A freed man who found his way north

This web page contain excerpts from an article which was originally published on Thursday, August 5, 2004 in the Altamont Enterprise.  The article was written by Village Historian Alice Begley.

     Ouite alone on a large plot of ground is the burial stone of John (James) Johnson, born a slave.  He emigrated to Altamont when he was freed before the turn of the 20th century.  Even the oldest of Altamont's residents remember him only from hearsay of their parents.

    Jim lived in an aged shack, carefully taken care of, in back of the railroad tracks on the left side of Route 146 by a stream near Township Road.  He worked as a handyman for many of the Altamont Village residents.  He grew his own vegetables, shoed horses, and was a familiar village character.

     Jim died in 1906.  His body was found rozen by the railroad tracks.  A resident of the time, Dayton Whipple, bought the cemetery plot for $ 3.  It was not documented who purchased the burial stone that reads:

James Johnson

died Dec 24, 1906

"Forever A Slave"

     The gravestone inscription and name notation tugged at this historian's heart.  Jim was a freed man who found his way north to a place where he was accepted as so.  He was a man who worked at the skills he had learned through life and was able to sustain himself, Jim Johnson was a free man.

      Jim Johnson is buried at Fairview Cemetery on Route 146 right outside the Village.   Fairview Cemetery is an interesting, historical burial ground.  It has a small potter's field where some Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers are said to be interred.  The oldest interment in the cemetery was in 1801 for Hester Grogte, born in 1742.  Many familiar village names are prominent:  Severson, Crounse, Beebe, and Ogsbury.