Indian Stones

United States historic place

Indian Stones

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

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Location| VT 106 at Knapp Brook Rd., Reading, Vermont
Coordinates| 43°26′47″N 72°32′7″W﻿ / ﻿43.44639°N 72.53528°W﻿ / 43.44639; -72.53528
Area| less than one acre
Built| 1799; 225 years ago (1799)
NRHP reference No.| 74000356[1]
Added to NRHP| November 20, 1974

The Indian Stones are a pair of historic markers on Vermont Route 106 in Reading, Vermont. Erected in 1799 in commemoration of a 1754 Native American raid, they are the oldest commemorative markers in the state, and among the oldest in the United States. They were mounted in a single granite slab in 1918, and were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.[1]

## Description

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The Indian Stones are located at a small roadside pullout in southern Reading, on the east side of Route 106 at its junction with Knapp Brook Road. A set of three granite steps lead up to a granite slab, in which two slate markers have been mounted. The marker is framed by low bushes, with trees lining the eastern edge of the pullout, and a state commemorative sign placed in the oval created by the pullout. The granite slab is incised with the following in the upper lefthand corner: "- In 1918 - These stones were placed in their / present Position by a Descendant of - Captain / James Johnson"-and Susannah; his Wife." Below that inscription is a slate stone with stepped shoulders, in which is carved "On the 31 st of August 1754, Capt James Johnson had / a Daughter born on this Spot of Ground, being / Captivated with his whole Family by the Indians." Depictions of various tools top the statement. To that stone's right is set the other slate slab, in which is carved the following inscription, accompanied by similar decoration: "This is near the Spot that the Indians Encamp^ / the Night after they took Mr Johnson 8 Family, / Mr Labarree & Farnsworth, August 30th 1754, and / Mrs Johnson was Delivered of her Child Half a mile up this Brook; // When troubles near the Lord is- kind, / He hears the Captives crys. / He can subdue the Savage mind, / And learn it sympathy."[2]

## History

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The left slate marker

On August 29, 1754, during the French and Indian War, a band of Native Americans made an attack on the Fort at Number 4 in Charlestown, New Hampshire, taking as captives members of the Johnson and Farnsworth families. On the second day of a forced march, Susannah Willard Johnson gave birth to Elizabeth Captive Johnson. All of the captives were eventually ransomed to French residents of Montreal and returned to their homes by 1760. Susannah Johnson returned to the place of her daughter's birth on several occasions, and in 1796 published a captivity narrative describing the family's ordeal. In 1799, convinced she had found the correct location, she hired a stonecutter to create the two slate markers, with the intent that one was to be placed at the birthplace, and the other at the nearby Native encampment site.[2]

The exact date of their placement is not documented, but was probably before Susannah Johnson's death in 1810. Susannah Johnson's instructions were not followed, and the two stones were placed side-by-side in a location not far from their present site. Descendants of Johnson in 1918 had the two stones mounted in the granite slab, and placed at the same site. The present location is near that location, created as a result of road improvements on Route 106 that required the memorial's relocation.[2]

## See also

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* National Register of Historic Places listings in Windsor County, Vermont

## References

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1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. ^ a b c Courtney Fisher; Louise Roomet (1974). "NRHP nomination for Indian Stones". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-07-11. with photos from 1974

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National Register of Historic Places in Windsor County, Vermont

National
Historic
Landmarks|

* Calvin Coolidge Homestead District
* George Perkins Marsh Boyhood Home
* Robbins and Lawrence Armory and Machine Shop
* Stellafane Observatory

