From the National Park Service–“The James and Sophia Clemens Farmstead is one of the oldest and last remaining agricultural resources in one of Ohio’s earliest Black settlements, Longtown (Greenville settlement). This farmstead was the home of James and Sophia Clemens, the founders of the settlement. Not only instrumental in starting the first school, they also donated land for the Wesleyan Church and established a cemetery for the community. The Clemens were involved in the Underground Railroad, and the men in the family fought for the Union in the Civil War.

The records of the first landowners of Darke County, Ohio, show that James Clemens was the first free Black man to purchase land in German Township. Relocating from Virginia to Ohio in 1818, James and Sophia built a thriving farm business. Sophia’s maiden name was Sellers. She is believed to be the daughter of her and her husband’s enslaver, Adam Sellers of Rockingham County, Virginia.”