SEARCHING FOR LETTUCE
Urna Semper
Sankofa drawing by Elliott B. ’20
Remembering and Honoring Lettuce Bailey Enslaved in Madison, Connecticut Emancipated in 1791 and 1793 A collaboration between The Country School and the Witness Stones Project, Inc. Made possible by a grant from Teaching Tolerance
This Witness Stone memorial is being permanently installed in front of the First Congregational Church of Madison, near where Lettuce lived and worked, to honor her life and contributions to our town.
Lettuce Bailey: Biographical details • Born ca. 1765, place of birth uncertain • Enslaved in East Guilford (now Madison), Connecticut • Emancipated in 1791 and again in 1793 • Mother of at least four, and possibly seven, children • Married to Cesar Bailey • Skilled weaver (likely) • Lived in an almshouse on and off between 1810 and 1820 • Died December 4, 1820 See a more complete biographical sketch under our section Lettuce Bailey: A Brief History.
About the Witness Stones Project at The Country School Bearing Witness: Restoring forgotten history in Madison Growing up in New England, the stories we hear about slavery in our region tend to focus on abolitionists and the Underground Railroad. At the start of the 2019-2020 school year, Country School 8th Graders and their teachers, Heather Butler and Kristin Liu, set out to tell a more complete narrative, one that would restore the history and honor the humanity and contributions of an enslaved individual who lived in and helped build our local community. Working with Dennis Culliton co-founder of the Witness Stones Project (witnessstonesproject.org), they researched the history of enslavement in Madison, scouring 200-year-old primary and secondary source documents found in local archives to learn about Lettuce, a woman who was owned and later emancipated by the minister of the First Congregational Church. Through their eorts to research, write about, and install a Witness Stones memorial to commemorate and honor Lettuce, students have sought to tell a much larger story on a human scale. Their work was made possible by a grant from Teaching Tolerance. What follows is Searching for Lettuce, a collection of student writing inspired by their work with the Witness Stones Project. A more detailed account of the project, including the process and philosophy behind it, a list of the resources used, and a biographical sketch depicting the main events in Lettuce’s life can be found following the student writing.
“It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.� African proverb
SEARCHING FOR LETTUCE A note about the student writing After spending weeks researching wills, deeds, birth and death records, and other documents found in local archives, students worked collaboratively to piece together a biographical timeline reflecting Lettuce’s history. Their original assignment called on them to use the facts they had amassed to write individual biographical sketches, taking into account some of the themes they had discussed as a class, including dehumanization, paternalism, the economics of slavery, treatment of the enslaved, and agency and resistance. But as students sat down to write, they grew frustrated. They didn’t feel that a straightforward nonfiction account, using the scant facts at their disposal, could express the depth of their learning or convey an adequate portrait of Lettuce. They lobbied their teachers to change the assignment from a formal biographical sketch to individual creative writing projects in a medium of their own choosing. Students had seen the possibilities inherent in a more creative treatment of archival material early on in the project, when they had a visit from Jumoke McDuffie-Thurmond, a poet whose collection, Recipe for Resurrection, was inspired by his own research into his enslaved ancestors. As Jumoke read a selection of his poems to students, they saw how his work was able to—as he describes it in the introduction to Recipe for Resurrection— “conjure a creative space of reckoning, listening, remembering, and longing” and bear “witness to the humanity of enslaved ancestors held within the documents of a dehumanizing archive.” Students appreciated the way Jumoke’s poetry took harsh archival records like the ones they had found for Lettuce—about people being listed as property or families being separated—and, through his evocative and creative presentation, elicited a powerful, emotional understanding. During a writing workshop with students, Jumoke shared techniques for writing about Lettuce in ways that would stay true to the archived material and yet tell as complete and humanizing a story as possible. Students couldn’t speak on Lettuce’s behalf, he said, but they could respond emotionally to what they had (or hadn’t) found in the archives. They could examine the questions that remained after completing their research and write about how the archival exploration made them feel. The result is Searching for Lettuce. For this collection, 8th Graders have selected their favorite piece of writing, resulting in the 15 poems, one short story, and one song published here. (Additional writing and author statements are available on the student Witness Stones website: https://sites.google.com/view/tcs-witness-stones.) Submissions were either inspired by Lettuce’s personal narrative, by the experience of researching her life story, or by the impact the Witness Stones Project has had on the authors as students of history, American citizens, and individuals. The student writing is arranged thematically. We start with A Puzzle with Many Missing Pieces, move on to Piecing Together a Narrative, and conclude with Lettuce’s Legacy.
