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| UDC Picnic at Pennytown: Photo by Marlan Warren |
United Daugthers of the Confederacy visit first black
settlement site in Missouri:
"Our mother told us if there was ever a fire, grab a box of records and run..."
There isn’t much left
of Pennytown anymore. But when Virginia Huston looks at its vacant landscape, she
sees more than just meadows, a church and a house. She sees memories that must
be preserved.
Huston was the last
person born in Pennytown, a black settlement located eight miles southeast of Marshall that was started
by Joe Penny in 19871 when he managed to purchase eight acres for $160.
“What is unique
about Pennytown is that it was started by a freed-slave,” Huston said.