Indians, slaves, veterans - Stockbridge Cemetery has 'em
Grave Matters: Indians, slaves, veterans - Stockbridge Cemetery has 'em
Editor's note: This is the fifth in a summer-long series in which Advocate Assistant Editor Judith Fairweather visits old cemeteries to try to dig up interesting tidbits of local history. Read all of her columns at blogtheberkshires.com.
By Judith Fairweather
STOCKBRIDGE - When I made the decision to visit the Stockbridge Cemetery, I knew it would have to be a different type of column. I was going to need some serious experts.
So I turned to the Trustees of Reservations, the main office of which is on Sergeant Street just behind the Mission House. I had a specific agenda in mind. I wanted to visit the grave of Mum Bett, who came to be known as Elizabeth Freeman, in advance of the celebration of the 228th anniversary of her court victory on Aug. 21, 1781, which established an important precedent that would lead to the abolishment of slavery in Massachusetts. Since 2006, the Trustees have celebrated that event with a program at the home of her once-master, Col. John Ashley, in Sheffield. This year's event will be held Friday, Aug. 21, with an open house at noon and the program at 2 p.m.
Will Garrison, the Trustees' historic resources manager, was amenable to giving me a tour of the cemetery so that I could visit Mum Bett as well as other notable residents there.
We started with the grave of the Rev. John Sergeant, the first missionary to the Stockbridge Mahicans. Sergeant died in 1749, at the age of 39, 10 years after the construction of the Mission House. He was succeeded in 1750 by Jonathon Edwards, who had experienced a falling out with his congregation in Northampton.
The oldest corner of the cemetery also contains a marker in memory of John Konkapot, one of the Stockbridge Mahicans. Garrison said it is not known if Konkapot is actually buried there or if the stone is simply a memorial.
The next stop on our tour was to the grave of Mary Hopkins, who founded the Laurel Hill Association, the oldest village beautification association in the country, in 1853. Born March 7, 1814, she died on Feb. 12, 1895. Her epitaph reads, "Are they not all ministering spirits."
The cemetery also contains its share of veterans - there are 38 Revolutionary War veterans buried there, according to the town of Stockbridge Web site. I, however, was interested in stopping by the graves of two members of the famed Massachusetts 54th regiment, one of the first official black units formed in the U.S. armed forces led by Col. Robert Gould Shaw. (Shaw, by the way, married Annie Haggerty of Ventfort Hall in nearby Lenox on May 2, 1863. They had three weeks together before he marched out with his troops, never to return home again. He was killed with many of his men during the assault on Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863. His wife never remarried.)
The two soldiers we stopped to visit were Corp. D.H. Van Allen and V.W. Williams. Their simple markers did not provide much information about them, sadly enough.
A trip to the Stockbridge Cemetery would not be complete without a visit to the famous Sedgwick Pie. Garrison said Sedgwick lore has it that the graves are laid out with the patriarch and matriarch, Theodore and Pamela, in the center, with the rest in concentric circles around them, "so on Judgment Day, when they rose, they would see only Sedgwicks," Garrison said, although he added he believes that was a "joke they told on themselves."
There in the Sedgwick Pie stands the grave of Mum Bett, written as Mumbet on the gravestone, next to Catharine Sedgwick. Small stones had been placed across the top of Mum Bett's grave in tribute to her.
Mum Bett (c. 1744-1829) was a slave of Col. John Ashley's family in Sheffield. According to tradition, Mum Bett heard the discussions that took place in regard to the drafting of the Massachusetts constitution, most specifically the portion that reads: "All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness."
In 1780, Mum Bett prevented her master's wife from striking another slave in the household, Lizzie, thought to be her sister. Mum Bett left the house and refused to return. When Ashley tried to use the force of law to compel her to return to the household, she went to Theodore Sedgwick and asked him to represent her in a suit for her freedom.
Things get kind of murky
This is where, said Barbara Dowling, Trustees of Reservations historic site administrator, things get kind of murky. It is possible, she said, that Sedgwick may have in fact asked Mum Bett to help serve as a "test case," rather than the way the story is traditionally told. "They picked someone above reproach in all ways. . She was well-known and well-respected. This is somebody, who, if you were going to have a test case, this couldn't be about anything but the case," Dowling explained.
And so, on Aug. 21, 1781, the appeals court ruled in Mum Bett's favor, overturning the orginial decision in favor of Ashley and setting a legal precedent that would eventually lead to the end of slavery in Massachusetts.
This year, the Trustees are also highlighting "Mum Bett's Trail," a publication released last year. Part of the broader African American Heritage Trail, this publication highlights 10 key places from Ashley Falls to Stockbridge associated with Mum Bett's life and quest for freedom.
Dowling said this approach to Mum Bett is rather new. The line taken, even by the Trustees, in the past was that "Col. John Ashley was the first man to recognize the end of slavery by dropping the appeals," she said.
"We are recognizing that history is not white, male Protestant-centric," she said. Thus, the Trustees have decided to approach the story from Mum Bett's "courage of stepping forth - a black, a slave, a woman - going against the most powerful man in Sheffield," Dowling said.
Judging by the small rocks placed across the top of Mum Bett's headstone, I am not the only one moved by the story of this woman's courage and fortitude.
I hope you can continue to follow my cemetery adventures as next time I relate my findings in the town of Washington. Don't forget the bug spray - you'll need it!
The Trustees of Reservations' Mum Bett Day celebration will be held Friday, Aug. 21, with an open house at noon and speakers and performers beginning at 2 p.m. The event is free. Info: thetrustees.org. Assistant Editor Judith Fairweather can be reached at jfairweather@advocateweekly.com or 413-663-7942, ext. 234