by Shaniele Brown
South Jersey Information Equity Project
Black History Month is when often-overlooked narratives of resilience, perseverance, strength, and community get spotlighted. In the heart of New Jersey, you will find Lawnside, the first independent, self-governing Black municipality in Northern America (Incorporated in 1926), a town enriched in history and holds a special significance within African origin.
“The history of Lawnside is the History of Black culture in South Jersey,” said Genealogist and Project Manager for Lawnside Historical Society, Shamele Jordon.
In 1840, Free Haven, now known as Lawnside, developed once abolitionists purchased the land for freed and escaped enslaved people. The town was established well before 1840, but now it was time for those enslaved to have somewhere to feel safe.
According to Linda Shockley, president of the Lawnside Historical Society since 1994, the early origins of Lawnside was founded by Quaker Ralph Smith, a member of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee. Smith worked alongside Jacob C. Wright, Sr., a prominent African American barber, physician, dentist, and community leader, to purchase the land for freed and escaped enslaved people, calling it “Free Haven.” Shockley explains that Jacob Wright, Sr. was a Black man from Philadelphia who donated land for the first school for the children of Lawnside. Also, many people had property given to them by Quakers.
“Ralph Smith and Jacob C. Wright, Sr. wanted people to be owners of their houses, to have deeds,” said Shockley.
As we explore the story of the historical Lawnside, a town whose impact on Black culture has set its blueprint for liberation, Genealogist Shamele Jordon sheds light on the contributions of the people. Jordon is working on green book and underground railroad projects funded by the New Jersey Historical Commission (NJHC). The green book highlights Black businesses from Lawnside in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, and the underground railroad project will talk about the town’s place in the secret network. According to Jordon, Lawnside was the place to be around the 1920s to the 1960s. The Philadelphia Encyclopedia shares that the town had nightclubs, barbeque spaces, food, and the most notable attraction, Lawnside Park, an amusement park and picnic area with two manufactured lakes.
Having glimpsed into Lawnside’s deep, rich Black culture, let us shift focus to a personal experience from a resident. Born in 1957, Alfred J. Toliver Sr. was the youngest of eight boys and the grandson of Richard, an enslaved person who worked on Dobbs’ farm. Toliver remembers having a fun childhood when the circus came every year, and the children enjoyed time playing outside on the dirt roads. “This was the only place we could live and be at peace,” said Toliver. With Lawnside being a free haven, the people still faced uncertain times; according to Toliver, as a young child, he saw Klansmen riding down Warwick Road, calling the people in town racial slurs.
“It was scary; you’re a little kid, looking at these big horses with these men with sheets on them. It was scary, like the Wild West back then,” said Toliver.
Peter Mott was an African American Preacher who, along with his wife, Elizabeth Mott, provided safety for escaped enslaved people by using their home ‘as a station along the underground railroad.’ The Still family was the town’s first settlers, living in New Jersey since the early 1700s, dating back to William Still, an African American Abolitionist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the 1990s, direct descendant Clarence H. Still Jr., founding president and chairperson of the Lawnside Historical Society, Inc., ceased demolishing the Peter Mott House.
Stephanie Fisher, widow to Alfred Clifton Fisher, who died as a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, shared how Clarence Still, Jr. saved the Peter Mott House. “Developers came to Lawnside to tear down the Peter Mott House; Cousin Clem pleaded with him about that being our history,” she said. On the demolition day, Clarence laid between the bulldozer and the house. Eventually, the developer sold it to Still for $1. “They had fundraisers to refurbish; when they lifted it off its foundation, they found artifacts,” said Fisher. Today, the Peter Mott House stands as a preserved museum, having made its mark on Black history–registered under the National and State Registrar of Historic Places along with Mount Peace Cemetery and the first school, Lawnside Public School.
“To drive through Lawnside today might not seem like much, but the people in that community, their work has impacted Black culture,” said Jordon.
Discovering the story of Lawnside’s history is an invitation to become a part of its ongoing narrative. So, consider lending a hand as a volunteer at the Peter Mott House, 26 Kings Court, Lawnside, New Jersey 08045.
This story was produced as part of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University’s South Jersey Information Equity Project fellowship and supported with funding from the Independence Public Media Foundation.
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