Clyde Museum to honor former slave

CLYDE— In Honor of Juneteenth, the McPherson Cemetery, E. Maple St., will host a public ceremony at 11 a.m. June 19 to commemorate the life of Peter Pointz, a former Black slave who settled in 1860. This event will mark Peter Pointz's final resting place with a headstone. This act ensures that the community will forever remember his life and burial place. According to the former Clyde Enterprise newspaper, Pointz escaped the bonds of slavery in 1848 from Kentucky and made his way north along the Underground Railroad route through Ohio. He first settled in Sandusky in 1849, but when the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was enacted, he moved to Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and became a farmer. Eventually, in the mid to late 1850s, he moved back to the United States. In 1858, he travels to Kentucky and officially buys his freedom from his former slave master. Then, in 1860, he moved to Clyde and lived out the remainder of his life for 38 years until he died on March 25, 1898. He was buried in McPherson Cemetery March 27, 1898. He wrote a very brief autobiography in 1885. He was lovingly known as "Uncle Peter" in the community as many attended his funeral. "We found Peter Pointz's grave marker while we were searching for someone else's grave, and he needed a headstone and to be honored," Gene Smith, curator of the Museum and Operations director for Clyde Museums & McPherson house, said. The ceremony will also honor seven individuals who escaped to freedom, fought for liberty, and eventually settled in Clyde. Their names are Elizabeth "Lizzie" Anderson, her daughter Cecelia "Celia" Anderson, Lucy "Auntie Lucy" Fisher, her husband Newton Fisher, their son David Fisher, Edward Leonard, and Rev. Lafayette D. Rose. The event is sponsored by the Clyde Museum of the Clyde Heritage League, Fremont Monumental, the city of Clyde and other local anonymous donors. The event will be rescheduled if inclement weather is expected. For updates or more information, visit the museum's social media page, Clyde Museum & General McPherson House or call 419-547-7946. The Clyde Museum is open from 1-5 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays. The General McPherson House is open by appointment only.