Susan Richardson's Gravesite
This is the grave of Susan Richardson, who died in 1904. Susan Richardson, also known as Aunt Suki, who fled her captors in southern Illinois to come to this area with her three sons. The story is almost always told as Susan Richardson herself flees to Galesburg. That's actually incorrect. Richardson actually holds up in the house of an abolitionist in Knoxville, IL, not in Galesburg. The people sent to chase after Richardson only captures her three sons and try to use them against her. They give her a choice: you can either go back into captivity together with your three sons or we can leave you here but keep your sons. Richardson chooses freedom and leave her three sons in the hands of their captors. Thus, causing the captors to attempt to launch a legal battle using the Fugitive Slave Act, which required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state1. Richardson eventually waits them out with the help of local abolitionist networks, unfortunately must abandon her three sons, sets up in town as a local seamstress and is granted a certificate of freedom. She's also one of the founders of the local AME church located two blocks off the campus of Knox College. Richardson dies in 1904 in Chicago, IL, but her body is brought back to Galesburg and buried in Hope Cemetery. When Richardson was buried, there was no marker originally, as the case for most people who didn’t have the means. In the 1980s, the Friends of Hope Cemetery Association decided to do some research on the notable people that are buried here, and as they began to find out more about Susan Richardson, they felt that it was appropriate to fundraise for a marker for this grave. So, the grave marker is actually from the 1980s and reads, “A freedom seeker and notable early citizen” and that was created by the Friends of Hope Cemetery Association.
1 “Fugitive Slave Act.” American Battlefield Trust. Accessed November 22, 2022. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/fugitive-slave-act.