The Foster family kept their ancestors close. Sheltered on a portion of their 2 1/8-acre plot purchased in 1833 by free black Catherine Foster, this burial ground still contains several dozen graves.
Rediscovered in 1993, the Foster cemetery most likely contains the remains of not only family members but also neighbors from the local community called Canada.
In deference to those buried here, the graves remain undisturbed, but no longer overlooked. Gentle mounds and depressions recall the contours of other historic African American cemeteries. A stone wall embraces the elevated ground, inviting the introspection of passerby.
One of the only known photographs of her descendants, taken at the turn of the century, is shown on the far left. After Catherine's death in 1863, family members held onto this land, well into the twentieth-century.
Catherine Foster's will, part of which is shown on the left, carefully preserved ownership of the family homestead.
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