Uncle Ned’s Mountain Two centuries of African-American slaves, farmers, soldiers, and saviors in a small New England town 2 Version Dec. 18, 2020 [Draft copy] © 2020 Jack Sanders Jack Sanders 91 Olmstead Lane Ridgefield, Connecticut, 06877
[email protected] RidgefieldHistory.com 3 Introduction eople in Ridgefield, Connecticut, have called it Ned’s Mountain for a century and a half. Really just a steep, mostly wooded hill, the P “mountain” reaches 962 feet above sea level in the northern part of the town, overlooking pastures dotted with multi-million-dollar homes and elegant horse barns, and capped with a modern house offering fine views for miles around. Those views were much different nearly two centuries ago when Black men and women fleeing enslavement in the South sought refuge on Ned’s Mountain and where four African-American boys grew up and went off to fight in the Civil War. Two would not return. Ned’s Mountain, the only name on a map of the town that recalls an African American, represents a past that the town has largely forgotten — or ignored. Ridgefield was founded in 1708 by a group of nearly two dozen men from the Connecticut coastline communities who bought thousands of acres from native tribal leaders. The town straddles ridges in the then heavily forested foothills of the Berkshires and its “mountains” can reach more than 1,000 feet above sea level. The land was tough, not only steep but also rocky and swampy, with places bearing such hardscrabble names as Toilsome, Rattlesnake Swamp, Brimstone, Nod, and the Wolfpits.