The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA

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February 14, 2013

Slaveholders and Parishioners at Old Buffalo Church: The Dales and the Linns

The Daily Item

LEWISBURG — Jeannette Lasansky, historian and author on this topic, will talk about the contradictions in the lives and practices of early Union County families pertaining to slavery in families like the Dales and Linns. Lasansky’s talk, starting at 2 p.m. Feb. 24, will be presented in the national register site, the Old Buffalo Church at Buffalo Crossroads. This is the earliest Union County Presbyterian church and site where many staunch slave holders worshiped.  

Lasansky has led the county’s research on this topic since the Dale House became a property of the Union County Historical Society in 2001. The Dales were slaveholders until at least 1840 and had initially lived in White Deer Township as had John Linn. The Dales had a slave named Dinah and the Linns owned a slave named Judy. There was gradual abolition in Pennsylvania starting in 1783 but not total abolition until 1847.

This is a program of the Union County Historical Society offered during February Black History Month. For more information about the 1813-2013 Union County Bicentennial visit www.unioncounty200.com and for more information about the Society visit www.unioncountyhistoricalsociety.org  

A book titled African Americans in Union County: Slave and Free is available for purchase at Bucknell’s Barnes & Noble on Market Street, Lewisburg, and at the UCHS office in the Union County Courthouse on South Second Street, Lewisburg.

 

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