History
Frank McWorter: Benefits Made Him “Free”
To establish and maintain his legacy, McWorter “directed his descendants to buy the freedom of additional grandchildren and great-grandchildren after his death.” By the end of his life (1854), McWorter bought the freedom of 16 enslaved individuals at a total cost of $14,000.
Travel from Kentucky to Illinois was not without danger. Off-roads and wooded areas were littered with prowling slave catchers who would steal and even destroy freedom papers held by freedmen. Confusing the identity of those seized allowed slave catchers to kidnap them. Once taken, they faced bondage, making it nearly impossible to regain freedom. Even if the papers were intact and the case reached the courts, judges oftentimes dismissed them as forged.
The year was 1830, and Frank McWorter (1777–1854) would face these risks and deliver his family to freedom.
McWorter was born in South Carolina. His owner, George McWhorter, was said to have fathered young Frank. In 1795, Frank and his owner left South Carolina for Kentucky, a place where survival was rough and help was short. These conditions spurred enslavers to make and save all the money they could. They began to allow select slaves to earn cash by hiring themselves out to white settlers.
Slave owners benefitted from this arrangement by collecting their so-called portion of the earnings. Settlers benefitted by paying out lower wages. McWorter also benefitted: he bought himself (1819), and soon after, his family members out of bondage––hence the name “Free” Frank. And freedom was just the beginning of his benefits.
Freedman were entitled to a few basic rights under the US Constitution. For McWorter, this represented the ability to gain economic security through purchasing property. Although his first lot was in Kentucky, his preference was to settle in a state where slavery was outlawed. He then bought land on the Military Tract in Illinois.
It was the spring of 1831 when the McWorters began to settle on their new land: a farm nestled near a spring and running creek in Pike County, Ill. They wasted no time planting and harvesting. By year two, they had farmed more than 80 acres.
By 1835, McWorter returned to Kentucky to purchase the freedom of his son Solomon. He would continue these trips until all of his family were free. He then bought an adjoining 80-acre tract of military land from the government. It was on a part of that land that the town New Philadelphia was developed (1836).
Lots measuring 60×120 feet were sold to both Blacks and Whites. The Black population in New Philadelphia swelled compared to the state as a whole at that time (1850). Economic opportunities, a sense of community, and some measure of security were found by its citizens.
To establish and maintain his legacy, McWorter “directed his descendants to buy the freedom of additional grandchildren and great-grandchildren after his death.” By the end of his life (1854), McWorter bought the freedom of 16 enslaved individuals at a total cost of $14,000.
New Philadelphia continued to attract new settlers, its population peaking in 1865 with 160 individuals. Today, none of the original buildings remain. The land used for farming and pasture for livestock for many years is now covered with prairie grass and wildflowers.
