“The wisest among my race understand that agitations of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing.”
Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery
The Wissahickon Valley Region's African American History
The area's earliest African Americans appeared during the late 18th and early 19th centuries either as runaway slaves or free blacks. But soon after a growth of blacks from Westmoreland County, Virginia migrated to Penllyn where the black settlement in the Wissahickon Valley Region began.
The 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery was the first protest against slavery that took place in Germantown, a neighborhood in Philadelphia. The petition was based on the Bible's "Golden Rule," and was drafted by Germantown founder Francis Daniel Pastorius and two other Germans at the home of Thones Kunder.
1700s
"A Friend among us has sold a negro slave to another since our last Quarter. Querie : is that an offence ?"
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- Gwynedd Friends Meeting, July 25, 1758
Ever since the 1688 petition was signed, there were no signs of any proclamations from any community in the Philadelphia area to ban slavery.
Throughout the 18th century, there were conversations within the Quaker community whether slavery is okay or not.
"Thomas Jones has purchased a slave, and he appearing in this meeting in a plyable frame of mind, expressed disposition of using him well if he should live ; this meeting desires him to adhere to the Principle of doing unto others as he would be done unto, which will teach him how to use him in time to come."
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- Gwynedd Friends Meeting, February 26, 1760
"David Knox offers a reward of twenty dollars for the return and recovery of a mulatto wench, 26 years old, named Stiffany."
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- Pennsylvania Packet, September 26, 1777
In 1763, Whitpain recorded three slaves.
At the Plumly Mill, located on the corner of Butler Pike and Morris Road, a runaway slave named Black Bill was occupying inside a hut where he hid until he made his escape from authorities.
"Miles Evans agrees to manumit his negro man. A committee of the meeting is appointed to advise the negro with respect to his conduct when free."
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- Gwynedd Friends Meeting, January 1780
The protest against slavery continued to be discussed during the 18th century until the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends were determined to disown members who were not willing to free their slaves. To "resolve" the issue, the Pennsylvania Assembly passed the "Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery" in 1780 that freed few of the slaves immediately.
1800-1830
From 1790 to 1810, the population of free blacks increased from 7.9% to 13.9%. From 1820 to 1830 there was an exponential increase in the black population. In 1790 Philadelphia, there were 1,630 blacks with 1,420 who were free while 210 as slaves.
After Montgomery County was established, there were 440 free blacks while 114 were slaves in the same year. The last known slaves in Whitpain were owned by James Morris of Dawesfield. They were freed prior to 1799. In 1830, the population grew up to 9,796. As a whole, Pennsylvania had 37,390 free blacks in 1830.
Below is the 1830 Census Data regarding who lived in Whitpain Township during that time, and who had free whites or blacks in their homes. In this case, we see William Stewart (second row) of Whitpain Township who had 4 free blacks with one being blind.
Click on the census below to magnify the details!
More information can be found in Carter G. Woodson's Free Negro Heads of Families in the United States in 1830, together with a Brief Treatment of the Free Negro.
Free blacks continued to populate in Montgomery County in the 1850s. In Lower Gwynedd, there were 10 free blacks with 1 family, and 4 individuals who lived with white families. In Whitpain, there was only 1 free black man.
Lower Gwynedd
In Gwynedd (before the township was split in 1891), there were 9 free blacks living in the area who lived with white families. There was only 1 black family who lived independently.
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The first African American who appeared on the census was George Pipenger, who was 18 years old when he lived in Gwynedd with John D. Jones and his wife Eunice Jones. Another person who lived with the Jones was Philip Zent, a laborer whose birthplace was "at sea." The only information found about George was from the Civil War Soldier database with a different spelling of his last name. He was a private of the 6th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry. From the Find a Grave website, he died in Tennessee, which remains a mystery why he was there.​
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Sarah Dennis was 30 years old and lived with Mary Scarlett and her family.
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50 year old Thomas Wolf, meanwhile, lived with two young physicians: John L. Foulke (head of the household) and Winthrop Sargent.
The Clemmens/Clemens Family
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William Clemmens - laborer (37)
Ann Clemmens (30)
Joseph Clemmens (8)
Mary Clemmens (6)
William Clemmens, Jr. (4)
Thomas Clemmens (1 month)
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William Clemens and his family first appeared on the 1850 census in Gwynedd township, but a decade later his family appeared in Upper Dublin's census. On that census, they were listed as a "mulatto" family. He served in the Civil War in the 3rd Regiment, United States Colored Infantry as a substitute until he was discharged. On March 24, 1871, William and his wife purchased a home in Horsham from Henry Lenhart, Sr. They sold their Horsham property in 1880.
Special Credits to Judith A. H. Meier and her piece, Citizen Soldiers of Color: Biographical Sketches of Montgomery County’s Black Soldiers in the Civil War.
Whitpain
While there were 9 free blacks living in Gwynedd, there was only 1 free black in Whitpain. His name was William Jones. He was 13 years old in the 1850 census data, and lived with Lutheran Clergyman Jacob Medart and his family. He was a pastor at St. John's Lutheran Church in Centre Square and at St. Peter's Church in North Wales.
