Gist Settlement
Gist Settlement was home to three hundred and fifty manumitted slaves of Samuel Gist, a benevolent master, who gave them their freedom in 1815. Gist's will stipulated that a trust be set up to buy lands in Ohio, and to build the freedmen homes, schools and churches. The trust also provided care for the aged and affirmed. The trust was under the jurisdiction of the state of Virginia, executed by agents in Virginia. Quaker agents in Ohio, managed the trust for the Virginia agents. Ex-slaves were never given deeds to their property, because the trust paid the taxes until 1847. This precarious situation created court battles over the years to prove ownership of the land. Today, residents of the Gist Settlement are trying to claim their land that was given to their ancestors one hundred and eighty years ago.