A PUZZLE WITH MANY MISSING PIECES A typical biographical sketch includes the basic Who-What-When-Where-Why details of a person’s life. In the case of Lettuce, much of that information is missing, leaving students to surmise about some of her life events based upon what they have learned was common practice at the time. In this first group of poems, students reflect on the difficulty of trying to resurrect a life story about someone for whom there are few available records. They also wrestle with questions about why it is that the records are so limited.
Missing by Bina F. 

The story of Lettuce Bailey (also known as Lettice Bailey): A hard story to tell many parts are missing, Unrecorded, Gone. Slaves were seen as unimportant, not worthy of their life being recorded. Lettuce, born in 1765 into enslavement It was like she was bound to Reverend Todd with chains. Her story needs to be remembered! Her life is important too. And we will piece it together one fact at a time. Lettuce Bailey by Alexis V. Lettuce Bailey Lettice Baily Letice Baile Lettuce Balye
Many names to one person. Spelled many different ways. Due to carelessness, not paying attention. unnecessary to spell correctly. Yet, so much is in a name.
The Stone by Chris C. Just a little gold glint in the ground Glimmering like a shooting star 4 lines “Lettuce Weaver and mother Enslaved here Emancipated 1791, 1793” So little information about a human’s life A memorial to a person we don’t really know. Someone could write pages and pages on Washington, or Lincoln. But we Barely have enough hard facts to write a few pages. Yet, the purpose of the stone is what makes it great. She was not known before, but now Even though it is just a stone, It carries the weight of a person.
PIECING TOGETHER A NARRATIVE This next set of writing reflects the chronological phases of and major events in Lettuce’s life, incorporating as much detail as students have been able to gather based on their archival findings. In many cases, students also record their responses to those life events.
Imagine by Tessa B.
Freed once. 1791 Freed twice. 1793 Never for real. Land stolen, Families taken. Imagine. A world without captivity, Without enslavement, That’s the problem — You can’t. Trapped by Jay D.
An enslaved woman, Lettuce. Held captive like a bird in a cage. The bird keeper Jonathan Todd, preventing her, She cannot fly away. She cannot accomplish as much As she would if she were free. But instead, she is stuck in the cage. Catching glimpses of freedom, But she remains hopeful,
Trying, in little ways, to express herself. The cage pulls her and entraps with a force of hatred. Finally, the bird keeper gives in, she is freed, yet not permanently, And she ends up in the Almshouse, Another cage, yet there is a different bird keeper. Working to support her children, Fifty-Five years, Of servitude and entrapment in her cage. Yet she still flies.
Learning about Lettuce by Luke P. We started our journey with a little bit of help from our friend Dennis Culliton. He gave us many links to analyze. We then sacrificed our English and history periods To form Humanities, And from there we started to piece together her story We struggled because of the way her name was spelled differently in some documents, And because of the fact we got a lot of information from her enslaver’s will, And because we didn’t know what was right. But we struggled mostly because there were holes in her story, Holes that we just couldn’t fill, Like a bullet wound that couldn’t be patched. So we just put together what we could And in the end We learned a lot about Lettuce Bailey, Daughter of Tamar, Mother of five, Weaver in the almshouse, Died at the age of 55 on December 4, 1820.
While we can never tell the full story of Lettuce, She will still be recognized as a human being, Something she never was while she was alive. Freed Twice by Teddy M. Here we are ready to tell an amazing story, about a slave, named Lettuce. Freed not once, but as we know it, twice. We start in 1765 where a Tamar births her first baby at the age of 21. We don’t know much about the birth of Lettuce, but we assume she was born into slavery. Not much is known about Lettuce until we first see her in the final will of Reverend Johnathan Todd. He mentions a servant maid with the name of Lettuce. It immediately jumps o the page as it intrigued us like a baby is intrigued by the smallest movement. It is unclear what happened during the time Lettuce was free, but we know she arrived at the Almshouse in 1812. In between these times we believe that she met her soulmate, the great Cesar Bailey. We believe they had three children: Fredrick, Eli, and daughter R who seems to have the horrifying tragedy of not having a
name. Sadly, Fredrick ran away on May 15,1820. This was the last record of Lettuce’s family until the very sad day, December 4, 1820, Lettuce breathed her final breath, as she passed away. We are now here to bring back the memory of a slave who had a rare fate. That she was freed twice. And on December 4, 2020, she will have been dead for exactly 200 years.
