African American Pioneers

 Plan to attend the program “The Little Town with a Big Heart” on February 21, 2026, at 1:30pm at at Sumner’s new City Hall, 224 S. Christy Ave. Free admittance and refreshment courtesy of the city of Sumner.  Presentation by George Zwilling.

Lawrence County’s Black history begins early: free Black settlers arrived before the Civil War, owned land, built churches and schools, and left traces in places like Fort Allison and Portee Cemetery — local records and the Lawrence County Historical Society preserve these stories. This week we celebrate those people of color and their stories.

Introduction to Black History in Lawrence County Illinois

Lawrence County’s Black history is a foundational part of the county’s story, stretching from the early 1800s through the Civil War and into the 20th century. Free Black settlers such as John Morris arrived with early pioneer families and became residents of Fort Allison at present-day Russellville. Before the Civil War, local free Black families (including Morris, Anderson, Tann, Goins, Cole, Portee, Casey, Byrd, Day, Pettiford, Russell, Blackwell, and Jones) collectively owned roughly 2,000 acres in Lawrence County. A Civil War sixty years later would be required before slavery was abolished in the South and African Americans in the southern states could own land.

As with any community faced with adversity such as Native American attacks in those early days of Lawrence County’s history, all settlers stood together regardless of race.   A more tolerant attitude and respect toward these early Blacks developed than was shown at the same time in the South. 

JOHN  MORRIS

     John Morris was an African American born in 1847 in the Colony of South Carolina. In 1793 he was living in the Camden District of Fairfield County as a free African American, among other free African Americans, Mulattos, and Mestizos. This group petitioned the state of South Carolina for having to pay a Poll Tax on their families. Their petition was rejected and later John Morris and a few other families migrated to Logan County, Kentucky.

     In 1796, John Morris purchased 200 acres of property east of Russellville, Kentucky. He and his brother, William, helped establish the Muddy River Baptist Church in 1798. John Morris became a Baptist minister during this time. By 1809, John Morris along with a Baptist family of Allisons had migrated up into Edwards County, Illinois (Lawrence County IL today). Samuel and Frederick Allison were staunch Baptists. The Allisons along with John Morris and others, were original founders of the Mariah Creek Baptist Church, across the river in upper Knox County, Indiana. It became the first antislavery church in the area.

     In the spring of 1812, Fort Allison was built on the Allison property. (Present day Russellville, Illinois.) John Morris, along with a few other free African Americans named Anderson, Tann and Cole helped build and inhabit Fort Allison. Due to hostile Native Americans in the area, the fort was built for the protection of this integrated group of settlers.

     John Morris had to register his freedom status to become a legal resident. This was done on August 29, 1815, at the Edwards County courthouse in Palmyra, Illinois, (A few miles north of present Mt Carmel, Illinois).

     In 1820, John Morris purchased 160 acres of land in what is now Lawrence County Illinois and became the first African American landowner in Lawrence County. A replica of the Mariah Creek Baptist Church was built in 1963, on the Vincennes University Campus in Vincennes, Indiana.

     John Morris died in 1821 and is believed to be buried in the Cole Cemetery, three miles east of Pinkstaff, Illinois. Several of his descendants are buried in the same little cemetery. There are a few descendants of John Morris living in Lawrence County, Illinois today.

(In recent years, a gravestone marker was placed in the Morris Family Cemetery, three miles west of Pinkstaff, Illinois.)

  AUSTIN  TANN

     Austin Tann was born on May 27, 1791, in South Carolina, the son of Anthony and Margaret Tann. This free African American Tann family was taken in by a religious colony of Shakers who migrated to Knox County Indiana.

     The Busro Shaker Colony in northern Knox County, Indiana, also known as West Union or Shakertown, was in existence from 1811 to 1827. After the Shaker community was abandoned, Austin Tann migrated across the Wabash River and lived at Fort Allison (Present day Russellville IL) with a few other free African Americans named Morris, Cole and Anderson. Fort Allison was built in 1812 by the Allison family and this integrated group of settlers for protection from local hostile Native Americans.

     Lawrence County History shares a couple experiences involving Austin Tann and Native Americans. It is also recorded that Austin Tann was an eyewitness at a famous meeting in Vincennes, Indiana between Governor Harrison and the Shawnee Chief, Tecumseh.

     Austin Tann married Sarah Cole, daughter of George and Edy Morris Cole, on October 15, 1818. Together they had 9 children, George, John, Sarah, Marinda, Lydia, Reuben (Civil War), Levi (Civil War), Benjamin, and Joseph. Austin’s wife, Sarah died February 17, 1855. On September 4, 1855, Austin married Clarissa Pettiford. When the 1860 census was taken, Austin’s household consisted of himself 68, Clarissa 58, Reuben 20, Levi 18, Benjamin 13, Ellen Pettiford 14 and Ann Pettiford 5.

     After leaving Fort Allison, Austin Tann purchased several acres in Russell Township, three miles east of Pinkstaff, Illinois in Lawrence County. Today, there are numerous Tann descendants scattered across the United States, and a few remain in Lawrence County today.

     Austin Tann died of remittent fever on November 13, 1869, at age 78 in Lawrence County, Illinois. He is buried in the Tann Family Cemetery east of Pinkstaff, Illinois.

Many additional stories of African American families connected to Lawrence County can be explored through WikiTree, which hosts a growing collection of user‑contributed genealogies. By searching for individual surnames—such as Morris, Portee, Anderson, Goins, Tann, Pettiford, Blackwell, or others—you can uncover family pages, historical notes, source links, and collaborative research contributed by descendants and local historians. It’s an excellent way to follow individual lives across generations and connect local history with broader regional and national narratives.