Council took a portion of its recent meeting to cite Black history, including James Mintas, a former slave who became an Evesham business and property owner. He built the structure shown above on 15 acres of land at 1 West Main St. in 1798.
Evesham council used a portion of its February meeting to recognize Black History Month and celebrate community members and business owners.
The presentation included a slideshow on the township’s Black history, including the Milford Settlement; the legacy of James Mintis; and the Truitt Family.
The Milford Black Enclave Settlement was a discreet community established in the early 1820s, when both free and fugitive African American populations settled in a secluded area in the Milford section of Evesham, near the municipality’s heavily forested southwestern border.
By 1850, the Black population in Milford had grown to 64 individuals, including men, women and children. The community owned land, built its own school and operated its own stores. It also established a burial ground around 1884.
Although the settlement would slowly dissolve into the early 1900s, its burial ground was used for several more decades to inter indigent people of color from the wider area of Burlington and Camden counties. Today, the scattered grave markers along the forest floor are all that remain to represent the members of the historic Black community that once made a life in the township.
James Mintas was a Black business owner who lived in the Evesham area in the mid-to-late 1700s. He is believed to have gained his freedom between 1763 and 1796, as anti-slavery sentiment grew in the Quaker population. Mintas was a self-employed brick maker who owned 15 acres of land and built the first section of a house that still stands at the intersection of Main Street and Maple Avenue.
After his death, Mintas’ sister sold the house and the property was used as a general store for more than 100 years. It remains in commercial use today.
Members of the Truitt family lived as free Black men and women in the area for hundreds of years, starting with Abner Truitt Sr., who was born free in 1760 in Delaware when it was still a British territory. Records show Abner’s son, Tilghman Truitt, would eventually purchase land in Evesham from a member of the township’s historic Evans family as early as 1834.
Tillman’s grandson, Joshua, would eventually marry Mary H. Fassett Truit. When he passed suddenly, his former employers in the Evans family offered to have Mary and some of her children live with them for a time, with the latter educated through assistance from the Evans family and area Quakers.
Members of the Truitt family also worshipped at the Cropwell Friends Meeting in Evesham, the very same building still used by the Cropwell Quaker Meeting. Mary Truit was also buried at the Milford burial ground upon her passing in 1924. Several years ago two descendants of the family, Damon Truitt and Patti McGee Colston – whose grandfather worshipped at Cropwell – were featured on NBC TV’s “Roots Less Traveled” series.
The township council meeting included honoring the following community members and business owners for their service, dedication and entrepreneurial spirit:
- – Pastor Lynwood Hunter is a Marine veteran and founder of a local multi-cultural ministry. In his work with the Marine Corps League and the Evesham Human Rights Advisory Committee, he champions the belief that the community is strongest when everyone is brought together.
- – Jerome Jordan is an Air Force veteran whose commitment to service has spanned the globe. He remains involved in the community by teaching in the Evesham school district, coaching for the Marlton Recreation Council and serving on the Disabilities and Veterans Advisory Committee.
- – Deanna and Daryl Minus-Vincent are co-owners of The Tox, a wellness boutique that specializes in lymphatic health and non-invasive bodywork.
- – Sandra Williams Ortega made history in 1956 as the first woman of color to receive a direct commission as a lieutenant in the Air Force Officer Corps. Appointed under the direction of President Dwight Eisenhower to foster inclusivity, she went on to serve 23 years as a civilian employee, dedicating her career to social work and counseling.
“I hope that everyone took a little bit from (the Black history presentation), and learned about our history right here in Evesham,” Mayor Jaclyn Veasy noted. “Celebrating our residents in general is one of my favorite things to do. I could probably stand up here and call up so many more residents to highlight their accomplishments, because together we make a great community.”
