Posted: February 12, 2025 3:06 pm
In the early 2000s, AmeriCorps member Mike Burke worked with Heritage Johnstown (then known as JAHA) and the Johnstown chapter of the NAACP to research early Black history here. By poring through written documentation such as census records, early newspapers, tax records, city directories and more, Burke produced this timeline of references to Black people in Johnstown/Cambria County. Some regional and national events are also included for context. We’re pleased to publish it as part of our Heritage Johnstown at Home series for Black History Month 2025!
Census Somerset County (which at the time included Cambria) – African-American population 25
Somerset Township – 8
Milford Twp – 1
Turkeyfoot Twp – 4
Addison Twp – 2
Elklick Twp – 4
Quimahoning Twp – 4
Somerset Town – 2
Johnstown is founded by Joseph Schantz (Johns), a Pennsylvania German immigrant who had been living here since 1794.
Cambria County is formed from parts of Somerset and Bedford counties. Ebensburg is named the county seat.
First mention of African-Americans living as free men in Cambria County[1]
Cambria County Census shows 9 free persons who are not Native American or white. Most are women paired with young single white men. Total population of the county is 2,117.
Cambria County Census lists 20 African-Americans. Total population is 3,287.
The Missouri Compromise, which prohibited slavery in Kansas-Nebraska Territory, is reached.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act repeals the Missouri Compromise, opening the door for slavery in the new territories.
Tax records show William Harshberger, his son John Harshberger, son-in-law Edenborough Smith, Samuel and Isaac Lindsey and Isaac Hawes on tax rolls for land and livestock.[2]
First Census record listing William Harshberger, John Harshberger, Edenborough Smith and Samuel Lindsey as “Heads of Households” in Conemaugh Township, Cambria County. The total African-American population is 61 (total population 7,076).
Nat Turner’s Rebellion takes place in Southampton County, Virginia[3]
“Old Patty Delany,” a seamstress, and her son Martin (who would have been 19 or 20) move to Johnstown from Virginia. Martin Delany soon relocates to Pittsburgh where he begins to publish an anti-slavery newspaper, The Mystery, in 1843, Published until 1848, it was the first African-American newspaper west of the Alleghenies. After The Mystery folds, Delany joins Frederick Douglass as editor of the abolitionist newspaper The North Star and goes on to become the first African-American field-grade officer in the US Army during the Civil War.
“A Cruel Deed” A published story of Patrick and Abraham, enslaved brothers who ran away from the Fruit Hill Farm of Bath, Virginia. They were pursued to Johnstown, wounded, nursed back to health in the city jail, and escaped to freedom with the help of local citizens, including abolitionist William Slick, whose farm was a regular stop on the Underground Railroad.[4]
Wallace Fortune sells his barber shop.
Census shows 18 independent African-American households in Cambria County. These range in location from the city of Johnstown to Summerhill Township. The total African-American population is 98 (total population 11,256).
A log church is erected on the corner of Union and Vine streets: the first Methodist Episcopal Church with Wallace Fortune as minister, and Isaac Simpson and Mr. (Samuel) Williams also took turns in ministering to the congregation. Most of the original congregation is believed to be employees of the old Portage Railroad living near the viaduct.[5] Black churches served as community centers, welfare agencies, training schools, and aided the management of businesses.
First census that records individual names within the household. African-American population was 128 (total population 17,773).[6]
Edenborough Smith and John Harshberger appear in the 1850 Census on tracts of land overlooking Johnstown’s West End. From maybe as early as the turn of the 19th century, Harshberger, Smith, and their families lived in a community that has been referred to the Laurel Hill Settlement, Brown Farm, and “The Mountain.” Eight generations live there until the property was claimed by the state in 1967.
Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Law, which decrees that any federal marshal who did not arrest an alleged runaway enslaved person could be fined $1,000. People suspected of being fugitives could be arrested without warrant and turned over to a claimant on nothing more than his sworn testimony of ownership. A suspected enslaved person could not ask for a jury trial nor testify on his or her behalf.
Any person aiding a fugitive by providing shelter, food or any other form of assistance was liable to six months’ imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. Those officers capturing a fugitive were entitled to a fee, and this encouraged some officers to kidnap free Blacks and sell them to slaveowners.
