THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 1996 TAG: 9603130523
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
DATELINE: ROANOKE ISLAND LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
A year before slavery was outlawed in the South by Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, refugee slaves and free blacks got their first taste of ``real'' freedom on the north end of this island. And this summer, local descendants of those freedmen will gather here to celebrate their legacy of liberty.
A commemoration is set for June 23 at the Fort Raleigh Historic site.
Virginia Tillett of Manteo, who is leading a group that's planning the event, hopes the celebration will attract descendants from across the country. ``We don't want this to be just a Dare County event,'' she said. ``We hope to draw people here from Florida, New York, everywhere. We're still doing research to determine who these families were, and where their descendants are.''
Refugee slaves and freed blacks sought haven on the island shortly after Union General Ambrose Burnside captured Roanoke Island from Confederate regulars in February 1862.
Burnside appointed a Massachusetts clergyman, the Rev. Howard James, to organize the refugees into a stable community.
The new settlers were asked to help the families of African-American soldiers who had been recruited to join Union forces.
About 600 homes were built on the north end of the island, as well as a hospital, church, sawmill and schools. African-American women were hired as laundresses, seamstresses and cooks for federal troops.
The refugees who were not in the Army worked as shoemakers, carpenters, millers and fishermen. The population of the colony ranged from about 1,000 in 1862 to about 4,000 in 1865. Most were women and children.
The absence of able-bodied men, along with poor soil quality, were among the contributing factors that led to the colony's demise. The settlers depended heavily on help from private abolitionist organizations in the north.
At the end of the war, the United States government returned the property to its original Southern owners. But some 1,700 free blacks remained on the island in early 1866.
Maj. Gen. John Robinson of the Commission for Freedmen's Affairs wrote of the destitution found at the colony. Historian David Stick recounted Robinson's impressions in his book, ``The Outer Banks of North Carolina.''
``Every effort has been made to break up the colony of freedmen on Roanoke Island, but there are still 1,700 colored persons living upon land seized by the government and divided into one-acre lots. The place is barren, and there is every appearance of great destitution during the coming winter.''
The African-Americans were evacuated, ending Burnside's and James' freedom experiment. While there is no remnant of the structures that were built then, some descendants still live in Manteo.
The next meeting of the planning committee is set for 10 a.m. March 26 at the Outer Banks History Center on Ice Plant Island. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
FREEDMEN'S COLONY REUNION
A gathering of descendants of the Roanoke Island freedmen's colony
will be held June 23 at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.
If you believe your ancestors were part of the Freedmen's Colony on
Roanoke Island, or if you are interested in helping plan the event,
call Virginia Tillett at (919) 473-2264 or (919) 473-2753.
by CNB