LETTUCE’S LEGACY In this final collection, students focus on two ways Lettuce left a legacy for future generations. The first is the way many of us leave a legacy: through our children. Based on their research, students believe Lettuce may have had as many as seven children. We know very little about Lettuce’s offspring, but the research did unearth some intriguing details about two young men we believe were her sons. The first piece of legacy writing is inspired by archival documents related to Frederick Bailey, believed to be Lettuce’s son. The second legacy is more personal to the students themselves. Specifically, it is the way Lettuce’s story—and the process of trying to resurrect it—has impacted them as individuals. Some have written about how doing this work has made them feel, others about how it has changed their understanding of history and what we, as Americans in general and New Englanders in particular, have been taught. One student has written about how this project has changed his awareness of and appreciation for his family history; another turns the learning, and the writing assignment, into a personal call to action as he sets out to change the narrative we’ve come to know, seeking “truth” and “redemption” as “I pick up the pen.”
Writing Inspired by Lettuce’s Children Runaway Slave A fictionalized account inspired by an 1820 newspaper advertisement
Excerpted from a short story by Cooper S.
(Read the full account on the student Witness Stones website: https:// sites.google.com/view/tcs-witness-stones.)
“Get him!” Samuel Johnson frantically chased Frederick Bailey through the streets of Clinton. It was May 15th, 1820, and Frederick Bailey was escaping. Frederick Bailey was 14 years old and living with his enslaved family with their master, Samuel Johnson. Frederick was running away to meet his soulmate, Clary Exiter, who was also a slave. To get to Clary, Frederick had to journey on foot through East Guilford, Clinton, and then arrive in Old Saybrook. Frederick and Clary had met in Guilford a few weeks prior, when their masters were having a gathering. They had decided that Frederick would leave at 9:00, and hopefully arrive in Old Saybrook by 1:00 (providing he didn’t run into too much trouble). From there they would travel up to Boston, where Frederick’s freed uncle lives. Today was the day. Frederick would leave his family and master in Guilford and start a new life with Clary. Writing Inspired by Researching and Sharing Lettuce’s Story Walking by a Stone on a Summer Day by Caleb B. Strolling through the park on a summer day, Madison, Connecticut. Great little town, lots of history. July, an extraordinary month to take walks.
I walked, then, I noticed: Diamond? Gold? The bright light shining as the sun beamed happily onto the block. No. It was none of these things. It was a small bronze square, With a name imprinted on the front. ‘Lettuce,’ ‘Weaver and Mother,’ Lettuce? Who is she? I read more and as I did, I found out that she was freed twice. Twice! Once in 1791 and once in 1793. During that time period there were slaves and, it says she was freed. I wonder… I said to myself, as I began to walk. I wonder what life was like, Enslaved amongst individuals. Life during that time period. Hard-working and tired they must have been. Accomplished great things, yet, Lettuce was never even recognized. She must have been called terrible things. “Pets of them all.” Dehumanized and looked down upon. As I got in my car and drove away, I will always remember what I saw that day. A stone to remember each person who lived each day and hoping better for tomorrow. The wind howled that night because of the terrible storm that shrieked. But I could still think that maybe, Just maybe, one day we will get a stone for everyone who lived, fought, and sought out a better future.
Shaded Hate By Elliott B. Rosa Parks, arrested in Alabama for not going to the back of the bus. Black men, hunted in Mississippi, like animals by the KKK. Little kids in Kentucky, yelled at and berated by their teachers for using the “white kids’ bathroom.” The South, a place where they view black people as less than, Not human. The South, the place where they devour slavery, and are sometimes still mourning its departure. It averages ninety-six degrees in Rhode Island Julys, The little sweaty kids run on the beaches and get tired, Everyone goes inside to get a drink from the fountain, The only black kid in the town follows them in line. When it’s his turn, he steps up to the fountain and looks behind him. He’s bombarded with a band of stares, not discrete, All of them looking directly at him. A little blond girl wearing braided pigtails and a light blue sundress is next line, she sees his not white mouth going to the water stream and walks to the other fountain, everyone else follows her. That was the last time they saw the boy in that town. How much better is it to be directly hated Than to forever be passive aggressively attacked? Actions mean more than words.
