Because it’s National sons day

LATE NIGHT POST!!!

Because it’s National sons day, I feel compelled to include Wooden who is buried in our cemetery. He was someone’s child. Someone’s son. His mother and father lost him to the small pox in 1795. As a mother my heart aches every time I walk by this headstone but as a woman of color I can’t help but wonder if he and his family enslaved people. As most of you know we have a really old cemetery on our estate that dates back to the late 1600s. This particular headstone always makes me sad when I read it. I also feel somewhat conflicted because I know many of the Townsands owned enslaved people. I get so excited when I found out something new but I wrestle with loving the history and hating it at the same time constantly. As a history buff, I love learning about the past but as a person of color I can’t help but to wonder who was and who wasn’t on the right side of history. Anyway… just some food for thought. I still would like to acknowledge him on this day because he is buried here and because I have no knowledge or evidence of him being a slave owner.