Abraham Morrison of Johnstown speaks in Hollidaysburg regarding the advantages of African Colonization.[7]
Advertisement for S. Williams, grocer and hair dresser located on Clinton Street, one door east of Locust.[8]
Advertisement for William Nesbit’s new salon on the Diamond in Hollidaysburg.
Samuel Williams from Johnstown is chosen as a delegate for the American Colonization Society. Wilson Patterson and Isaac Simpson are appointed to the financial committee.[9]
Samuel Williams of Johnstown leads a group of free Blacks from Altoona, Greensburg, Johnstown, and Saltsburg to Liberia, Africa. Together they form the Liberian Enterprise Company.[10]
William Nesbit, member of Samuel Williams’s expedition, returns to Altoona and writes “Four Months in Liberia or African Colonization Exposed”. [11]
“Letter from Africa,” by Samuel Williams who emigrated to Liberia with his family in 1853, is published.[12]
“Letter from Monrovia,” another letter from Samuel Williams.
“Liberian Fever” news that several of Johnstown’s Black emigrants have been killed by a fever.
Isaac Simpson, barber from Johnstown, emigrates with his family to Canada West.[13]
“Liberia, Salt River and Hygiene,” another letter from Samuel Williams.
Samuel Williams writes “Four Years in Liberia: A Sketch of the Life of the Rev. Samuel Williams, with remarks on the missions, manners, and customs of the natives of Western Africa. Together with an Answer to Nesbit’s Book”.
Dred Scott decision, in which the Supreme Court of the United States declared that anyone of color was not a citizen of the United States and therefore not entitled to any of the rights of a citizen and would remain enslaved.
John Brown leads a party of 21 men in a successful attack on the federal armory at Harper’s Ferry. He is later tried and convicted of insurrection, treason, and murder, and is hanged on December 2.
A number of Black residents form a company to emigrate West. William Smith applies to John M. Kirkpatrick, Esq. of Pittsburgh for a legal opinion. The response was “colored persons are not citizens of the United States and are therefore no legally entitled to pre-empt public lands.”[14]
African-American population in Cambria County is approximately 106 (total population 29,155),
Abraham Lincoln is announced as a candidate for the presidency.[15]
“Riot in Blairsville,” Virginia bounty hunters pursuing six escaped enslaved people are beaten up by a group of free Blacks. The fugitives possibly passed through Johnstown on their way to freedom.[16]
“Resolutions Adopted by the People’s County Convention of Cambria County.” The county resolved that it was in favor of limiting slavery, but against expressly abolishing it.
South Carolina secedes from the Union on December 20.
“Civil War Begun,” Charleston Harbor under fire.[17]
“Contraband in Johnstown,” a group of enslaved people escape north when General Banks retreats from Strasburg. Many were employed paving the streets.[18]
“Call to Arms” encourages men to volunteer rather than be drafted.
“Negroes in the Revolution,” Newspaper article supporting the idea of Black troops in Union army.[19]
Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln on September 22. This was only a preliminary — the proclamation was not signed until January 1863.
On January 1, President Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation.
54th Massachusetts attacks Fort Wagner. 180,000 Black men volunteered for armed service and took part in over 499 engagements, 39 of which were major campaigns, and lost almost 37,000 soldiers or one-fifth of their total.
Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-4.
Cambria County draft list includes John E. Smith of Yoder Township.[20]
Martin Delany is appointed by the President a regimental Surgeon, with the rank of Major in the United States Army.
General Lee surrenders at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, ending the Civil War.
President Lincoln is assassinated at Ford’s Theater on April 14.
Edenborough Smith was murdered in his home on Laurel Hill on August 16. [21]
13th Amendment outlawing slavery was passed by Congress on January 31 and ratified on December 6.
The Black Codes came into effect. “Jim Crow” regulations forbade Black people to ride in first class passenger cars, to testify against whites, and to vote. The only differences between the old Slave Codes and the new Black Codes were that now Black people had the right to own property, make contracts, sue and be sued, testify in court in cases regarding other Blacks, and have legal marriages.
Ku Klux Klan first organized in Pulaski, Tennessee. By 1867 the Klan had become a highly organized movement.
