot the first man who dared come close to their hiding spot.
His family screamed “murderers” and “kidnappers” hoping to catch their neighbors’ attention. A friend of Simmons heard the family’s screams, raced his horse to Timbuctoo to alert the rest of the residents of what was happening. Only a few minutes later, a swarm of armed townspeople arrived on Simmons’ property ready to fight back. Alarmed by the yelling and angered crowd coming towards him, Alberti retreated.
What became known as the “Battle of Pine Swamp” was chronicled by a local newspaper called the New Jersey Mirror. According to the reporter, Alberti and his men “had a great horror of the Timbuctoo warriors, for they went down the road at a rapid rate.”
This Black settlement remained small in population, but rich in history. The community peaked to about 125 residents in the 19th century. According to the Timbuctoo Historical Society, about 19 homes are spread across the community’s 50 acres today. The community was placed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places in 2011.
Skunk Hollow
What looked like an unfarmable piece of swampland and dense forest became a sanctuary for formerly enslaved people. In 1806, Jack Earnest became the first freedman to own property on Skunk Hollow, which got its name from the rancid-smelling foliage called Skunk Cabbage that grew in abundance in the area. The settlement neighbored the stateline of New York, which abolished slavery in 1827.
While little is known about how African Americans lived in Skunk Hollow, historians believe the settlement’s undesirable terrain, isolation from large populations and proximity to New York would have made it a prime stop for the Underground Railroad. According to a historical marker placed in the area, about 100 free Black families lived in Skunk Hollow. One of those residents was William Thompson, an African Methodist minister who bought Earnest’s property after he died from injuries caused by a fire. In 1856, Thompson built the Methodist Episcopal Church of Colorued People of the Township of Harrington where Earnest’s home once stood. The loyal congregation was led by Thompson, who became a prominent community leader until his death in 1886.