Summary
Gravestone to Joseph Freeman, who liberated himself from enslavement in New Orleans, and who died in Chelmsford in 1875.
Reasons for Designation
The gravestone to Joseph Freeman, who liberated himself from enslavement in New Orleans, and died in Chelmsford in 1875, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Historic interest:
* as a rare example of a memorial to a formerly enslaved person who faced daunting odds and demonstrated remarkable courage to self-liberate from enslavement in New Orleans;
* as a memorial to a formerly enslaved African American person who sought refuge in England between the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and its abolition in 1864, it is of considerable importance both nationally and internationally;
* it represents one of the few forms of tangible evidence regarding the existence of formerly enslaved African American people in England.
Architectural interest:
* as a simple but dignified memorial whose legible inscription is an evocative reminder of the human impact of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
History
Joseph Freeman was born into enslavement in New Orleans, Louisiana, possibly to the enslaver Villeré family. However, there is some confusion over the year of his birth, with the 1871 census recording it as 1826, whereas his age and date of death inscribed on his gravestone, 45 years and 28 November 1875 respectively, would make 1830 the year of his birth.
Research undertaken by the University of Louisiana has suggested that Joseph Freeman was possibly enslaved by Alcée Jacques Villeré (1831-1908) of New Orleans, grandson of Jacques Phillippe Villeré (1761-1830), the Second Governor of Louisiana (1816-1824), at the time of the United States census of 1860.
The circumstances of his self-liberation in around 1861, along with his arrival in England, are unknown. By the time of the 1871 census, however, he was living in Baker Street, Chelmsford, with his wife Sarah and their daughter Sarah (born 1866) and five of Sarah's seven children from her previous marriage to Henry Farrow of Long Melford, Suffolk. The family home was close to the London Road Iron Works where Freeman worked along with his eldest stepson, Joseph Farrow. Freeman died in 1875 and was buried in Chelmsford's non-conformist cemetery in New London Road, which was laid out by local architect James Fenton (1805-1875) and opened in 1846.
Details
Gravestone to Joseph Freeman, who liberated himself from enslavement in New Orleans, and who died in Chelmsford in 1875.
DESCRIPTION: a rectangular gravestone with a moulded triangular top. The inscription reads: ‘ERECTED / by his Christian friends / to the memory of / JOSEPH / once a slave in New Orleans / who escaped to England and / became also a FREE MAN / in Christ / He was employed for several years / at the London Road Iron Works / until his death at the age of 45 / on the 28th Novr 1875 / Reader! Have you been made free / from the slavery of sin’.
