I’ve decided to try and get back into the swing of the letter writing, among other things, but first I’d like to share a collection of photos sent in by reader Nicole, who happened to be in the cemetery where the Aray family were buried and was kind enough to share:
She adds:
The text from the historical marker at the cemetery reads:
Washtenaw County PI-53 Historical Marker, Washtenaw County Historic District Commission
“Hardwood Cemetery
This peaceful parcel of land, named for the family who donated it, is the final resting place of a key figure in the founding of Ypsilanti as well as prominent participants in the Underground Railroad.
William Webb Harwood came to the area from Palmyra, New York with his wife, Sally and their children in 1824. With Augustus Woodward and John Stewart, Harwood platted the village of Ypsilanti. In 1829, he erected a dam and established a gristmill and, the following year, built Ypsilanti’s first schoolhouse. Moving to Pittsfield Township in the mid-1830s, Harwood became a supporter of the abolitionist movement and offered sanctuary to escaping slaves. In this endeavor, he was joined by Asher Aray, a man on mixed race whose family farmed east of the Harwoods on the Chicago Road (now US-12). In 1853, Aray sheltered a group of 28 slaves whose flight to freedom was documented nationwide.
The Arays and their relatives, the Days, are both buried here in an unusual show of tolerance for the time. Harwood Cemetery, once the central burial ground for Pittsfield Township, also contains the remains of Robert and William Geddes, two of the area’s original land patentees.”
Thank you, Nicole!
