[18] Astle and Weston point out the school’s deed makes a strong statement about the early settlers’ autonomy and intent on self-determination.

And the said Peter Quire, and Maria, his wife in consideration of the premises, and the affection they bear to the people of Colour, and the desire they have, to promote their true and best interests, are minded to settle, give, grant and convey .

Perhaps more clearly than any other extant  documentation on Timbuctoo’s early history, this deed indicates the settlers had the agency to establish institutions on their own terms, and describe rules of operation that preserved Black leadership, with some degree of deference by the White majority.

This deed indicates the premises would also be used for a cemetery:  “a place for the burial of the dead of such as are in connection with said church or the descendants thereof, (and such others as the majority of the Trustees for the time being may permit) forever.”  From this we conclude that a majority of as many as one hundred fifty unmarked graves identified by ground penetrating radar (GPR) in 2009 are most likely members or affiliates of this church that operated through approximately 1915.

[21]  However, the number of USCT gravestones can be attributed to the fact that the troops received stone grave markers as a benefit of military service.

Parker was associated with multiple land transactions and had served as a founder and trustee of the Zion Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal African Church referenced above.

Parker was often referred to as King David, both in the local newspaper, the New Jersey Mirror, and in major publications like the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Camden Post.

His 1877 obituary[25] in the New Jersey Mirror begins as follows: “The King” Hath Departed.—“David Parker, an aged colored man who for perhaps a half a century has occupied a prominent position with his race in this vicinity, and who has commanded the respect and esteem of a large number of white friends, died at his residence in Timbuctoo on Sunday [June 24, 1877]… ‘King David’, as he had been known in other years, was possessed of more than ordinary intelligence and a determined will, which made him a natural leader among his people…and he was generally at the head of any movement among them… Original settler Hezekiah Hall also had a substantial obituary[26] in 1851 in the New Jersey Mirror, which says he had been enslaved by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, (a signer of the Declaration of Independence), and that “he was a man of unblemished character and his truly upright walk and Christian deportment commanded the highest respect.”  Similarly, Lambert Giles, son-in-law of early settler John Bruer, had a flattering 1875 obituary[27] that says he was “regarded as about perfect in his art” (house painting), and that he would be “more missed than many of our more pretentious citizens.” In 1860, the Battle of Pine Swamp took place near Timbuctoo, when armed residents fought off an infamous "slave catcher," named George Alberti, who sought to capture Timbuctoo neighbor Perry Simmons and return him to enslavement in Maryland.

David Parker led "the Timbuctoo warriors" in their victorious defense of Simmons, according to the New Jersey Mirror’s 1100-word account,[28] which includes numerous humorous anecdotes in criticism of the would be captors.

Most notably, it says the “slave catchers” “left the scene of their brilliant achievement as if old Satan was after them.” During the postbellum period through the early twentieth century, the population of Timbuctoo declined.

Principal Investigator Christopher Barton’s Temple University doctoral dissertation chronicled and interpreted the research findings of the excavations.

In 2024, the society successfully prepared applications to have Timbuctoo  listed on the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail and the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.