An esteemed former slave of Daniel Boone’s grandson who died in 1893 and spent 34 years living in Pueblo following her emancipation will soon have a new grave marker on her previously unmarked plot at Roselawn Cemetery.
Aunt Eliza Boone, who was born into slavery in Kentucky and later came to Pueblo County with her then-master Col. A.G. Boone, was such a prominent Pueblo figure that despite her death occurring just 30 years after the abolition of slavery and more than 60 years before the civil rights movement, The Pueblo Chieftain wrote about her passing on Nov. 29, 1893.
“In 1893, to have a person of color have an article written about them was unheard of,” said Lucille Corsentino, president of the Roselawn Foundation.
“Aunt Eliza was very beloved and revered by Puebloans.”
Boone’s story in the Chieftain was recently uncovered by John Korber, a researcher for the Pueblo County Historical Society, as he compiled research for the Roselawn’s upcoming book “The Hearts & Souls of Roselawn” which highlights the stories of some of the 61,000 people buried on the cemetery grounds in the St. Charles Mesa.
When Corsentino heard Boone’s story, she located her burial spot on the cemetery grounds and approached members of Pueblo’s African-American community to gauge their interest in raising funds to honor Boone with a new grave marker, vase and photograph.
“Here at Roselawn we believe that every person has value and we often use the quote of Benjamin Franklin that, ‘You can tell the morals of a culture by the way they treat their dead,' ” Corsentino said.
“So we revere our dead here at Roselawn.”
In order to raise the funds, Corsentino reached out to local advocates Carl and Margaret Wright, who raised the majority of the necessary monies and are planning a commemorative ceremony in Boone’s honor.
“This gives us some more history that we didn’t know about and it shows that even though we were slaves originally coming to this country, we contributed a lot to the society” Carl Wright said.
“We really made a difference beyond what we did as slaves and I think people need to know that because we oftentimes don’t talk about our background because we know that we came here because of slavery. But we have gone and transcended that.”
Boone’s new grave marker will be revealed on Nov. 18 at a 2 p.m. ceremony at Roselawn that will include singing, dancing and a recounting of Boone’s life story and will be open to the general public.
“I think it’s an excellent time for the entire community to come together,” Margaret Wright said.
“To bring everybody, from the county, from the city, from all ethnic backgrounds, together to acknowledge the greatness that exists here in Pueblo.”