Welcome to Weaver
Visiting exhibit
Welcome to Weaver: The Legacy of Grant County’s Black Abolitionist Settlement explores the remarkable story of the early settlers of the Weaver community and the legacy their descendants have carried forward in shaping Marion and beyond throughout the 20th century.
Acknowledgments
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Kersten Priest: Indiana Wesleyan University
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Robert Priest: Taylor University
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Weaver Freedom Summer Research Team: Amanda Fleischmann, James Bell Hardwick, Sophia Hdija, Micah Hoeksema, Emily Pawlowski, Aubri Skaggs
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Taylor University: Funding the work of these students over the summers of 2018 and 2019
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The Women’s Giving Circle of Taylor University: Additional financial support
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Marion Public Library Museum and Indiana Room: Hosting the exhibition, providing historic photos and artifacts, support and strategic assistance
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Indiana Wesleyan University Lewis A. Jackson Library: Loaning artifacts from the Lewis A. Jackson collection
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Special thanks to Weaver Settlement Family Descendants: For sharing family histories, historic photographs and artifact, finding answers to questions.
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The Weaver families involved in this project: Becks, Burdens, Caseys, Gullifords, Jacksons, Morrells, Perkins, Pettifords, Stewarts, Weavers.
Faces from Weaver
Weaver, just west of Jonesboro, was one of 100 pre-Civil War free black settlements. According to Census reports, Weaver had 144 residents in 1850, 381 in 1860, and 736 in 1870.
Both abolitionist Jonesboro and Quaker Farmington had stops on the Underground Railroad. Also, nearby waterways made Grant County an accommodating place for a community like Weaver that housed both former slaves and those who'd never been slaves.