Was or Wasn’t? by Anna D. She was enslaved, yet she was free. She was held back, yet she accomplished. She was persecuted, yet she endured. She was trapped, yet she escaped. She was tired, yet she worked. She was loving, yet it was difficult to support her children. She was disregarded, yet she made herself known. She was a woman, yet she was treated like a young girl. She was treated unfairly, yet she was human. Imagine by Isabelle S. Imagine you are sitting in a history room 228 years after the abolishment of enslavement where you live. You are shocked, confused, frustrated. You feel like you have been spoon-fed lies since the day you were born. You’re surrounded by your peers, friends even. You spend your days and your nights looking for answers you know you’ll never find. Imagine not knowing how far away or how close you could be to anything and everything. Imagine being so curious about someone else's life that it’s all you think about, every moment of every day. Dreaming of an ending you know she’ll never get. Imagine searching for answers with only questions rising up, questions that will never be answered.
Imagine her life. Imagine it as a little orb, then crushed by the hand of someone who never knew her and now never will. Her life taken away from her like she was unimportant. But you know she was not. You just wish others knew that, too. Spoken In Silence by Kai J. The path from the road to the estate, Is bathed with stone, concrete, The door a wreath hanging, Enshrined in berries, The house that was built, Its foundation shrouded in mystery, A foundation that never settles, A foundation that never sleeps, A foundation that always toils, A foundation a dream, American in that, Unspeakable Truth, OnlySpoken In silence A Song for Lettuce Music and lyrics by Henry G. Have you felt that cold feeling, that scary feeling, of being alone?
A sense of turmoil that drives through your blood, creating a storm of confusion. Why am I here? You may ask yourself, Why did God put you here, on this planet? To push you off the edge of a cliff of emotion and grief? That final puzzle piece inside you wishing to be found so that everything could go back to what it once was. That you are fresh, stirred concrete holding a house for generations to come. That sense of confusion, But also that sense of relief, That sense of amazement To the point where you don’t believe that it is true, you’re free. You wonder what you’re going to do with your life, If you’re going to take that next step to become the person you’ve dreamed to be. The person who can have a family, Who can experience love and most of all marry a man Who can hold her tight and embrace her In those moments of strife, And live in a world where a girl can become a woman and a boy can become a man. North Good; South Bad By Cate C. North good. South bad. At least, That’s what the textbooks told me, That’s what was written on my second-grade whiteboard, I always knew it was easier to blame others for your mistakes. “No, Mr. Williams, James didn’t tag me, I swear.” I just never thought I’d find it in my very own textbook. Growing up they told us to always listen to teachers, to always trust the adults.
What happens when the adults are wrong? Were they taught the lies, Or did they just refuse to hear the truth? Because of People Like Her by Mason W. I didn’t know my grandmother for too long. Well, technically I knew her for ten years, But I barely remember anything before five, And she lived in Boston and only came to us once or twice a year. Also ten years compared to a 102 is not a lot. But my parents knew her, and that’s all I need to know she was a great person. She’s from my dad’s side, And she was the only grandparent I had from that side. Her sister died when I was young, And my dad’s dad died before I was born. She had three children, my dad, his twin, and my aunt. And they have some really interesting stories about her. She was born in 1915 in rural Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At the age of four or five, she started school in a one-room schoolhouse. The one-room schoolhouse contained children of all ages in that one room. The children were all African-American, Negroes at the time, And they came from her small farming community. Her Cousin Tracey even was the principal at the school. English was her favorite subject and she loved to write. She was easily the smartest student in the school, Since she was such a good student,
Her teacher gave her more and more responsibility in the classroom. She taught classes at the age of nine or ten. She graduated high school at the age of fifteen. She graduated college at the age of eighteen. And she was one of the first African American women to attend college. She went to Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical (A & M) College and graduated magna cum laude with a double major in English and Chemistry. The college's land was given by the Morrill Land-Grant Acts. She helped people her entire life, But she also struggled her entire life because of racism. She was alive for the Jim Crow laws, so she had a hard time moving up in the world. But she persevered like other strong willed and determined people. I loved my grandmother and enjoyed every second with her. I have many wonderful memories with her. Learning about the things we’re learning in history is crucial knowledge, And I connected with this work especially, Because I’m passionate about this, And because of people like her, My life doesn’t have to be as hard as hers. Dusting the bricks of time by John R. A quill breaks through the surface of ink, Like a stone, half dipped into shadow. The unknown is called back. Our fingers trace the bricks of the past. The edges rough from years of wear.
They are filled with an unquenched coldness, Covered in a layer of dust. A promise Forgotten. Wrongs Forgotten. What else? The feather races through the air, Stirring up the old As it swirls in its frenzy. Records merge into a song, Sad, but full of truth, And promise, And failure. Our silence for years has frayed the edges of the page. Yet there remains hope, somewhere Between the threads of existence and silence. Truth. Redemption. A moon, defined by purpose, sails the sky. Significance relies on who is looking, listening, Caring. I am a speck in the eye of chaos, Alive with the hope that Knowing the unknown is Possible, Essential. The letters flow out, Across the pacific moonlight, Through the doors of time. Our forgotten are to be remembered. They are eternal in time and history; but only If there is history. I pick up a pen: An unending journey Rises from the resting dust.
The Witness Stones Project: The Process and Philosophy The Witness Stones Project at The Country School began in the fall of 2019 as a collaboration between Dennis Culliton, co-founder of the Witness Stones Project, and Country School history and English teachers Heather Butler and Kristin Liu. The idea was to expand the 8th Grade Humanities curriculum with a deep, hands-on exploration of Madison history, engaging Mr. Culliton to share the research and curriculum he first piloted with students in neighboring Guilford in 2017. The Country School is proud to be among the first independent schools to collaborate with the Witness Stones Project, and we look forward to continuing this work with future 8th Graders. We are deeply grateful to Teaching Tolerance for making this inaugural year of Witness Stones possible through a generous educators grant. The project began with a broad discussion of the transatlantic slave trade and the role it played in shaping the U.S. economy, then moved on to a focus on enslavement in New England and, specifically, our region of Connecticut. Mr. Culliton invited students to explore local archival resources, accompanying them on trips to explore the Madison Probate Court archives and the archives based at the First Congregational Church of Madison. As students dove into primary and secondary source documents related to slavery in the region, they were asked to consider several themes, including dehumanization, paternalism, the economics of slavery, treatment of the enslaved, and agency and resistance. When they were ready to narrow their research to focus on one individual whose personal story they could restore, they settled on Lettuce. Part of the project called for civic engagement, and students reached out to town and church officials to notify them about their project and seek their blessing. A group of students spoke at a Board of Selectmen meeting, while another group addressed the board of the First Congregational Church, where, it was hoped, students would be able to install a commemorative Witness Stone. In both cases, their appeals were met with full support. Then came the research. Students spent weeks scouring 200+-year-old documents, deciphering and interpreting handwriting, language, and terminology that were entirely unfamiliar. They had to practice “reading against the grain,” or analyzing primary and secondary source documents in the context of the time they were written, while also bringing contemporary understanding to the analysis. As they explored the records, they asked questions. What are the contradictions? What is missing and why? What can we deduce about the keepers of the records and those whose information is—or isn’t—fully recorded? Part of the project involved wrestling with how (and who gets) to tell someone else’s story. As they sat down to write about their research, experts helped them consider some of those questions. Poet Jumoke McDuffie-Thurmond, who engaged in a similar process
when he researched and wrote about his enslaved ancestors, provided critical support, sharing his powerful poetry and offering techniques for ways students could honor Lettuce and recount her story without speaking on her behalf. His lessons helped students select creative writing as the most effective means of remembering and honoring Lettuce. Tim Smith, a writer and editor, talked to students about conducting oral histories and writing about historical events and people in ways that would engage present-day readers. Doe Boyle of the Madison Historical Society shared information about local history, how stories about enslavement have been told to date, and where they can be found. In addition to historical research, writing, and civic engagement, students were asked to create visual art projects inspired by their research, with one also writing a musical score. Together, they built a student Witness Stones website and created presentations to share their learning with younger students. They also planned a public celebration to commemorate Lettuce and install her Witness Stones memorial in front of the First Congregational Church of Madison. Students learned that the work of a historian is difficult, and that it can be even more difficult if you are attempting to research and write about an individual whose records have been lost or were never written down in the first place. But they also gained a deep understanding of just how vital this work is. Quoting historian and former Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust in the letters they mailed to local officials seeking their support for the project, they wrote, “Only by coming to terms with history can we free ourselves to create a more just world.” As they conducted their research and planned for the Witness Stones installation ceremony, students kept in mind the Stolpersteine Project, which served as an inspiration for the Witness Stones Project. Started in Germany, the Stolpersteine Project installs brass plaques to honor and commemorate Jews and others who lost their lives during the Holocaust. Throughout their Witness Stones project this year, students also kept in mind the symbol of Sankofa, the Asante Adinkra symbol used by the Witness Stones Project for its logo. Typically depicting a bird with its head turned backwards and feet facing forward as it carries a precious egg in its mouth, Sankofa is associated with an African proverb, “Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi.” Roughly translated, those words mean: “It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.” The Witness Stones Project aspires to be an expression of Sankofa. The Country School Class of 2020 is honored to have engaged in our own Sankofa experience this year as, together, we went back, searched for, and did our best to find Lettuce Bailey. This search is just the beginning; in the weeks, months, and years ahead we hope to make more discoveries about Lettuce and the other enslaved men, women, and children who lived in and helped build our community.
Lettuce Bailey: A Brief History based on available archival research We believe Lettuce Bailey was born in 1765, given that she was 55 years old when she died in 1820. We are not sure where she was born, but a late 18th century account from Rev. James Dana suggests it could have been on the West Coast of Africa. In a sermon delivered after the death of Rev. Jonathan Todd, minister of the First Congregational Church in what is now Madison, Rev. Dana shares a story about a ship washing ashore near town. “From the wreck several Africans, directly from Guinea, emerged,” he wrote. “I never knew all the circumstances, but they came into his hands.” At the very least, we know that Lettuce’s mother, Tamar, was on that ship, because Rev. Dana describes how Rev. Todd gave the Africans who “came into his hands” names from scripture, such as “Cush, Tamar, and the like.” We know virtually nothing about Lettuce’s childhood, although again Rev. Dana’s sermon may provide a clue. After taking in the Africans from the ship that had been “cast ashore,” Rev. Todd “made pets of them all,” Rev. Dana wrote, adding that Rev. Todd “had diverse schemes” for the “elevation” of those who had “come into his hands,” and he “set about to educate them.” The first record we have in which Lettuce is mentioned by name appears in Rev. Todd’s will, written on his deathbed in 1791, when Lettuce would have been 26 years old. By then she was the mother of three children–Emma, Sukey, and Peleg. She, her mother, Tamar, and the children were among the nine individuals mentioned as property in Rev. Todd’s will. All are listed without surnames, and Lettuce and Tamar are described as “servant maids.” Writing that he had “long been convinced … that the enslaving of the Africans brought from Africa, or those born in this country, is unjust, and it is one of the sins of the land,” Rev. Todd freed Lettuce, Tamar, Sukey, Peleg, and Emma. He also promised Lettuce and Tamar land and a cow for their use. However, these provisions, including their freedom, were entirely conditional: If they failed to take care of themselves, they would “fall under the discretion of [Rev. Todd’s] heirs.” Apparently that is what happened, because in relatively short order Lettuce and Tamar seem to have reverted to the property of Rev. Todd’s heir, his nephew, also named Jonathan Todd. There is no record of Lettuce or Tamar ever holding property or owning a cow. A year later, in 1792, a new Connecticut law was enacted saying that, provided an enslaved man or woman wished to be freed, was between the ages of 25 and 45, and could pass a test indicating he or she was physically healthy, freedom could be granted without condition. Lettuce took the opportunity. As indicated in a November 25, 1793, “Letter of Emancipation” from Jonathan Todd (her late owner’s nephew), Lettuce met those conditions and she was emancipated for a second time. This time it held.
Although she had finally gained her freedom, records suggest Lettuce’s remaining years were hardly carefree. In the First Congregational Church archives, there is a listing for the death of an unnamed infant child of Lettuce in 1794. There is also a listing for the death of Tamar in 1810. Both Tamar and the child of Lettuce are listed under the “No Surname” category, along with other people who are described as “negro” or “black.” For the decade starting in 1810, perhaps coinciding with the death of her mother, there are also multiple entries for a Lettuce Bailey in the records for the Guilford almshouse. (This is the first time a surname is listed for Lettuce; there is also a Cesar Bailey mentioned in the almshouse records, and given that Lettuce’s death record indicates she was married to a Cesar Bailey, we believe he was her husband). At the time, almshouses were places where people of limited means would go to live and work when they couldn’t afford to house, feed, and clothe themselves or their children. Records suggest that while Lettuce was living in the almshouse, she may have worked as a weaver. Almshouse records also suggest that Lettuce had to “bind out” her children during the decade between 1810 and her death in 1820. In the 19th century, children whose parents could not afford to take care of them were often bound out, with the children effectively serving as indentured servants for a specified period of time. Almshouse records list the binding out of Lettuce’s daughter “R.” and also refer to the binding out of two unnamed children of Lettuce. These almshouse records, along with a few other records found just before and after Lettuce’s death, lead us to draw a few tentative conclusions. We believe Lettuce may have had as many as seven children. There were Sukey, Peleg, and Emma, the three listed in Rev. Todd’s 1791 will; the infant who died in 1794 and was listed in the church records; and the three mentioned in the almshouse records: a daughter of Lettuce named “R.” and two young men by the last name of Bailey who were bound out. No children are mentioned in her death record. All that is recorded on a handwritten copy of Guilford’s Birth, Marriage, and Death records is the following: On page 538, the person listed second from the bottom is “Lettuce Bailey–a negro wife of Cesar –55–Dec 4th 1820.” Although Lettuce’s personal recorded history may have ended there, we believe her story continued in her children. On May 15, 1820, just a few months before Lettuce’s death, an advertisement was posted by a Samuel Johnson in New Haven’s Connecticut Journal indicating he was searching for a runaway “negro boy named Frederic Baily” [sic]. Two years later, a “Frederic Bailey” [sic] shows up in church records in Saybrook, where he was married to a woman named Clary Exiter by Rev. Frederick Hotchkiss, minister of the First Church of Saybrook and a fervent abolitionist. The second bound out Bailey son seems to appear in some records a few years later. On December 26, 1825, a letter was sent to the selectmen of Guilford about “the terms of the indenture binding African-American boy Eli Bailey to Amos Morris of East Haven.” According to the letter, an Eli Bailey had failed to return to his indenture binding after
visiting friends in Guilford, but Amos Morris had died and his heirs said they had no further claim on the young man. A year later, an “Ely Bailey” [sic], listed as a resident of East Haven, shows up in the records of the First Church of Saybrook, where the same Rev. Hotchkiss officiated in a marriage to Sally Carter of Saybrook. Five years after that, an “Ely” Bailey, now from Guilford, was back in the church, where Rev. Hotchkiss officiated in his marriage to Mary Ann Robison of Hartford. (It should be noted that there was a prominent, free black family named Robinson—or Robison?—in Saybrook at the time.) This peek we have had into the lives of the two Bailey sons indicates that, at least at the outset, they seem to have lived their lives with agency and a commitment to freedom and self-determination. We hope that arc continued and wish their mother could have lived to see it.
Resources Used in Our Research Burgis, John, and Abraham Chittenden, comps, Bill of Mortality. Print. 1745-1840 for Guilford, CT. Connecticut State Statutes, 1792. Addition and Alteration to an Act Concerning Indians, Mulattoes, Negro Servants, and Slaves. Culliton, Dennis, The Almshouse in Guilford, CT, in the Early 1800s. 2020. Unpublished paper. Dutton, Henry, Oliver Henry Perry, John Dunham, Connecticut General Assembly, The Statutes of the state of Connecticut: to which are prefixed the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Connecticut. New Haven, CT: T.J. Stafford, 1854. Early Connecticut Marriages as Found in Ancient Church Records Prior to 1800, “Frederic W. Bailey.” Reprint. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1968. First Congregational Church of Madison, List of Madison Deaths. 1791-1930. Historical Collection. Church archives. Also available at ancestry.com. Guilford Town Clerk. Property Records, Guilford, CT. The Emancipation of Lettuce and Phyllis. 1793. McDuffie-Thurmond, Jumoke Akil, "Recipe For Resurrection" (2019). Honors Theses - All. 2272. https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/2272 Menschel, David, “Manumission Act of 1792 from Abolition Without Deliverance: The Law of Connecticut Slavery 1784-1848.” Yale Law Journal. (2001) pp 204-207. Morris, Amos, Letter, 26 December 1825, to the Selectmen of Guilford, CT. ALS, 1 page. (Ms Stacks, Morris), African-American Resources at Connecticut Historical Society. Web February 2020. www.chs.org/finding_aides/afamcoll/mss.htm. Probate Court. Guilford and Madison, CT, Last Will and Testament of Rev. Jonathan Todd. March 28, 1791. Runaway advertisement, “Frederick Bailey” and “Samuel Johnson.” Connecticut Journal. New Haven, CT. May 16, 1820. Newsbank and American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Todd, John E., and George Iru Todd, The Todd Family in America: Or, The Descendants of Christopher Todd, 1637-1919… Northampton, MA: Press of Gazette Print., 1920 pp 4-6. U.S. Census for East Guilford, 1790, “household of Rev. Jonathan Todd,” United States Federal Census, Web January 2020, www.ancestry.com/interactive. U.S. Census of Guilford and Madison, 1810, “Cesar Bailey,” United States Federal Census, Web January 2020, www.ancestry.com/interactive. U.S. Census of Guilford, 1820, “Samuel Johnson,” United States Federal Census, Web January 2020, www.ancestry.com/interactive.
