'Juneteenth Flowers' in Exeter

The new Black Heritage Trail of NH (BHTNH) stone marker is finally complete in Exeter. Just in time for Juneteenth this Wednesday!

This BHTNH monument is housed in the new "Exeter's Black Heritage Pocket-Park" at the corner of Water Street & Swasey Parkway. This park is owned by Exeter Parks & Recreation, with beautiful gardens donated by local resident, Mark Damsell. An ad-hoc group of citizens, "Exeter's Black Heritage Pocket-Park Committee" worked with public input and selectboard support for nearly four years to bring this park to fruition.

An unveiling ceremony was held on May 4th, 2024. Well over 100 people came to witness and celebrate. Pastry was provided by St. Anthony's Bakery and Clyde's Cupcakes. The Folsom Tavern, located directly across the street, held a free open house after the ceremony. Video of this ceremony can be viewed on Exeter TV's YouTube channel.

The public is invited to bring a cut flower to the monument in honor of Juneteenth. Juneteenth is a holiday celebrated on June 19 to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the US. The holiday was first celebrated in Texas, where on that date in 1865, in the aftermath of the Civil War, enslaved people were declared free under the terms of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation.

At least two, and probably many more, Black Revolutionary War veterans are buried in the Winter Street Cemetery in Exeter: Jude Hall and Tobias Cutler. (In total, over 30 Revolutionary War veterans - both Black and White - are buried in that yard!)

The NH State Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a non-partisan civic service organization of women, has selected Exeter to kick off the statewide 250th anniversary of the USA (1776-2026) celebrations, with a focus on that cemetery.

The NHDAR, along with the Exeter Chapter, will partner with other local groups to host a public ceremony at the Winter Street cemetery to honor all NH Black Revolutionary War soldiers on the afternoon of November 2, 2024 with a post-ceremony reception at the American Independence Museum's Folsom Tavern. All 25 DAR chapters in New Hampshire have donated to a large historical sign which honors all (nearly 400, according to NH historian Glenn Knoblock's Strong & Brave Fellows) Black soldiers and sailors from NH that served in the Revolutionary War. Often times, history did not correctly cite the contributions of the Black community. Today's scholarly research is is helping to correct the omissions.

In fact, in 1790's Exeter, walking down the street you would have seen that English, Scottish, and West African were the three highest population groups in the community. Many Blacks had businesses downtown, owned homes, and schools were integrated. The Exeter Historical Society has much information on this subject that is available to the public.

The above-mentioned facts are things to ponder as you place your cut flower at the new marker in Exeter which reads:

“Exeter, the Revolutionary capital of New Hampshire, included a Black community which was nearly 5 percent of its population in 1790. Although enslaved Africans were forcibly brought here in the early 1700s, after the American Revolution several free Black men and their families, many of whom had fought for American independence, found community by coming together and living here.

These veterans included Cato Fisk, Cato Duce, London Daly and Jude Hall, whose grandson, Moses U. Hall, was a Civil War veteran. London Daly and Rufus Cutler proposed the first society to benefit people of color in the region. Leaders in subsequent generations include ministers Thomas Paul, Nathaniel Paul, Benjamin Tash, and abolitionist poet James M. Whitfield. In the 1800s, philanthropists Harriet P. C. Harris and Catherine Merrill provided ongoing support and generous bequests. They were among many Black residents of Exeter who supported one another through struggles and victories.”