Kathleen Zuris

New Milford, CT

I am neither descended from an American slave nor American slaveholder. I am European-American—my paternal ancestors came from Lithuania in the early 1900s and my mother’s family came from Ireland during The Hunger in the 1860s.

Since 1990, I have lived in New Milford, CT, in a house built for Elisha Bostwick who was shown as being the largest slave owner (6) in New Milford in the 1790 US census. Also, It has also been handed down that the house was a part of the Underground Railroad.

In trying to locate documentation on the above and/or evidence of the Bostwicks anti-slavery sentiments, which to date I have not, research led me to examine the early African American community and slavery in New Milford.

While New Milford’s blacks were never more than 6% of the town’s population, I’ve been searching and compiling information from emancipation records, censuses, vital, pension, and church records, newspapers and other sources, to identify those of African descent who lived in New Milford, to get a picture of their contribution to our town’s history.

When I read articles like “When kin of slaves and owner meet,” and view documentaries such as Traces of the Trade I witness how important dialogue about slavery can be and the need for discussion about that tragedy and its impact on our nation.