Districts|

* Advent Camp Meeting Grounds Historic District
* Ascutney Mill Dam Historic District
* Ascutney State Park
* Bethel Village Historic District
* Theron Boyd Homestead
* Brigham Hill Historic District
* Brook Farm
* Chester Village Historic District
* Christian Street Rural Historic District
* Coolidge State Park
* Fletcher–Fullerton Farm
* Goodrich Four Corners Historic District
* Hartford Village Historic District
* Jericho Rural Historic District
* King Farm
* Ludlow Village Historic District
* Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
* Gen. Lewis R. Morris House
* Norwich Mid-Century Modern Historic District
* Norwich Village Historic District
* Parker Hill Rural Historic District ‡
* Plymouth Historic District
* Quechee Historic Mill District
* Isaac M. Raymond Farm
* Saddlebow Farm
* Slayton–Morgan Historic District
* South Royalton Historic District
* South Woodstock Village Historic District
* Southview Housing Historic District
* Springfield Downtown Historic District
* Stockbridge Common Historic District
* Stone Village Historic District
* Taftsville Historic District
* Terraces Historic District
* Weathersfield Center Historic District
* West Hartford Village Historic District
* Weston Village Historic District
* White River Junction Historic District
* Wilder Village Historic District
* Wilgus State Park
* Windsor Village Historic District
* Woodstock Village Historic District

Buildings|

| Commercial|

* Aiken Stand Complex
* Fox Stand
* F. H. Gillingham & Sons
* Locust Creek House Complex
* Charles Marsh Law Office
* Pollard Block
* Progressive Market
* Simons' Inn
* Windsor House

|

Educational|

* Abbott Memorial Library
* Beaver Meadow School
* Black River Academy
* Eureka Schoolhouse
* Hartford Library
* Ludlow Graded School
* Park Street School
* Root School
* South Reading Schoolhouse
* Spencer Hollow School

Government|

* Damon Hall
* Fire District No. 2 Firehouse
* Reading Town Hall

Industrial|

* Bridgewater Woolen Mill
* Royalton Mill Complex

Religious|

* Beaver Meadow Union Chapel
* Cavendish Universalist Church
* Congregational Church of Ludlow
* Old Christ Church
* St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Residential|

* Atherton Farmstead
* Augustus and Laura Blaisdell House
* Twing Buckman House
* Rev. George Daman House
* Dewey House
* Wentworth and Diana Eldredge House
* Ezekiel Emerson Farm
* Farrar-Mansur House
* Joseph Fessenden House
* Reverend Dan Foster House
* Fowler-Steele House
* Gate of the Hills
* Daniel Gay House
* Glimmerstone
* Greenwood House
* Harrington House
* Hartness House
* Jeffrey House
* Wales N. Johnson House
* Juniper Hill Farm-Maxwell Evarts House
* Lockwood-Boynton House
* Luce Farm
* Maple Hill Farm
* Joseph and Daniel Marsh House
* McKenstry Manor
* Meeting House Farm
* Owen Moon Farm
* NAMCO Block
* Old Constitution House
* Aaron Jr. and Susan Parker Farm
* Zachariah Spaulding Farm
* Walter and Sylvia Stockmayer House
* Jedediah Strong II House
* David Sumner House
* John Wilder House

Object|

* Indian Stones

Sites|

* Gilbert's Hill
* Historic Crown Point Road

Structures|

* Best's Covered Bridge
* Bowers Covered Bridge
* Bridge 15
* Bridgewater Corners Bridge
* Cornish–Windsor Covered Bridge‡
* Gilead Brook Bridge
* Gould's Mill Bridge
* Iron Bridge at Howard Hill Road
* Kendron Brook Bridge
* Lincoln Covered Bridge
* Martin's Mill Covered Bridge
* Ottauquechee River Bridge
* Quechee Gorge Bridge
* Spaulding Bridge
* Stockbridge Four Corners Bridge
* Taftsville Covered Bridge
* Upper Falls Covered Bridge
* West Hartford Bridge
* West Woodstock Bridge
* Willard Covered Bridge
* Woodstock Warren Through Truss Bridge

Footnotes|

‡This historic property also has portions in an adjacent state.

See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Windsor County, Vermont and List of National Historic Landmarks in Vermont
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