1880-1900:
From Westmorland to Penllyn
African Americans began to migrate to the village of Penllyn in the 1880s after the Reconstruction Era. Many of the migrants came from Westmoreland County, Virginia. Some were the sons and daughters of free blacks.
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The early families who came from Westmoreland County included the Stewarts, Lowes, Nelsons, Smiths, Taylors, Carters, Claytons, Laws, and Deans. The first family to move to Penllyn was the Knoxes.
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The African Americans who came to Penllyn already established themselves after learning to read and write as well as being highly skilled in trades and working in jobs like farmers, blacksmiths, horseman, carpenters, and millers. There weren't many schools available in Westmoreland County. Black families had to either go out of state to continue learning, or stay home and work.
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So why did the African Americans of Westmoreland County, Virginia come to Penllyn? They sought opportunities in the North. Young blacks built their futures with the skills they needed to become successful. So they chose to move to the North to establish independence outside of Virginia. As a result, they were recruited to work on farms owned by wealthy families in Penllyn, Whitpain, and other places in Montgomery County.
They worked to earn money to buy their own farms in Virginia while staying in boarding houses or at their relatives. Their employment lasted from early spring to late autumn. Instead of heading back home, some found year-round work at the Keasbey and Mattison asbestos mill in Ambler.
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Special credits to Gloria E. Stewart Jones and her book Penllyn Village: Lest We Forget: A History and Personal Memories of a Black Settlement in Lower Gwynedd Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
The Churches That Shaped the Black Communities of Penllyn and Ambler
These three churches played a major role in the growth and stability of the African American communities of Ambler and Penllyn. Click on the images to access the link to the blog posts written about them!
Bethlehem Baptist Church
Established in 1885
The Emanuel African Union Methodist Protestant Church
Established in 1906
Zion Baptist Church
Established in 1916
A Growing Community
African Americans continue to migrate to Penllyn to find work and establish their families in the community. A group of young black men formed the Enterprise Working Company where they purchased land that extends from the eastern end of Willow Run Creek to Penllyn Pike.
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The land was later subdivided into 11 lots that provided affordable housing for young black families. The builders behind the homes in Penllyn that are still standing were James Jackson, carpenter Robert E. Brown, and William Laws.
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After the town of Ambler was incorporated, many African Americans flocked to the borough to continue living happily with their families.
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The black community lived mostly in South and West Ambler where the homes were originally built in the 1890s for Keasbey & Mattison workers, whom were mainly Italian, Irish, and Polish. African Americans also lived in North Ambler where they occupied two blocks of North Street and Woodland Avenue. It was lawyer and real estate agent Harold Knight who provided mortgages to the black families to live in North Ambler. These black families shared connections with upper-middle-class white families whom they worked for as domestic servants and artisans.
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Special credits to the late Martin L. Kilson, Jr. and his memoir A Black Intellectual's Odyssey: From a Pennsylvania Milltown to the Ivy League.
This was a 1915 survey from A Study of Living Conditions Among Colored People in Towns in the Outer Part of Philadelphia and in Other Suburbs Both in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
"Black families lived in marginal or isolated enclaves 'just outside,' 'adjoining,' or 'one mile out' from town, and the names that locals used to denote black settlements... [the names] reflected the social as well as physical distance that separated these communities from the remainder of the town."
- Andrew Wiese, Places of Their Own (21)
The Rise of Black High School Graduates
Since the end of World War I up to the 1950s, the public schools in Ambler became more integrated and welcomed students of all backgrounds, including African Americans and Italian Americans. According to Ambler High School alum Martin L. Kilson, Jr. (Class of 1948), the reason why there were little evidence of racism was due to the "cultural character" of the school staff:
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"From the 1920s through the 1950s, the high school's leaders and faculty rejected the ethnic and racial stigmatization of Italian American and African American citizens practiced broadly in white American society. As the faculty interacted with Italian American and African American students in authentically respectful and 'helping hand' ways, these young people were able to develop cultural respect for themselves. They were encouraged to take pride in their own ethnic and racial identities, in their 'Italianness' and 'Blackness,' rather than internalize the negative and self-defeating feelings promoted by the larger society." - Martin L. Kilson, Jr. (p. 34)
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As a result, more African American students, as well as Italian American students, got involved in extracurricular activities, ranging from participating in sports to performing arts to getting involved in various science fields.
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From 1919 to the 1930s, most of the African American students dropped out of high school before graduating to help raise income for their families by working at the Keasbey & Mattison Company with low pay. When the 1930s came around, there was a gradual growth rate of African American graduates. In order to help contribute student achievement and success for African Americans, the three churches in Ambler and Penllyn came together to raise scholarship funds for postsecondary education for African American students. In 1935, eight African Americans graduated high school out of 59 graduates. In 1939, 13 African Americans, including Kilson's sister Vermadella, graduated high school.
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Famous African Americans who grew up in Ambler and Penllyn, and became successful in their careers:
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Martin Luther Kilson, Jr. - Political Scientist
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Tanoh Kpassagnon - Professional Football Player
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Dolores James Robinson - Talent/Entertainment Manager