George Washington
Let me tell you a story about George Washington; not common in print nor the figure you recognize, but representing a common paradigm effecting many today.
In 1746, a career politician named Seth Wetmore built this home on land he inherited in an affluent section of Middletown, CT; a town of wealth due to farming and slave trade. Mr. Wetmore served as Deputy of the General Court, as did his father, as did his father before him. Slaves farmed the land I stand on, the harvest often shipped to the West Indies to feed slave labor there. Mr. Wetmore's social standing drew many famous people here; a gathering place for the powerful. There is at least one slave grave somewhere here under my feet; unnamed forgotten individuals, disconnected from their lineage.
In 1843, a child named George Washington was born a slave on a plantation in Mississippi. George had 3 brothers, all forced to fight with the Confederacy during the Civil War. With Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, George joined many slaves that raced towards Union lines in search of freedom. Upon being captured by the Union, they nearly worked him to death, often ragged, hungry and cold.
In 1865, George traveled to Connecticut in search of work; arriving at the doorstep of the Wetmore mansion battered and bruised, now owned by descendant Cornelia Wetmore who was caring for aging parents and needing help on the farm. George eventually moved into a wing of the house, running the 1,200 acre farm for 60 years. He came to know 4 generations of Wetmore's. He was buried in the family plot in 1929.
On his death, George left his estate to Cornelia in trust with one caveat...that it be given to the Mississippi Institute for Colored People on her death.
What resonates with me, George never discovered what came of his 3 brothers, never knew his actual lineage; only having an assigned European name and an adopted family to mark a new go forward lineage point for future descendants; essentially becoming his family's biblical "Adam", just as my GG Grandfather Ned Mills is mine. His name and this fact reflecting an irony rarely considered by our nation.
Let me tell you a story about George Washington.