Congress passes the Civil Rights Act in April.
14th Amendment granting rights as citizens to all persons born or naturalized in the United States was passed by Congress on June 13 and ratified on July 9, 1868.
William Nesbit, Joseph Bustill, and William Forten speak before the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States on behalf of the Pennsylvania State Equal Rights League.
Republican Ulysses S. Grant defeats Democrat Horatio Seymour in the presidential election, thanks in part to 450,000 Black votes. “The election in Johnstown passed off quietly with the exception of a riotous demonstration in the evening by half a dozen young Democrats, shouting for ‘Jeff Davis and the Ku Klux Klan,’.
15th Amendment, giving the right to vote to all citizens regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, was passed by Congress on February 26 and ratified on March 30, 1870.
Nathan B. Forrest, head of the Ku Klux Klan, orders the organization dissolved, but is ignored.
National Negro Labor Union and the National Labor Convention of Colored Men organize in Washington, DC to counter white labor unions.
Samuel Johnson, Thomas Knox, William Johnson, and Thomas Benton arranged for a “Grand Sorry.” (Soiree)
Fredrick Douglass is the featured speaker at a “ratification ceremony” in Baltimore.
The Colored Methodist Church in America is organized.
George Gates Jr. is apprehended by Chief of Police John T. Harris for the murder of Edenborough Smith.[22]
The Georgia Minstrels, a company of Black minstrels, performs at Union Hall to a crowded house.[23]
William Nesbit is appointed by Governor Geary to be a Notary Public in Altoona.[24]
Rosensteel & Company, tannery in Woodvale, employs several Black employees from Maryland.[25]
Rev. Knox of Hollidaysburg organizes a Black M. E. Church at the public school house in the Fifth Ward.[26]
“Fancy Dress Ball at the Union Hall”[27]
Several Black men employed by Rosensteel’s Tannery left for their homes in Hagerstown Maryland to take part in that States election.
The Woodvale Tannery is fitted with steam pipes for the purpose of heating the room where the leather is dried.[29]
The noted abolitionist Sojourner Truth passes through the city[30]
Charles Sumner dies in Washington DC.
Frederick Douglass delivers a lecture on John Brown at Union Hall.[31]
A grand festival is organized at Parke’s Opera House with the proceeds benefiting the African M. E. Church.[32]
Frederick Douglass gives John Brown lecture in Ebensburg.
Frederick Douglass was chosen president of the Freedman’s Savings Bank in Washington. Dr. CB Purvis was chosen vice president. The bank has branches in most southern states, and 40 of the 70 employees are Black.[33]
John Brown of Laurel Hill loses two horses.[34]
Picnic at Harshberger’s Grove. Mr. John Brown plays his violin while Sam Johnson called “swing your partners”. Mr. Tom Knox also takes part in the festivities.[35]
John Wallace is arrested for horse-stealing.[36]
William Nesbit, a Black barber in Altoona, is appointed by Governor Hartranft to be a Notary Public.
The Original Plantation Vocalists and Slave Cabin Singers perform at the Union Hall. Proceeds benefit the African Zion M.E. Church.[40]
Obituary for Wilson Patterson Sr.
President Garfield appoints Frederick Douglass Marshal of the District of Columbia, John Mercer Langston Minister to Haiti, Blanche K. Bruce and Robert B. Elliot to positions in the Treasury Department.[41]
Frederick Douglass represented the District of Columbia at the Republican Convention in Pittsburgh, which is held in May.
The great Johnstown flood occurs on May 31.
Obituary for John Brown.
Obituary for Samuel Johnson.
The 20th Anniversary of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, located on the corner of Haynes and Grant Streets, is celebrated on March 21.
Obituary for John Smith “Clothes Pole John.”
Frederick Douglass dies in Washington DC in February.
Obituary for William Nesbit.
C.J. Fairfax marries Mrs. Annie Jackson at the Mt. Olive Baptist Church.
Obituary for Orange H. Dorman.
Obituary for Elizabeth Harshberger.
Andrew Carnegie gives a grant of $600,000 to the Tuskegee Institute in admiration for Booker T. Washington.
