In 1860, the ship Clotilde sailed from Ghana, West Africa for its destination, Mobile, Alabama. Aboard were over one hundred Africans who were sold into slavery by the Dahomey tribe. The slaves, members of the Tarkbar tribe, had been captured by the Dohomey tribe during the tribal warfare in Ghana at the time. The price paid for each slave was one hundred dollars.The Clotilde was owned by Timothy Meaher, a wealthy shipper and shipyard owner in Mobile. Its captain was William Foster.

On the night of July 9, 1860, the Clotilde entered Mobile Bay and was approaching the port of Mobile. Captain Foster loaded his illegal cargo onto a riverboat and sent them ashore to hide them. From this point, the Africans were distributed among the parties who had invested in the illegal venture. Captain Foster then set fire to the Clotilde, sending it to the bottom. By this time, federal authorities had learned of this illegal activity and was on the lookout for the Clotilde.

Thirty-two of the Africans were sent to the property of Timothy Meaher, located three miles north of Mobile in an area known as Magazine Point. This was the heart of what was to become known as Africatown. With the government investigating the crime, the Africans were left on their own to survive. Fortunately for them, the land was rich and the forests were full of game. For an African tribesman, survival proved to be little problem. Among those Africans was a man named Cudjoe Lewis (real name was Kazoola). He would be the last surviving member of the original Africans.
	Cudjoe Lewis (Kazoola)

These people formed a self-governing society. They spoke their native language and engaged in their tribal traditions well into the twentieth century.

The 1861 federal court case of US v. Byrnes Meaher, Timothy Meaher and John Dabey did not find enough evidence to convict Meaher. The case was dismissed. It is believed that the start of the US Civil War played an important part in that decision.

Finally, due to an Alabama state law, which dictates that all children under the age of 16 years are to be enrolled in school. The children of Africatown were expected to attend school and learn English.

Cudjoe Lewis died in 1934. He was the last of the original settlers of Africatown and spoke frequently to curious writers and newspaper men. He gave his version of the history of the tribal warfare in his native country, plus the history of Africatown. At the time of his death, his fellow tribesmen still carried on the language and traditions of their Africa home. This continued well into the 1950s.

In time, Prichard, Alabama grew to encompass the tribe’s village. The following generations were educated in public schools and eventually, the original language and customs were largely abandoned. Africatown became a part of Prichard, Alabama, a suburb of Mobile and it is still there today.

In February, 1997, the Africatown Community Mobilization Project was formed in hopes of establishing an Africatown Historical District and restoring the site of the original settlement.

Ambassador Cyrille Oguin of Benin (formerly Dahomey) recently apologized for his country’s role in selling up to 3 million Africans into slavery. Click here to read more.