Oldest Minneapolis cemetery designated Underground Railroad site

Through the hard work of Minnesota genealogists, Minneapolis’ oldest cemetery has a new designation by the National Park Service.

Pioneers & Soldiers Cemetery, located just southeast of downtown, is now considered part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. The new designation comes after the discovery of three African American Freedom Seekers and one African American abolitionist buried there.

“I just feel like I’m the spokesman, and I’m very happy to do it,” said St. Paul native and genealogist Elyse Hill on Friday's Morning Edition.

Hill specializes in African American genealogy and said the process of unearthing this history was difficult. Many stories of enslaved people are passed down orally and, when their stories are written, it’s rare to find them preserved, she said.

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“It takes a lot of digging, many hours of searching,” Hill said. “It’s not easy.”

Hill’s research provided “the basis” for the National Park Service Designation, according to a press release from cemetery board president Susan Hunter Weir. Hill spoke with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about her work and the freedom seekers buried in the cemetery.

The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Click on the player above to hear the conversation.

One of the formerly enslaved people buried at Pioneers & Soldiers Cemetery is Hester Patterson. She seemed like a very interesting person.

Yes, she was. She was an enslaved individual in Mississippi, and there was a Minnesota unit during the Civil War down in that part of Mississippi, and apparently Hester had become a cook for one of the officers of that unit.

He ultimately facilitated her escaping from slavery, sending her up to Minnesota, where she later lived with that family, cooked for that family.

How hard is it to find information about folks like Hester Patterson?

It can be very challenging, because you’d like to have — as much as possible — documented sources. You know, of course, we have a lot of oral histories, but to be able to get documented sources can be a challenge.

Some events were documented, and those that were, where do they end up? Where do you find them? It takes a lot of digging, many hours of searching and and, yes, it’s a challenge. It’s not easy.

I did not know much at all about William Goodridge. I know he was an abolitionist, but I did not know he was a conductor on the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania. How did he wind up buried in this little south Minneapolis cemetery?

He was actually a formerly enslaved person. He was freed by his owner and as an apprentice under his former owner, he learned different business-type activities.

He ended up being a successful businessman that owned some railcars, and he would use his railcars to move enslaved people from one city to another in Pennsylvania. But ultimately, what happened to him was his businesses went bad.

The Fugitive Slave Act came into place, so William moved to Minnesota. He had a daughter who was living in Minneapolis. She and her husband were also abolitionists, and he lived with them and then passed away and was buried in the cemetery.

What spurs you to do this work?

I just kind of feel like I’m kind of the spokesman for individuals such as Hester and William and so many of these other formerly enslaved persons in telling their story. They didn’t have the opportunity to.

And I just feel like to get the story out about them and what they went through and what their lives were like, versus just having a title “escaped slave” or “U.S. colored troop soldier” — to put a name to that, and also to put information about their lives to that — I’m very happy to do it.

You can find upcoming Pioneer & Soldiers Cemetery events and learn more about African American genealogy here.