Bexley sits about six miles from the mouth of the St. John’s River on the northern bank. It was established in 1838 through the efforts of one man, Lewis Sheridan, who was frustrated over the limit imposed by the colonial government on the amount of public land granted each repatriate.
Before emigrating, Sheridan (1793-1843) had served as North Carolina-agent for the Freedom’s Journal, the first black newspaper in the United States. He arrived in Liberia in 1838, at age 50, with his family of five, all emancipated.
Footnote: Gatewood, 1983; J. W. Lugenbeel, “Sketches of Liberia – No. 2,” African Repository, July 1850, p. 207.
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