LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - JUNE 25, 2023 by Lynne Belluscio I headed out to the Keeney Road cemetery yesterday to pause and reflect for a couple ofminutes. It was Juneteenth and although it is now a national holiday, most of us around here don’t pay too much attention to it. We might have heard the stories of how the slaves in Galveston, Texas did not know that they were free until the Union troops, under the direction of Major General Gordon Granger arrived on June 19, 1865, and delivered the General Order No. 3 which stated “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. ...” Of course, Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, two years earlier, but it was the surrender of Lee on April 9, 1865 that gave freedom to enslaved people in the South. In New York, it was a gradual process. The Legislature passed a bill on March 31, 1817 that abolished slavery effective July 4, 1827 - - - sort of. The 1830 census lists 30 slaves in New York, but people from the South could bring slaves into NewYork on a visit, or when they were in the North during the hot months of summer. The story that I want to share as a remembrance for Juneteenth is a story that ElijahHuftelen included in the booklet, “Lights On The Underground Railroad.” It was published in LeRoy about 1903. “How many slaves may have been held in the town of Le Roy I have no way of knowing, but Le Roy was not much of a place when slavery was abolished in this state. David Kneeland, who settled in Cadman, Langworthy neighborhood, brought one with him. Kneeland and Langworthy lived nearly opposite each other and to the latter, I am indebted for the following particulars. Kneeland was a very energetic man and subject to fits of temper that caused him to be feared by those who knew him. Both were farmers and both were drawing in hay. The colored man was pitching from the load through a rather small opening into the shed loft, while Kneeland packed it away and as it looked rainy, they were in a hurry. Though the colored man was doing all that was possible for any man, yet Kneeland said something that the black man answered. Langworthy and his father heard the altercation but paid no attention until they heard the black man scream, jump from the load and ran holding both hands over his head and moaning, “Oh! My head, my head!” He was seen no more that day and at night he died. The Langworthys were called upon to help bury him and his body was laid on the north side of the burying ground just outside the fence, where his grave may be seen to this day. The property interest in the slave did not save his life, though nothing was done about it.” I have always wondered about this man who lies in an unmarked grave. A man with no name. A man who had been a slave all his life. Did he even know his mother, or was he sold as a young boy? He was all alone as he worked for David Kneeland and was all alone as he lay dying and there were no words spoken as he was laid in his grave. I have never passed by the Langworthy cemetery on Keeney Road without thinking of this story. The north side of the fence has long been overgrown and I am sure that even if it were cleared away, there would be no way of seeing the grave. Perhaps next year a few of us can gather to remember and it is my plan to place a marker at the north corner of the cemetery, so his life will not be forgotten. An Unmarked Grave
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