Church. Brooklyn AME Church is thought to be the first AME Church west of the Appalachian Mountains. It is now known as Quinn's Chapel AME Church in his honor. In 1837, five white abolitionists platted the land and created an unincorporated nearly all-black town. Thomas Osburn was one of them, and he is documented as having lived in the area for decades. Priscilla Baltimore built a house on his former land, which she occupied from 1851 to 1872. In the 1840s and 1850s, the African-American population of the village was about 200. From the beginnings of Brookyln, the ministers of the Quinn Chapel AME Church and Antioch Baptist Church (1838) used their churches as Underground Railroad stations to aid slaves escaping to freedom in Canada. William Paul Quinn and Priscilla Baltimore visited slaves in neighboring towns to inform them of the Underground Railroad's existence, and housed slaves in the churches before sending them to the next station. At one point, Quinn was captured by Missouri slave-catchers while on a missionary tour, but presented himself as a citizen of British India and was set free. Both of these church buildings have survived. On July 8, 1873, Brooklyn was incorporated. By 1880, its population included 371 African-American and 203 European-American residents. In the late 19th century, its residents joined in taking new industrial jobs, commuting to those in East St. Louis and nearby areas. "Blacks who migrated to what became known as Brooklyn were attracted to the possibilities of working in an industrialized settlement that would enjoy race autonomy and self-determinism." In 1886, the African-American majority worked to register voters and gained political control of the village. As with most political enterprises, factions developed within the community. Regional capital investment largely bypassed Brooklyn, taking place in the competing East St. Louis, Illinois, which gained the all-important railroad connection. Other white-majority towns also benefited by being part of the network of investment. "[A]lmost none of the all-Black towns obtained a railroad." The small village soon became all black. In 1891, then-Mayor Evans dedicated the town's new post office with the name Lovejoy (after the abolitionist Elijah P. Lovejoy, who had been assassinated in Alton, Illinois, in 1837). The later high school was also named after him. Around the turn of the 20th century, the high school had a high reputation in the area. 20th century Black autonomy did not automatically yield unity in