Kentucky in Africa

Kentucky in Africa was a colony settled by freed African-American slaves in present-day Montserrado County, Liberia.

A Kentucky state affiliate of the American Colonization Society was formed in 1828, and members raised money to transport Kentucky blacks — freeborn volunteers as well as slaves set free on the stipulation that they leave the United States — to Africa.[1] The Kentucky society bought a 40-square-mile (100 km2) site along the Saint Paul River and named it Kentucky in Africa.[1] Clay-Ashland was the colony's main town.[1]

Notable residents of Kentucky in Africa include William D. Coleman, the 13th President of Liberia, whose family settled in Clay-Ashland after immigrating from Fayette County, Kentucky, when he was a boy.[2] Alfred F. Russell, the 9th President of Liberia, also resided in Clay-Ashland.[3]

Kentucky in Africa was annexed by Liberia about 1842.

References
  1. KET, Program 1106, "Kentucky And Liberia"
  2. Liberia Past And Present, "President William David Coleman 1896 – 1900"
  3. Bluegrass Community & Technical College, "A Letter from Liberia: Reverend Alfred F. Russell to Robert Wickliffe in Lexington, Kentucky", July 3, 1855

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