Location: 42° 48.756′ N, 72° 34.038′ W
Vermont Welcome Center, Interstate 91, Guilford, VT 05301
Placed in 2021 by the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation
Inscription:
Abijah and Lucy Terry Prince
Early Landowners and First Known African American Poet
Abijah Prince (c. 1706-94) served in the French & Indian Wars, as a slave and freedman. In 1751, he achieved his freedom and registered as a taxpayer and proprietor for land ownership.
Lucy Terry (c. 1730-1821) was stolen from Africa as a child and enslaved in Deerfield, MA. Her only surviving poem “Bars Fight” records the 1746 attack on Deerfield settlers. The singsong ballad, the earliest existing poem by an African American, endured in oral tradition for over 100 years before appearing on the front page of the Springfield Daily Republican in 1854.
Lucy became free sometime after they married in 1756. In 1769 they began settling 100 acres in Guilford.
Listen to an audio story produced by multimedia artist Shanta Lee about this site, “History at a Guilford Rest Stop: The Story of the Princes“.
vtaaht.org 