While wandering at Butternut Valley Cemetery which is 3 miles north of Garrattsville in the Town of Burlington, I found some well preserved stones that caught my interest. Little did I realize the historical significance of this family. Hartwick College has some history online of Cato Freeman. He is one of 70,000 black soldiers that served in the Revolutionary War. The link and more information is below the photos.
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| Sacred to the memory of Col. CATO FREEMAN, Died May 19, 1828, Age 96 Years |
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| PARMELIA wife of Col. Cato Freeman, died April 19, 1838, Age 73 Years |
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| Charlotte F., Wife of Anthony Jackson and daughter of Col. Cato and Permelia Freeman |
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| Parmelia J and Martin F. L., grandchildren of Cato Freeman |
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Cato's last name may have been Freedom. "The center also detailed Freedom’s history as a
private of the Connecticut Line from 1778, with his enlistment lasting
beyond the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. Freedom received
an honorable discharge on September 2, 1783, and although he indicated
in pension documents that he served in the Third Connecticut Regiment,
he also was enlisted in the Fifth Company, Seventh Regiment, commanded
by Colonel H. Swift. His enlistment lasted until the peace treaty
between the U.S. and Great Britain, and by 1818, he had relocated to
Burlington, where he lived on a 33-acre homestead with his wife,
Parmelia, and daughters, Charlotte and Aurabia. He died in February
1830, another fact uncovered by the USCTI despite contradicting
information on his tombstone." Below is the link to the Hartwick College article from which I just quoted.
http://www.hartwick.edu/news-and-events/news-archive-new/usct-revolutionary-war-06-22-09
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