The gravestone of a man memorialized only as “Boston” was rediscovered and restored in the historic Granary Burying Grounds, marking perhaps the “oldest gravestone for a free Black person in the United States,” Boston city officials announced.
“The rediscovery of Boston’s gravestone, likely one of the oldest markers of a free Black person in America, is a significant moment in our city’s history,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “Through the preservation of names and stories, we are restoring agency, dignity, and humanity to people and communities who have shaped our city and have too often been erased. Sharing the story of Boston, a man remembered as both loved by his neighbors and respected in his community, deepens our understanding of American history.”
The gravestone was found during an ongoing conservation project led by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department’s Historic Burying Ground Initiative, city officials said.
The director of the city’s Historic Burying Grounds Kelly Thomas noticed the mysterious epitaph bearing only the name “Boston” dated 1728/29, which was absent from modern surveys of the site and had been obscured at the grounds for decades.
Through research, the director connected the gravestone a formerly enslaved man named Sebastian, who’s life is detailed in a 2024 book “Belonging: An Intimate History of Slavery and Family in Early New England.”
It is likely, city officials said, his name in historical records transitioned from Sebastian to Bastian, then Bastian to “Boston” over years.
City officials called the find “particularly significant as the nation marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and Boston celebrates the 75th anniversary of Boston’s Freedom Trail.”
“The rediscovery of this gravestone highlights the important role of historic preservation and the historic burying grounds in bringing to light overlooked stories in the city’s rich history,” said Thomas. “Learning more about Sebastian/Boston’s life illustrates the complex, multicultural and multiracial society that created the conditions from which the American Revolution was born.”
The discover also “expands historians’ understanding of burial practices in colonial Boston,” as it marks what is believed to be “the oldest gravestone for a free Black person in the United States,” city officials stated.
Boston has an obituary published in the New England Weekly Journal of February 24, 1729, which stated, “He having born the character of a sober, virtuous liver, and of a very trusty, honest, and faithful servant to all that employed him, and having acquired to himself the general love and esteem of his neighbors by a readiness to do any good offices in his power for everyone; his funeral was attended with uncommon respects, and his death much lamented.”
The author of “Belonging: An Intimate History of Slavery and Family in Early New England” Gloria McCahon Whiting said the man “lived a life of influence,” noting his documented advocacy that helped “inspire both the publication of New England’s earliest antislavery tract and the passage of legislation in Massachusetts supporting marriage rights for the enslaved.”
“When he died in 1729, Boston left a community bereaved; over the course of his life, he had built intimate relationships with neighbors from all walks of life, ranging from people in bondage to those of great wealth and political power,” Whiting said.
Related Articles
- Today in History: August 7, Love Canal environmental disaster declared a federal health emergency
- Today in History: August 6, President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act
- Today in History: August 5, Marilyn Monroe found dead at her home
- The Danube River’s water is dropping so low that World War II ships are emerging
- ‘The world’s sanitarium’: How Colorado’s history is tied to tuberculosis
The gravestone was found damaged and partially buried, city officials said. Conservators with the company Daedalus, Inc. came in to carefully restore the historical marker.
Suzanne Segura Taylor, Executive Director of the Freedom Trail Foundation, said the organization is “excited to be able to bring Boston’s story to life and show people the gravestone, while interpreting all of our city’s history along the Freedom Trail.”
The gravestone can be found at site GR-A-141 in the Granary Burying Grounds, viewable on the map at boston.gov/historic-burying-grounds-initiative.
Comments