Evidence of the early history of African Americans in New England is found in the many old cemeteries and burial grounds in the region, often in hidden or largely forgotten locations. This unique work covers the burial sites of African Americans--both enslaved and free--in each of the New England states, and uncovers how they came to their final resting places. The lives of well known early African Americans are discussed, including Venture Smith and Elizabeth Freeman, as well as the lives of many ordinary individuals--military veterans, business men and women, common laborers and children. The author's examination of burial sites and grave markers reveals clues that help document the lives of black New Englanders from the 1640s to the early 1900s.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part One-African American Life and Funerary Customs in New England

I. The Enslaved in Colonial New England

II. The Free Black Experience in New England

III. African American Funeral and Burial Customs

IV. Together Yet Separate; Characteristics of African American Burial Sites

V. African American Grave Markers

VI. Preservation Challenges and Recovery and Remembrance Initiatives

Part Two-Significant African American Burial Sites

I. Connecticut

II. Rhode Island

III. Massachusetts

IV. New Hampshire

V. Vermont

VI. Maine

Bibliography

Index

Historian Glenn A. Knoblock is the author of many works of New England, New Hampshire, and transportation history. A lecturer for the New Hampshire Humanities, he lives in Wolfeboro Falls, New Hampshire.