Timbuctoo is a historically Black hamlet with an inspiring past and an uncertain future

The family tree of Mary Giles Weston and her son, Guy, took root two centuries ago in a place called Timbuctoo, N.J.

In 1829, Mary’s great-great-great-grandfather, John Bruer, bought an acre of land near the Rancocas Creek in what is now Westampton Township for $30.

“This is the deed,” said Mary, an 86-year-old retired educator, as she pointed to the yellowed, handwritten document protected in plastic on her dining room table.

“It makes me cry.”

Bruer, described at the time as a “free colored man” in his early 30s, was among the first residents of what became home to about 125 free or formerly enslaved Black people and as many as 40 houses, at least one church, a school, and a burial ground, by 1860.

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While the cemetery, which includes the graves of nine Black soldiers who served during the Civil War, is the only visible evidence of 19th-century Timbuctoo, the Burlington County hamlet where Weston lives has earned a place in local, state, and national history.

But questions about how best to provide for Timbuctoo’s future — and what organizations or individuals ought to be the primary stewards of its legacy — are unsettled.

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“The story of Timbuctoo belongs to its people: the Murrays, the Smiths, the Rogers, the Butlers, the Boyds, the Couches … and so many others whose names I don’t know,” said Guy Weston, 64, a historian and writer who edits the journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.

He lives in Washington, but visits Timbuctoo often and hopes to retire there soon. Like many other historians, he believes the name was chosen because the West African city of Timbuktu represented cultural achievement and excellence.

“Timbuctoo is an underappreciated story of free Black people who before the Civil War owned land, established institutions, fought for their rights, and read about themselves in the local newspaper,” he said. “It’s a story of strength and resilience, and is part of the fabric of American history that everyone should know about.”

The Westons often speak about Timbuctoo at local events, such as a Feb. 7 presentation to the Porch Club of Riverton. But in 2021, after six years as chairperson, Guy resigned from Westampton Township’s Timbuctoo Advisory Committee, characterizing the group as well-intentioned but hamstrung by township procedures.

He had earlier established the Timbuctoo Historical Society, a nonprofit, to assume ownership of and run educational programs at the cemetery.

The township’s advisory committee is now chaired by Carolyn Chang, a lawyer in Mount Holly who also is a past mayor of Westampton. She declined to be interviewed for this article.

Sandy Henley, the township’s mayor, said he knows Chang and Guy Weston well and believes that both have Timbuctoo’s best interests at heart.

“The township owns the land on either side of the cemetery, and I’ve explained to Guy that when he wants to use the land for events at the cemetery, he needs to go through the township, and vice versa,” the mayor said.

Still referred to as “Buctoe” by older local residents, Timbuctoo lost population in the 20th century, as agriculture declined and residents sought better-paying jobs elsewhere.

“Eventually, Timbuctoo sort of blended into the larger suburban landscape of Westampton,” Guy Weston said.

But in the last 20 years, the growing interest in historically Black communities and cemeteries, along with the work of local historians such as Weston, Paul Schopp, and others, have led to increased public awareness of Timbuctoo. Scout troops, American Legion Post 509 in Westampton, and the Wesley A.M.E. Zion Church in Burlington Township have provided volunteers and support for efforts to maintain the cemetery and provide signs and informational displays.

Popular culture depictions of the Underground Railroad, which served to move Blacks fleeing slavery in the South to or through New Jersey and other Northern states, also have generated attention for places like Timbuctoo.

“The word ‘stop’ is overused in regard to the Underground Railroad, but any Black settlement was potentially a ‘stop,’” Weston said. In 1860, he said, slave catchers invaded Timbuctoo but locals drove them off. The event has become known as the Battle of Pine Swamp.

Christopher Barton, now an associate professor of archaeology at Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C., was a Temple University doctoral student when he and a team of archaeologists and volunteers conducted a dig that focused on the remains of a house in Timbuctoo in 2010.

A total of more than 14,500 artifacts — mainly glass, ceramics, personal items, and food-related materials — were collected; some are on display at the nearby Rancocas Nature Center, as well as the Burlington County Lyceum of History and Natural Sciences in Mount Holly.

The artifacts reflect the economic challenges and racist treatment often faced by residents, as well as their aspirations, said Barton, whose book, The Archaeology of Race and Class at Timbuctoo, is set for publication March 28 by the University Press of Florida.

“The story of Timbuctoo is a story of resistance, improvisation, and perseverance,” Barton said. “It’s the story of Black America.”

The author also noted that people with a stake in historic places often find themselves at odds with one another.

“This site means so much to so many people trying to get to the same point,” he said. “So how do we get there?”

Henley said the township fully recognizes the cultural importance of Timbuctoo and intends to support public and private efforts to preserve and sustain the site.

“We want to make sure more people become aware of Black history, not only during Black History Month, but at every opportunity,” he said.

Mary Weston said she is saddened by what seems to be a never-ending battle to simply do right by Timbuctoo.

She’s frustrated that the pavement on Church Street — the major road in Timbuctoo — has been crumbling for years; the mayor said other streets are in more urgent need of repair.

“Much has been accomplished, but it seems we always have to keep pushing and proving,” she said. “It’s rewarding, but painful.”

Guy Weston called his childhood nomadic. His late father, Abe Weston, was a U.S. Air Force master sergeant.

“Growing up, I lived in 16 houses in four countries and attended nine schools,” he said. “Military kids often say we aren’t from anywhere in particular when asked where we’re from.

“Part of my fascination with Timbuctoo is that it’s the one place I can really call home.”