BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS—Live Science reports that conservationists identified the gravestone of a formerly enslaved man who died in Boston in the early eighteenth century. The stone is located in the Granary Burying Ground, which was established in 1660 and contains more than 5,000 graves. “I was reviewing the photos of headstones, and then I noticed that the stone only had one name,” said Kelly Thomas of the Historic Burying Grounds Initiative for the Boston Parks and Recreation Department. She noted that enslaved people were often known by just one name. A search of historical records revealed that the man had been named Sebastian, or Bastian, but he changed his name to Boston. In 1701, Boston and his wife Jane Lake baptized their daughter at First Church in Boston. At the time, the two were both enslaved and lived in different households. Boston is thought to have been freed in 1702 after the death of John Waite, who held him in slavery. His name then appeared on a list of free Black people compiled in 1708. Boston’s obituary was published in the New England Weekly Journal, showing that he had been well known and respected as a hardworking handyman. In addition to his name, the stone is caved with a stylized skull flanked by wings known as a death’s head. The tombstone also records his death at the age of 70 on February 28, 1728, according to the Julian calendar. “That discovery is likely one of the oldest gravestones of a free Black person in America,” commented Michelle Wu, the mayor of Boston. To read about excavations of a community razed in the early days of the American Revolution, go to "Letter from Boston: In the Shadow of Bunker Hill."
