Bulldozers Threaten Underground Railroad Church and Burial Ground
By Michael Boyajian
The sinister reputation of the Town of Fishkill is further enhanced when you arrive for a meeting at town hall and the walk to the building and the lobby are unlit. Town officials might say they are saving electricity but most observers would say they want to be uninviting.
Yesterday evening the planning board heard from the public about yet another controversial development, 305 Baxtertown Road. The board must have wondered why so many had turned out for the meeting and why most of those in attendance where African American. To say they were surprised by the turnout and what took place is an understatement.
The first to speak was an African American man who was the owner of the property next to the proposed development, 303 Baxtertown Road. He got up and began questioning the board about the significance of the property and about its role in the Underground Railroad. A man sitting at the board dais said that there was nothing of historical significance on this parcel though there might be some around it.
Mara Farrell founder of the Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot spoke next asking that care be taken in the development of this property in the event that there are historic artifacts in the ground also mentioning that there may be an African American church and burial ground in the area.
Gwendolyn O. Davis of the Southern Dutchess NAACP read a letter into the record whereas her organization felt that the land was of historical importance and that her organization was opposed to development on the site.
Concerned citizen Ozzy Albra walked up to the development map and said he had studied the deeds from this land from 1840 forward and that he had discovered the location of the church pointing to a spot on the map and saying you could go to the site and see the remains of the church as clear as day.
The owner of the property, a man from New Hampshire, said yes but the spot is just off the development site but everyone in the room knew that churches from that era had burial grounds all around them leading many to believe that some graves were on the development site while recalling Mara Farrell’s early comment that "graves of African Americans in those days were not necessarily marked by tombstones but by a pile of rocks or a rock that only a trained archaeologist could identify."
The owner of the property next to the development rose and said yes that church is on my property and looking at the developer said you are my neighbor and you are more than welcome to come on over and talk.
Community leader Angela Valles Edwards read letters of descendents of the original residents of the area that was once known as Baxter Town a town populated by freed and runaway slaves. The letters indicated that there were artifacts there and that much of the history of African Americans was an oral history and there might not be any written records. She also said the letter said there were graves at the back of the church. She then said that a thorough investigation must be done prior to any approval. She also noted that some of this information was available in a book written by the town historian Willa Skinner. The board replied that they would probably have to talk to the historian to learn more.
Tracy Givens of the NAACP called for a citizens committee to be formed by the board to help investigate the history of the parcel. The board replied that they did not have the power to do that. Mara Farrell then said we should form a citizens group. The board seemed completely caught off guard by all of this and so adjourned the public meeting to a date uncertain. Was it because to the town history is what Farrell calls, an “inconvenient truth,” or because there was skullduggery about or because they were interested in learning more no one could say for sure but all knew more questions would be raised at the next meeting.
The people who wanted to develop part of the Fishkill Supply Depot, a nearby Revolutionary War site, were not stopped until a radar survey revealed the existence of hundreds of soldiers’ graves on that land in direct contradistinction to earlier historical and archaeological reports. Would these intrepid citizens stop this project? Maybe no maybe yes but at least they were trying making us all proud to be Americans.
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