On Saturday, September 16th at noon there will be a public unveiling of a historic roadside marker to celebrate the recent naming of John Thomas Brook. The new name pays homage to 19th-century Black settler John Thomas.
Thomas escaped enslavement in Maryland and established a successful farm near the small stream in Vermontville that was formerly known pejoratively as “N***** Brook,” then as “Negro Brook.” Thomas, his wife Mary, and their son, Richard, are buried in Union Cemetery in Vermontville, in Franklin County, NY. [Read more…] about Ceremony To Celebrate Renaming Adirondack Stream in Honor of Black Settler