The first group of 79 repatriates, led by Alonzo Hoggard, came from Windsor, North Carolina. In December 1869, they landed in Liberia. While the women and children stayed in Monrovia, the men began clearing the land in March 1870.
They had to contend “with the unbroken wilderness, make clearings and build their huts, eating the fare which, after dividing with their families, was left to them from the [American Colonization] Society’s rations.”
Many who settled Arthington were dirt poor when they arrived. But, as noted by the New Era newspaper, they were “intelligent, active, industrious, and enterprising.”
Footnote: “Arthington, Liberia,” African Repository, Nov. 1873, p. 337; “Visit to Arthington, African Repository, April 1889, p. 44.
Categories