Near New Kent in New Kent County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

John William Dunjee (1833-1903)

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), February 26, 2021

1. John William Dunjee (1833-1903) Marker

Inscription. Educator, Baptist minister, publisher, American missionary and founder of Baptist churches across the United States. Dunjee was a New Kent County born slave owned by the Terrill family of Criss Cross Plantation. After discovering he was going to be sold by his owners, he escaped to City Point. He had saved enough money to pay for his passage on the steamship Pennsylvania where he was hidden in a kettle closet - a space so confined that upon arriving in Philadelphia he had difficulty standing and walking. His story was profiled by abolitionist William Still in a popular book entitled The Underground Railroad Records.

Erected by New Kent Historical Society.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Abolition & Underground RR • African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music • Religion & Religious Structures.

Location. 37° 30.227′ N, 77° 1.155′ W. Marker is near New Kent, Virginia, in New Kent County. It is at the intersection of North Courthouse Road (Virginia Route 155) and Poindexter Road ( Route 604), on the right when traveling south

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

on North Courthouse Road. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: New Kent VA 23124, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Virginia’s Peninsula

and in Coastal Virginia.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in the Tidewater,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: George Poindexter (here, next to this marker); Criss Cross Plantation (here, next to this marker); Harold J. Neale (approx. 1.4 miles away); a different marker also named Harold J. Neale (approx. 1.4 miles away); Cedar Hill (approx. 1½ miles away); Cedar Lane (approx. 2 miles away); New Kent School (approx. 2.3 miles away); Calvin Coolidge Green, Th.D., Ed.D., Ph.D. (1931-2011)

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), February 26, 2021

2. John William Dunjee (1833-1903) Marker

(approx. 2.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in New Kent.

Credits. This page was last revised on March 2, 2021. It was originally submitted on March 2, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 779 times since then and 44 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 2, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.