From Oral Histories to Artifacts: An Uncommon Story of Emancipation and Freedom in Tablertown, Southeastern Ohio

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Michael Tabler, a white former slave owner escaped to southeastern Ohio with his wife Hannah and their six adult children in the early 1830s. All were former slaves that he emancipated due to the “affection he had for them.” Purchasing a mill, they settled into a community later known as "Tablertown." Over time, others of mixed heritage settled there, benefitting from the coal and iron-ore boom. Residents of Tablertown included former slaves, immigrants, and Native Americans—a community of individuals often not welcome elsewhere. In 1937, a tornado ripped through the dwindling town, destroying nearly all the buildings. Tablertown, now known as “Kilvert,” never fully recovered from this disaster. A first step in engaging this community with their historical and archaeological heritage is to undertake a reconnaissance survey to attempt to locate possible historic building foundations, using target areas created from georeferenced atlases and handmade maps collected by family historians.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2022 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology