Crozerville
Encyclopedia
Crozerville is a town in Montserrado County
, Liberia
, along the Saint Paul River
. Crozerville is notable for being one of the few Americo-Liberian
settlements founded by immigrants from the Caribbean
, instead of the United States
.
The town is located 15 miles from Monrovia
, the capital city of Liberia.
. The immigration was the result of a visit by a Liberian delegation to Barbados in the 1860s, where they invited Barbadians and others from the Caribbean to emigrate to Liberia.
In 1864, Joseph S. Attwell, who was born in Barbados, came to the United States to collect funds to assist his compatriots in emigrating to Liberia. He collected about US$20,000, and was instrumental in the founding of the settlement of Crozerville.
On April 6, 1865, the American Colonization Society
chartered the ship “Cora”, with 346 Barbadian emigrants for Liberia, where they arrived in Monrovia on May 10, 1865. Many of the emigrants came from the Parish of Christ Church in southern Barbados. Some of the Barbadians later moved from Monrovia to the neighboring country of Sierra Leone
, while others founded the Crozerville settlement.
The town was named after John P. Crozer and Samuel A. Crozer, brothers and American Colonization Society benefactors from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
who were influential in organizing the Barbadian emigration project.
Crozerville residents were known as skilled mechanics and farmers (especially in producing arrowroot and ginger), and some residents and their descendants quickly became part of Liberia’s Americo-Liberian elite.
The town was the birthplace of Albert Porte
, political critic of Barbadian ancestry who was also the editor of the Crozerville Observer. In 1946, Porte became the first Liberian journalist to be imprisoned by President William Tubman
.
Montserrado County
Montserrado County is a county in the northwestern portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has four districts. Bensonville serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring , the smallest...
, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, along the Saint Paul River
Saint Paul River
The Saint Paul River is a river of western Africa. Its headwaters are in southeastern Guinea. Its upper portion in Guinea is known as the Diani River or Niandi River, and forms part of the boundary between Guinea and Liberia. The river then enters Liberia about north of Gbarnga and crosses...
. Crozerville is notable for being one of the few Americo-Liberian
Americo-Liberian
Americo-Liberians are a Liberian ethnicity of African American descent. The sister ethnic group of Americo Liberians are the Sierra Leone Creole people who are of African American, West Indian, and liberated African descent...
settlements founded by immigrants from the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, instead of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The town is located 15 miles from Monrovia
Monrovia
Monrovia is the capital city of the West African nation of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, it lies geographically within Montserrado County, but is administered separately...
, the capital city of Liberia.
History
Crozerville was settled by immigrants from BarbadosBarbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
. The immigration was the result of a visit by a Liberian delegation to Barbados in the 1860s, where they invited Barbadians and others from the Caribbean to emigrate to Liberia.
In 1864, Joseph S. Attwell, who was born in Barbados, came to the United States to collect funds to assist his compatriots in emigrating to Liberia. He collected about US$20,000, and was instrumental in the founding of the settlement of Crozerville.
On April 6, 1865, the American Colonization Society
American Colonization Society
The American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen...
chartered the ship “Cora”, with 346 Barbadian emigrants for Liberia, where they arrived in Monrovia on May 10, 1865. Many of the emigrants came from the Parish of Christ Church in southern Barbados. Some of the Barbadians later moved from Monrovia to the neighboring country of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, while others founded the Crozerville settlement.
The town was named after John P. Crozer and Samuel A. Crozer, brothers and American Colonization Society benefactors from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
who were influential in organizing the Barbadian emigration project.
Crozerville residents were known as skilled mechanics and farmers (especially in producing arrowroot and ginger), and some residents and their descendants quickly became part of Liberia’s Americo-Liberian elite.
The town was the birthplace of Albert Porte
Albert Porte
Albert Porte was an Americo-Liberian political journalist and dissident who was the editor of the Crozerville Observer. In 1946, he became the first Liberian journalist to be imprisoned by President William Tubman...
, political critic of Barbadian ancestry who was also the editor of the Crozerville Observer. In 1946, Porte became the first Liberian journalist to be imprisoned by President William Tubman
William Tubman
William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman was a Liberian politician. He was the 19th President of Liberia from 1944 until his death in 1971....
.