In the 1970s, a blind horse named Dick found itself at the Montgomery County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ (SPCA) newly constructed facility in the Perkiomen area of the county. Dick was a cruelty case. At his new home, he found a new friend, a pony, who would be his eyes for the rest of their lives… Read More »Montgomery County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)
In 1779, a boy named Parris was two years old. Parris was living in Upper Hanover Township in the home of Adam Hillegas, the man who enslaved him and his family. In the same year, Adam Hillegas would die, leaving a will that stated his enslaved family “consisting in a woman & several children shall… Read More »A boy named Parris
Enslaved persons may have appeared in newspapers for many reasons, but by far the most common was when they sought freedom. Enslavers at the time would have placed advertisements offering a monetary reward, hoping for the successful capture and return of the enslaved person. Today, we recognize these individuals not as runaways or fugitives as… Read More »Portraits of freedom seekers through newspaper articles
Rare mention of enslavement by Pennsylvania Germans is “exactly what one would expect” because Pennsylvania Germans “had neither the means nor the desire to own a slave.” These claims from the article below were made in 1950 but are not far off from what one hears about Pennsylvania Germans today. A 2017 study by the… Read More »Historical myths – Pennsylvania Germans and slavery
One of the largest sources of data about enslavement practices in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries is state and county tax records. Enslaved persons were considered property and therefore taxable, by both colonial and early republic governments. Typically, the assessment will only show the number of enslaved persons someone was taxed for, but occasionally… Read More »Using Tax Records to Understand Enslavement Practices in the Perkiomen Valley
Although some southern colonies, and later several states, made laws prohibiting the education of enslaved persons, no such laws existed in Pennsylvania. There are many examples of early efforts to promote the education of free and enslaved black children and adults in Philadelphia and while there are fewer records for rural areas, there were also… Read More »Education of Free and Enslaved Black Students in 18th Century Frederick Township
In the eighteenth century, the Perkiomen Valley was home to many German-speaking Protestant, Anabaptist, and Pietist groups, including Reformed, Lutheran, Schwenkfelder, and Mennonite congregations. Copies of the records of these churches can be found at the Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center, the Montgomery County Historical Society, and other organizations throughout the region. Records of several… Read More »Africans and African Americans in Eighteenth Century Church Records
During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Perkiomen Valley was a hub of the iron industry in America. Thomas Rutter built the first forge in Pennsylvania in 1716 on the Manatawny Creek and a number of other forges and furnaces quickly followed in the area. Other ironworks in the greater Perkiomen Valley included Colebrookdale… Read More »Iron industry in the Perkiomen Valley