Carrying on the Longtown heritage

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GREENVILLE — Garst Museum’s Speakers Series returns on Sunday, February 25 at 2 p.m. The guest speaker will be Darke County native Connor Keiser. He is the great-great-great-great-great grandson of James Clemens, a freed slave from Rockingham County, Virginia.

Clemens, along with his wife Sophia Sellers and their five children, settled in the Longtown area of Darke County and began farming in 1818. The Longtown settlement was established nearly 200 years ago. The settlement grew into a thriving mixed-race community and an important stop on the Underground Railroad.

Keiser will reflect on his research into Longtown’s history, and his experiences growing up in a multigenerational mixed-race family. He and other descendants of the pioneering settlers are working to bring Longtown back to life for others to experience.

All Garst lectures are free and open to the public. However, regular admission will apply to tour the museum which includes the outstanding National Annie Oakley Center, Crossroads of Destiny, Lowell Thomas, and Longtown exhibits. Funding for this program was made possible, in part, by the Harry D. Stephens Memorial, Inc. Foundation. The Garst Museum is located at 205 N. Broadway, Greenville, OH 45331

Keiser
https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Keiser.jpgKeiser

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