A group of Johnstown Blacks hold a meeting at the Mount Olive Baptist Church to create a separatist agricultural communal company, the Agricultural Exchange and Business Company, using ideas developed by Booker T. Washington at the Tuskegee Institute.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is formed.
The National Urban League is formed.
Johnstown’s Black population is about 450 (total population 166,131).
War declared on Germany – World War I begins, almost immediately halting immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe, and the Great Migration of millions of African-Americans from the rural South to urban areas in the north begins. Cambria Steel, desperate for more workers, soon begins employing Black workers, even sending representatives to southern states to recruit them. Most settle in Rosedale or Franklin, often in substandard company housing. Black workers are generally offered the most difficult, worst-paying jobs in the Rosedale coke plant and blast furnaces, and encounter prejudice and barriers to advancement.
Joseph Dorman, of Johnstown, enlists with the 148th Aero Squadron serving in France, and endures four months of continuous bombardment.
George W. Dorman enlists with A Company 505th Engineers.
Johnstown’s NAACP chapter is formed.
Johnstown’s Black population has grown from 450 in 1910 (.2 percent of total population, which was 166,131) to almost 3,000 in 1920 (1.5 percent of total population, 197,839. For reference, the 2020 census shows a population of 133,472, of which 5,665 were Black — 4.24%).
Obituary for Maria (Dorman) Smith – widow of John Smith.
Obituary for John Wallace.
The Johnstown Tribune reports in January that “a large class of prominent men had been initiated into a local organization of the Ku Klux Klan.” A cross burning is held on Green Hill, southeast of downtown, in August.
The Rosedale incident occurs — a Black man shoots and kills two detectives, and is later killed in the riots that followed. The Mayor of Johnstown issues an order evicting from the town every Black and Mexican person who had not lived in Johnstown at least seven years. (Photo accompanying this piece: Rosedale schoolchildren).
Mayor Cauffiel’s order held other requirements for the Black community. Any visitors invited as guests of Johnstown’s citizens were required to register with either the mayor or chief of police. All gatherings such as dances, picnics, and similar social functions were forbidden. Homes of Blacks were searched for weapons, guns, hammers and kitchen knives were taken. Only church services were untouched.
The evening of Cauffiel’s exit order, the KKK ignited twelve fiery crosses in and around Johnstown. They could be seen from the Summerhill flour mill, Moxham, Ferndale, Rosedale, Walnut Grove, and Green Hill.
Obituary for Wesley Dorman – husband of Elizabeth Harshberger Brown.
Obituary for Mary Wallace – widow of John Wallace.
Flight training school established at the Tuskegee Institute for Negro pilots on July 19.
Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, and the US enters World War II.
Obituary for Annie Fairfax.
Obituary for Elmer Brown.
Brown vs. the Board of Education: segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race is ruled to be unconstitutional.
[1] Minot Shipman, WPA Manuscript from Pennsylvania State Archives
[2] 1825-1840 Cambria County Tax Assessment. See also, “Laurel Hill Settlement” by Mike Burke.
[3] Nat Turner led a rebellion in Virginia killing sixty whites. Turner was captured, tried, convicted and hanged. Ebensburg Sky covered the revolt and capture of Turner.
[4] The Ebensburg Sky, February 1837 The story is also told in Storey’s History of Cambria County.
[5] Cambria Tribune April 24, 1873, map of 1854, Quarles.
[6] Cambria Tribune March 29, 1854.
[7] Hollidaysburg Register, January 21, 1852
[8] The Mountain Echo, January 6, 1852.
[9] Colonization Herald and General Herald May 1852.
[10] “Back to Africa: Johnstown and Liberian Colonization” by Andrew Baraniak
[11] William Nesbit: Liberia to Equal Rights, summary by Donna Stromsdorfer
[12] Cambria Tribune, August 26, 1854
[13] Cambria Tribune, May 19, 1855. Canada West is Ontario Canada. Isaac Simpson’s sister-in-law was found in the Canadian census for London Ontario.
[14] Cambria Tribune, March 26, 1859
[15] Cambria Tribune, June 1, 1860
[16] Cambria Tribune, June 8, 1860
[17] Cambria Tribune, January 18, 1861
[18] Cambria Tribune, June 6, 1862
[19] Cambria Tribune, August 8, 1862
[20] Cambria Tribune June 3, 1864
[21] Cambria Tribune August 6, 1869
[22] Johnstown Tribune December 8, 1871
[23] Johnstown Tribune April 12, 1872
[24] Johnstown Tribune May 3, 1872. No mention in the Altoona Papers.
