Program

NYS Historic

Subject

People

Location

1 King Street, Ulysses, NY

Lat/Long

42.541378, -76.650286

Grant Recipient

Village of Trumansburg

Lloyd Dorsey made his way from slavery in Maryland to freedom in Trumansburg in the early 1840s. His wife to be, Nancy M. Hemans, was a free Black woman from the Town of Caroline who moved to Trumansburg and was enrolled in the First Baptist Church of Trumansburg in 1839. She and Lloyd were married in 1844. Lloyd worked as a carter hauling goods by horse and wagon in and around Trumansburg for hire. Nancy worked as a laundress and domestic. Together they had nine children. In 1851 they purchased “an acre of land with appurtenances” for $430 from Erastus R. and Mary Treman. Lloyd is believed to be the first Black man to vote in the Town of Ulysses. At that time, Black males were required to own property valued at a minimum of $250 in order to vote.