Witness Stones Project, Inc.

Restoring History & Honoring Humanity

#WallingfordCT

Choate Commemorates Life of Mother Enslaved at Wallingford’s Historic Houses

· ·

Choate Rosemary Hall held a ceremony last week to commemorate the lives of two slaves once held at Squire Stanley House.

 

By Christian Metzger in CT Insider on

WALLINGFORD — Choate Rosemary Hall held a ceremony to commemorate two witness stones memorializing the lives of two slaves once held at Squire Stanley house, one of the oldest buildings in Wallingford that is now incorporated into the school’s campus grounds.

Kate and Mina, a mother and daughter, were both slaves to the house’s owner Oliver Stanley during the late 1700s. Kate was born sometime around 1750, with Mina being born into slavery in 1777 when Kate was around 28 years old. They were both emancipated by Stanley in 1783, six years later, and then both vanished into history.

No other preserved records exist about what happened to either of them after being freed, if they continued to live in Wallingford or what either might have done with their newfound freedom. Choate partnered with Connecticut-based nonprofit The Witness Stones Project, a group dedicated to honoring the memory of enslaved individuals otherwise forgotten to local history, to commission two small golden plaques to be placed at the front of the property.

Inscribed with the names of both women, date of birth, and emancipation, both ending with the phrase “Never truly free” — to note that while they may have been physically freed from bondage, the society at the time had certain expectations that would never allow either Kate or Mina a true freedom.

The project was spearheaded by the efforts of nine students of Choate, who worked with Choate archivist Stephanie Gold and the Wallingford Historic Preservation Trust to uncover the original records about Kate and Mina and brought the Witness Stone project together.

On Tuesday the school held a ceremony to dedicate the stones, along with poems and artwork made by the students in honor of Kate and Mina. Mayor Vincent Cervoni and other members of the public and faculty were in attendance.

“I’m thankful to be part of today’s historic ceremony and wish to express my gratitude to our students and to the support of adults who have enabled their efforts to dive into the historical record, to surface the narratives of Kate and Mina so that we may honor their lives,” said Jenny Elliott, head of student and academic life at Choate.

Here at Choate and in the town of Wallingford, it is our responsibility to explore the legacy of our physical spaces and our community’s historical connections to slavery. We must uplift those untold stories and accurately account for the ways our community and organizations were built out of and from unjust systems.”

After the opening welcome, the students came up to present their poems, followed by Board Chair Patricia Pheanious from the Witness Stones Project, who related the stories of Kate and Mina to her own family history with slavery, and the importance of uncovering those unspoken narratives.

According to Gold, the project of uncovering the history of Kate and Mina was an emotional one for the students. Every student who took part was volunteering in the effort, not being a part of any class, and actively going to the town hall to look through the original records from the 1700s.

“I think it’s different for the students. because they’re digital natives,” said Gold. “They’re born in a world of everything’s available, you just ask the question and the answer comes out. But to take it piece by piece and go further and actually go to physical sources too. We went to the town hall, went through the old ledgers, which was just a really important moment for the students.”

She said that finally getting to see the Witness Stones as a culmination of their work was a big moment for all the students.

“Today was the first day that they saw them, and we were in the library and I asked who wanted to carry them, and they all wanted to carry, they actually shared carrying the box over. Once they see it in person, feel the weight of it, it kind of brings, not closer to it for them, but it gives them more meaning and purpose for that project, in my opinion.”

The Stanley house was not originally part of the Choate campus, but was bought by the school and moved from its original foundation close to Christian Street. It has history dating back to its construction in the 1690s, and is said to be where George Washington once stopped for tea, during a time that would have coincided with Kate’s time there as a slave.

Cervoni, who was in attendance, said the ceremony and the stones were important to bring to light all facets of the town’s history.

“It’s incredibly important,” Cervoni said. “They are equally as important to Wallingford history as anything else that’s been reported up until now. And there’s a certain amount of justice that occurs when you memorialize with these witness stones.”

Witness Stones Project Honors History of Enslaved People in Connecticut

· ·

By Eva Li in the Choate News on December 19, 2022

In recent months, towns across Connecticut have erected several permanent markers to memorialize the lives of enslaved men and women. The Witness Stones Project, founded in 2017 by Mr. Dennis Culliton, is a nonprofit dedicated to restoring history and honoring the humanity of the enslaved individuals who built our communities. The Project culminates with the installation of permanent markers near where the enslaved people lived, worked, or prayed so that people can be aware of and honor those individuals’ lives and contributions.

The impetus for the Project came after Mr. Culliton was inspired by a suggestion from Mr. Dough Nygren, a Guilford resident familiar with the Stolpersteine Project, an undertaking that has installed thousands of public paving stones to honor victims of Nazi persecution in Europe. Receiving support from by the Stolpersteine organizers, the project has expanded to 40 communities across Connecticut, engaging thousands of students each year. Across Greenwich and West Hartford, the Project collaborated with local historical societies and high schools to spotlight the lives of 56 individuals who had been enslaved.

One of the principal missions of the Witness Stones Project is to guide students’ learning about enslaved individuals in their local towns and share their findings with the broader community. To facilitate this, the organization uses a three-tier curriculum. Students start with a general exploration of enslavement in New England, with a particular focus on the Connecticut colony. Then, students familiarize themselves with reading and interpreting primary source documents. Lastly, students receive primary source documents related to the individual they will be researching and ultimately writing a biographical narrative on. This undertaking strives to help fix incomplete historical records.

