Elise A. Guyette

Guyette's painstaking study of a community of African-American farmers in Vermont during the century from 1790 to 1890 opens the eyes of many readers who have always believed the oft-quoted "Vermont is the whitest state." Although, perhaps, an unlikely destination for people of color in the late 1790s, its remoteness and promises of solitude may have appealed to African Americans wanting to flee slavery or to free blacks lured by cheap land. As time went on, Vermont laws offered a certain amount of protection, and people of color may have felt some safety in the hills of their chosen state.

A great deal of research went into DISCOVERING BLACK VERMONT, and the reader can tell that Guyette became quite attached to her subject matter as she traced the families through population censuses, probate records, vital records, land sales, and agricultural censuses. Her outside reading (an extensive and very interesting bibliography is included) and her in-person trips to Hinesburgh, VT and its environs add extra details as well as set the families in the greater context of both Vermont and U.S. history.

Life was difficult for all early settlers of the Green Mountain State. There was land to be cleared (and then taxes to be paid on any "improved" land), logistics to be figured out (getting supplies to Vermont in the early years could take a great deal of time and be extremely expensive), and adding to the burden of that, the families of Guyette's study had to integrate into the greater white community. It appears that in the beginning, with few settlers and rough times, it was perhaps a bit easier for the African-American families. They all helped their own and also helped across racial lines, integrating with neighbors at church and school, bonding over agricultural issues and needs, and occasionally intermarrying. As the number of white settlers rose, however, and was not equaled by incoming African-Americans, it seems that life may have gotten more difficult for Guyette's subject families.

In the beginning, the families owned land and bought more land. Along the way, hard times required the selling of land, but that same land was often bought back. Puzzling reversals of fortune seemed to plague the families and, by the end of the century, most of the land had been sold off, and the children had scattered. Although the original settlers undoubtedly thought they were creating a homestead for future generations of their blood, the history of our growing country got in the way. Also, with the numbers of children and subsequent marriages, the land couldn't support everyone. Many of the men went off to work as laborers for local white farmers. The Civil War forced many of Vermont's men - black and white - out into the larger world. It wasn't unusual for many of them to choose not to return to their home state after the war was over. Having seen a larger world, they wanted to become part of it.

Many of the family members in Guyette's book are memorable. The women are strong, perform tough work, have lives that are anything but easy, and many die in middle age. It seems that both boys and girls went to school, though, and everyone was literate to a certain degree. One of the more fascinating members of the families studied by Guyette is Loudon Langley who was an admirable scholar, schooled locally, and later attended college at nearby Middlebury. During the Civil War, Langley had great exposure to the South and ended up staying there, bringing his wife down from Vermont to settle in South Carolina. Excerpts from various writings of Langley's are included in the book and will fascinate every reader.

What is so interesting is that Guyette set off to study a small community of African-American farmers and went on to learn so much more - all of which she shares with the reader. One does not have to be from Vermont or be an African-American scholar to grasp the importance of her work. It is an accessible read and an important one. Not only does it give a glimpse into African-American life in early Vermont, but it opens an entire window on what life was like for all settlers in the rough, unsettled, mountainous hills way back in the days before trees fell and sun shone upon the state's rocky soil.… (más)