Written by Kate Suits, Mary Ann MacLean Educator  

Priscilla Baltimore was an abolitionist and founder of Brooklyn, Illinois. Baltimore was born into slavery in Kentucky in 1801. At the age of 10, she was sold to a Methodist missionary from whom she purchased her freedom several years later. She led 11 families across the Mississippi River to escape slavery.

Baltimore worked a great number of jobs, many based around the Mississippi River and frequently crossed from Illinois to Missouri. In 1829, Baltimore founded the settlement that would later become Brooklyn, Illinois. It was originally called Freedom Village and was the first in the country to be incorporated with a black-majority population.  Brooklyn was one of many stops on the Underground Railroad. After the Civil War, Baltimore adopted orphaned children and would help freed slaves who were coming north.