Plantation Stories Project
Enslaved, Indentured, Freedom Seeking, and Free Black IndividualsMany Voices - Many Stories
The Project is dedicated to sharing the stories of people who lived, labored, and died at the site of the John Dickinson Plantation. Its directive is to research, compile, record, and share information about all enslaved, indentured, free, and freedom-seeking Black people connected to land over which the Dickinson family claimed ownership. The Project endeavors to give voice to people whose stories have been marginalized and largely lost to time, recognizing the humanity and agency of historically oppressed people as well as how they interacted with and impacted the communities and landscapes around them.
Learn About Life on the Plantation. This is... Clem's Story
Currently, the only information available about Clem comes from a runaway advertisement, published in the Delaware Gazette. Clem self-liberated from enslavement in 1790, leaving the Jones Neck of Kent County, DE. William White, who had enslaved Clem, placed a runaway advertisement in the Delaware Gazette offering a six dollar reward for Clem’s capture and return. The same advertisement was published at least four times in the same newspaper, on February 27, March 13, March 20, and March 27 of 1790.
The runaway advertisement described Clem physically as well as the clothing that he went away…