Members of the Witness Stones Project team explore local archives and published materials while searching for an individual for students to research. Despite their extensive research, there are still often gaping holes in an individual’s story due to scant information on them. In these cases, Director of Operations Ms. Liz Lightfoot explained that “students have opted to also engage in a creative treatment of the material, writing poetry or creating visual art inspired by their research. Students have also written song lyrics, done a photographic essay based on spaces the individual they researched might have known, and composed music.”

As of this summer, there are three markers in Wallingford: one at the Nehemiah Royce House honoring Dick Freedom, a Revolutionary War soldier enslaved by a member of the Royce family, and two in front of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, honoring a man and woman named Grace and Esau, who were enslaved by church benefactors. The Project is currently working with Choate on adding a fourth marker to honor Bailey, an enslaved child who lived on what is now the Choate campus.

Over the years, Choate students have also made valuable contributions to the Project, highlighting the lives of a woman named Lettuce Bailey and a man named Theophilus Niger.

Lettuce Bailey, believed to have been born in 1765, was one of the several Africans taken in as property by Reverend Jonathan Todd, minister of the First Congregational Church in present-day Madison, from a ship washed ashore near his town. Bailey was first emancipated after Rev. Todd’s death, as the latter wrote in his will that he had always believed slavery of Africans to be unjust, promising Bailey and others he would free them and provide land and a cow for their use; however, the statement came with the condition that they would “fall under the discretion of [Rev. Todd’s] heirs” if they failed to take care of themselves, which apparently happened shortly after, as Baileywas reverted to the property of Rev. Todd’s nephew.

A year later, in 1792, a new Connecticut law provided enslaved men and women between the ages of 25 and 45 an opportunity to be granted freedom under the condition that they could pass a test indicating they were physically healthy. Bailey managed to pass the test and was emancipated for the second time on November 25, 1793.

Despite her newfound freedom, records suggest a series of hardships in Bailey’s remaining years. Most likely due to economic challenges, she had to bind out her children, effectively making them indentured servants for a specific period. Nonetheless, research into the lives of two of Bailey’s nine children indicates that they seem to have lived their lives committed to freedom and self-determination.

As for Theophilus Niger, little information is known about his birthplace and actual name. After thorough research, the team estimated that Theophilus was likely born sometime around 1720, a date they used for his Witness Stones Project’s marker.

The records on Niger revolve mostly around his enslavement by Thomas and Abigail Hodgkin in Guilford for much of his life. One of these records was for the First Congregational Church of East Guildford, which shows the marriage of Theophilus to Penelopy Tantipen that was officiated by Rev. Todd, the enslaver of Lettuce Bailey.

Like Bailey, Niger was also promised by Thomas Hodgkin’s first draft of his will to be left with two plots of land and freed after Mrs. Hodgkin’s death. Although Thomas Hodgkin later rewrote his will to leave Niger with only one plot of land, giving the other to his nephew, Jedediah Coe, the latter offered Niger a plot of land out of “consideration of the respect and goodwill.”

While land purchase documents have helped the team confirm Niger’s freedom by 1761, it was determined that he died 10 years later at around 50 years old.

Bailey Lettuce and Theophilus Niger are just two of the 72 individuals whose stories have been restored and whose lives have been honored by the Witness Stone Project. Reflecting on her experience participating in the Project, Ms. Lightfoot said, “For me, one of the greatest takeaways from this work is that we are all connected to this history, whether through our family histories or simply through the fact that we live here, and its legacy is part of our ongoing reality.”

Wallingford’s 350+2 Jubilee a Success

· ·

Carol Naamon-Kelly, of Meriden learned more about her family’s history of enslavement during a presentation on WHPT’s “Enslaved Wallingford” project at the Wallingford Public Library.

The Wallingford Historic Preservation Trust took part in many events during the week-long 350+2 Jubilee Celebration. On June 18,, a replica of the Nehemiah Royce House, celebrating its 350th anniversary (1672-2022), was part of the 350+2 parade.

On Juneteenth, WHPT Board President Jerry Farrell and WHPT Director of Operations, Lorraine Connelly, both Directors of the Wallingford 350th Jubilee Committee, were hosts to the All-Faiths Service and Juneteenth Observance at the Seymour St. John Chapel on the campus of Choate Rosemary Hall. Sheehan High School vocalist Sajag Timilsina led attendees in a rousing rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” accompanied by Dr. Jeanette Gross, organist of First Congregational Church in Wallingford. The interfaith service was led Rev. Aaron Rathbun, Choate Rosemary Hall’s Chaplain.  After the service, all were invited to attend the opening of WHPT’s “Enslaved Wallingford” exhibit at the Nehemiah Royce House, delving into enslavement of Black Americans in Wallingford between 1710 and 1840.

A dedication of Wallingford’s first Witness Stone in honor of Black Revolutionary War soldier Dick Freedom was held at the Royce House. A second dedication of Witness Stones in memory of Grace and Esau, enslaved in Wallingford, took place at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church. WHPT has partnered with the Witness Stone Project, Inc. to restore the history and honor the humanity of the enslaved through research, education, and civic engagement.

Connect with Us