Carlisle Herald

Venus, slave of Thomas Craighead, was Sister of the first published American Negro poet, Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley

Thomas Craighead’s slave Venus: Sister of the first published American Negro poet Phillis Wheatley. T.C. was Thomas Craighead (1789-1865) the son of John Craighead and his wife Jane Lamb.  The “old Thomas Craighead” he refers to in his letter was his grandfather who died in 1807. In 1845, T.C. also contributed a history of incidents relating to his family that was published in I.D. Rupp’s History of Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry Counties…. p. 440-444.

Emancipation Proclamation Grand Tournament held in Carlisle in 1869: Horses, Knights, a Queen and Maids of Honor

The August 6, 1869 edition of the Carlisle Herald reported on the Grand Tournament held several days before to celebrate “the emancipation of the slaves of the Southern States” by a procession through the streets of Carlisle and a tournament at Graham’s Grove.

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