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Witness Stone to Share Story of Enslaved Woman Baptized at Connecticut Church

WSP · Oct 13, 2022 ·

A church register from the 1790s records the baptism of a slave Violet, identified as a “servant” of Noah Scovell. Photo: St. John’s Episcopal Church

By David Paulsen in the Episcopal News Service on October 13, 2022

An Episcopal church in Connecticut on Oct. 29 will dedicate its first “witness stone,” a small memorial to an enslaved woman who was baptized at the church, as part of a regional nonprofit’s efforts to share the stories of enslaved people in the places they once lived and worshipped.

St. John’s Episcopal Church in Essex will memorialize the woman, Violet, with a stone marker to be placed in a prominent spot in the meditation garden in front of the church. Through its research, supported by the Witness Stones Project, the congregation determined Violet was born in 1775, was enslaved by St. John’s member Noah Scovell and became a baptized member of the church before escaping in 1802. Continue reading.

Witness Stones Installation Ceremony #EssexCT

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