The Eastburn farm is located on Meetinghouse Road. Moses Eastburn, Sr., became Director of the Poor in 1820, which included overseeing the almshouse. In 1824 a woman named Hannah Gibbs was brought in with her five children and died shortly thereafter. The managers of the almshouse did not want healthy children living there for extended periods. Instead, they often indentured indigent children out as servants for a period of years. Moses took in her son Mahlon Gibbs as an indentured servant. Some researchers claim Hannah was Lenape and the children’s father was black. It was common at this time to treat black indentured servants worse than white servants and to keep them for far longer terms. Moses, however, treated Mahlon well and gave him a good education. It is to Moses’ credit that, unlike most black indentured servants, Mahlon was able to buy a farm in Solebury after the end of his indenture. He also probably learned the lime burning business on the Eastburn farm, and the farm he purchased contained a lime quarry. He was listed as both a farmer and a lime burner on the censuses. It is clear that the form of servitude experienced by Gibbs is dramatically different than that experienced by an indentured servant under Moses Eastburn’s grandfather Samuel.
Moses Eastburn, Jr., employed at least one fugitive, Munday Thomas, to work on the farm. Thomas was probably the first black landowner in Solebury and a founder of Mount Moriah. Moses, Jr., also donated money for the construction of the second Mount Moriah Church building.
Moses Eastburn house
Moses Eastburn house from Meetinghouse Road
