Descendants of Escaped Slave Robert Purdy Gather for a Reunion

Over 140 descendants of Robert Purdy, (1823-1890), an escaped slave from Louisiana, held a reunion on August 11. Purdy purchased farmland on Saxon Woods Road in 1858 and traces of the original farm still remain today. Residents staged an unsuccessful attempt in 2011 to preserve a home at 140 Saxon Woods Road , one of the original stuctures on Purdy’s property. Purdy, a farming entrepreneur co-founded the A.M.E. Zion Church of Mamaroneck, N.Y.

Mayor Miriam Levitt Flisser issued a proclamation at the event proclaiming August 11, 2012, as Robert Purdy Day in the Village of Scarsdale.

Pictured above: (standing l-r): Haywood Gill, William Peterson, Mayor Miriam Levitt Flisser, David Vaughn (seated): Hazel Gill (family matriarch, age 93), Gertrude Faulkner

Photo credit: Harvey Flisser