[25] Johnstown Tribune April 2, 1873
[26] Johnstown Tribune April 23, 1873 See also “History of the African American Church in Johnstown” by Mike Burke
[27] Johnstown Tribune September 12, 1873 & September 17, 1873
[28]Johnstown Tribune October 30, 1873
[29] Johnstown Tribune December 10, 1873
[30] Johnstown Tribune February 18, 1874
[31] Johnstown Tribune February 21, 1874 & February 27, 1874
[32] Johnstown Tribune February 28, 1874
[33] Johnstown Tribune March 27, 1874
[34] Johnstown Tribune April 15, 1874. “No relation to Ossawattomie’s”? It is unclear who or what this is referring to.
[35] Johnstown Tribune
[36] Johnstown Tribune, 20 January, 1875
[37] Johnstown Tribune, 19 April, 1875
[38] Johnstown Tribune, 04 May, 1875
[39] Johnstown Tribune, 04 June, 1875
[40] Johnstown Tribune, January 27, 1876
[41] Benjamin Quarles, The Negro in the Making of America, 1969 Collier Books, Page 142.
[1] Minot Shipman, WPA Manuscript from Pennsylvania State Archives
[1] 1825-1840 Cambria County Tax Assessment. See also, “Laurel Hill Settlement” by Mike Burke.
[1] Nat Turner led a rebellion in Virginia killing sixty whites. Turner was captured, tried, convicted and hanged. Ebensburg Sky covered the revolt and capture of Turner.
[1] The Ebensburg Sky, February 1837 The story is also told in Storey’s History of Cambria County.
[1] Cambria Tribune April 24, 1873, map of 1854, Quarles.
[1] Cambria Tribune March 29, 1854.
[1] Hollidaysburg Register, January 21, 1852
[1] The Mountain Echo, January 6, 1852.
[1] Colonization Herald and General Herald May 1852.
[1] “Back to Africa: Johnstown and Liberian Colonization” by Andrew Baraniak
[1] William Nesbit: Liberia to Equal Rights, summary by Donna Stromsdorfer
[1] Cambria Tribune, August 26, 1854
[1] Cambria Tribune, May 19, 1855. Canada West is Ontario Canada. Isaac Simpson’s sister-in-law was found in the Canadian census for London Ontario.
[1] Cambria Tribune, March 26, 1859
[1] Cambria Tribune, June 1, 1860
[1] Cambria Tribune, June 8, 1860
[1] Cambria Tribune, January 18, 1861
[1] Cambria Tribune, June 6, 1862
[1] Cambria Tribune, August 8, 1862
[1] Cambria Tribune June 3, 1864
[1] Cambria Tribune August 6, 1869
[1] Johnstown Tribune December 8, 1871
[1] Johnstown Tribune April 12, 1872
[1] Johnstown Tribune May 3, 1872. No mention in the Altoona Papers.
[1] Johnstown Tribune April 2, 1873
[1] Johnstown Tribune April 23, 1873 See also “History of the African American Church in Johnstown” by Mike Burke
[1] Johnstown Tribune September 12, 1873 & September 17, 1873
[1]Johnstown Tribune October 30, 1873
[1] Johnstown Tribune December 10, 1873
[1] Johnstown Tribune February 18, 1874
[1] Johnstown Tribune February 21, 1874 & February 27, 1874
[1] Johnstown Tribune February 28, 1874
[1] Johnstown Tribune March 27, 1874
[1] Johnstown Tribune April 15, 1874. “No relation to Ossawattomie’s”? It is unclear who or what this is referring to.
[1] Johnstown Tribune
[1] Johnstown Tribune, 20 January, 1875
[1] Johnstown Tribune, 19 April, 1875
[1] Johnstown Tribune, 04 May, 1875
[1] Johnstown Tribune, 04 June, 1875
[1] Johnstown Tribune, January 27, 1876
[1] Benjamin Quarles, The Negro in the Making of America, 1969 Collier Books, Page 142.
