Kentucky in Africa
Kentucky in Africa was a colony settled by freed African-American slaves in present-day Montserrado County, Liberia.
A Kentucky state affiliate of the American Colonization Society was formed in 1828, and members raised money to transport Kentucky blacks — freeborn volunteers as well as slaves set free on the stipulation that they leave the United States — to Africa. The Kentucky society bought a site along the Saint Paul River and named it Kentucky in Africa. Clay-Ashland was the colony's main town.
Notable residents of Kentucky in Africa include William D. Coleman, the 13th President of Liberia, whose family settled in Clay-Ashland after immigrating from Fayette County, Kentucky, when he was a boy. Alfred F. Russell, the 9th President of Liberia, also resided in Clay-Ashland.
Kentucky in Africa was annexed by Liberia about 1842.
