At Friday’s Living History Cemetery Tour I “met” Nancy Ross Gooch (1811-1901), portrayed by Sarina Krastev. Here’s a poem:
On Course
Born a slave, she bore a son.
When he was three, her master packed her up
with his other goods, headed out west
to the Gold Rush. Her boy too young
to work the goldfields, he was left behind.
She arrived in California: brand-new State
that outlawed slavery. She was free,
to work her own way in life, to wash and cook
and mend for gold miners. She worked and saved,
bought land and planted fruit and veggies.
Worked and saved. Bought her grown son’s
freedom and passage to California.
A ‘doer,’ he worked hard and prospered too.
Grandchildren born free. At ninety,
she was proud she’d made something;
and she died free.
~ Taylor Graham
photo: Sarina Krastev as Nancy