Acknowledgements: Adding to the Witness Stones Project has been a privilege for everyone involved. Being able to research and restore forgotten history is something members of the class of 2020 and their teachers will likely carry with us throughout our lives; in a way the project is the embodiment of education that lasts a lifetime. And because Lettuce’s Witness Stones memorial will be installed permanently near the Congregational Church on the Madison Town Green, inviting future generations to remember her as well, you could almost say the project embodies education that lasts a lifetime and beyond. We have so many to thank for their support of and/or assistance with this project. In no particular order, we share our deepest gratitude to:
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Teaching Tolerance for the generous grant that made the inaugural year of the Witness Stones Project at The Country School possible. Dennis Culliton, co-founder of the Witness Stones Project and researcher/ historian/teacher extraordinaire, for sharing his immense knowledge, passion, and skills as he guided us through the project. Heather Butler and Kristin Liu, two remarkable teachers who whole-heartedly embraced this undertaking, allowing it to become a focal point for their history and English classes all year long. They were always open to new ideas and willing to let students follow their individual interests and passions. Thanks to the two of them, this talented group of 8th Graders will head off to high school having done groundbreaking historical research and as authors of some truly profound tributes to a woman who received no recognition during her lifetime. The members of the class of 2020 for being so open to participating in this project in the first place and then digging in with an intensity that surprised us all. You can feel that intensity in the student writing, such as this excerpt from Isabelle S.’s poem, Imagine: “You spend your days and your nights looking for answers you know you’ll never find…. Imagine being so curious about someone else’s life that it’s all you think about, every moment of the day.” Where, we can’t help but wonder, will students take that curiosity and intensity next? The entire community of teachers, administrators, and staff at The Country School, with a special thanks to those who actively participated in or supported this project, including Head of School John Fixx (a special thank you to Liza Fixx for introducing us to Dennis Culliton!), Vicki Wepler for her help with the musical aspects of the project, Lexi McCrady for her help with the visual arts aspects, and Liz Lightfoot for her help with coordination, outreach, and writing. Revs. Todd and Sarah Vetter and the board of the First Congregational Church of Madison, for embracing this project and for allowing Lettuce’s Witness Stones memorial to be placed in front of the church. As Rev. Todd Vetter wrote so eloquently when he described our students’ efforts in one of the church bulletins, “Witness is an important word for Christians. It speaks of our desire to tell stories about how God is present and active in the world, and how we have experienced that activity in our own lives. Bearing witness
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is often an expression of hope, perhaps for healing or transformation, or for forgiveness and wholeness, for peace and justice. In this case, bearing witness allows for stories long-neglected and lives long-forgotten to breathe again, and for all of us to learn and embrace the broader truth of our own stories as well.” The brilliant Jumoke McDuffie-Thurmond, whose own personal journey and willingness to share his talents brought a much deeper, more emotional, and creative dimension to the student writing. The power of Jumoke’s poetry and the perceptive and sensitive way he helped students understand how they could write about Lettuce transformed their thinking, resulting in a profound and meaningful body of work. The Madison Board of Selectmen for inviting students to speak at their meeting and enthusiastically endorsing their plan to restore Lettuce’s history. The Madison Historical Society, and especially Doe Boyle, for encouraging students in this project and sharing resources. The Madison Probate Court for allowing students to explore records in the archives. Suzanne Sliker for booklet design. David Beecher for embracing this project and introducing us to others who could advance it. Andrew Robertson for research assistance. Alastair Clements ’08 for filming and for helping students create their Witness Stones website.
More student writing and artwork inspired by Lettuce can be seen at https://sites.google.com/view/tcs-witness-stones
Restore History, Educate, and Honor Humanity
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education that lasts a lifetime thecountryschool.org