Elijah Johnson was born a free man in Virginia in the late 1700s.

Elijah fought against the British in the war of 1812 and then a few years later he packed

his family up, boarded a ship headed for Africa and went looking for his new home.

He was one of the people that jumped at chance to meet this country and go to where they

could find two freedom.

For two years, Elijah and the 87 other passengers searched for a permanent place to call home.

They felt as somewhere in their bones and said I'm leaving everything and I'm going

to this place and I'm going to make this place my home.

The place they made their home, Providence Island off the western coast of Africa.

I'm Dylan Therese and this is Atlas Obscura, a celebration of the world's strange, incredible

and wondrous places.

Today, we look at the journey of those 88 African-Americans and hear how that journey to Providence

Island set the stage for what would become the country of Liberia, more after this.

My great-great-great-grandfather is Elijah Johnson.

He's considered one of the founding fathers of Liberia.

This is Dr. Clarice Ford Cula.

When Clarice's great-great-great-grandfather Elijah and the 87 other passengers of the Elizabeth

left New York in 1820, they actually didn't set out for Liberia.

They were heading to Sierra Leone, also on the western coast of Africa.

At the time, Sierra Leone was a colony established by the British for Black Loyalists who wanted

to return to Africa.

So it seemed like a natural destination for African-Americans who were looking to do the same.

...