{news} Burton Lawsuit Over Archaeological Dig Also Settled

[David Bedell]

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctventure0802.artaug02,0,1745518.story

Smith's Grave Has No DNA
Lawsuit Over Archaeological Dig Also Settled

SARAH MISHKIN
Courant Staff Writer

August 2 2006

Time and acidic soil have eroded away all genetic material from the 
200-year-old gravesite of freed slave Venture Smith, making it impossible to 
salvage his DNA, archaeologists announced Tuesday.

Excavating the four graves of Smith and his family in East Haddam was part 
of a larger project to document the genetic heritage of his descendants, now 
in the 10th generation, as well as to learn more about a man who, according 
to his autobiography, was brought from Africa at age 8 and died in 
Connecticut as a relatively prosperous landowner.

Descendants had wanted to find DNA that would trace Smith to Africa and 
remains that would attest to his strength and size. However, Smith's remains 
were fully decomposed.

Scientists were able to recover genetic material from the grave of Smith's 
wife, Meg, along with funeral artifacts from Smith's grave, including 
hardware from his coffin.

"This was not a poor man's coffin, from what I've seen of it," said state 
archaeologist Nick Bellantoni, who advised on the dig.

And the size of the coffin indicated it belonged to someone who was tall, 
Bellantoni said.

Also on Tuesday, a settlement was reached in a lawsuit challenging the dig. 
Nancy Burton, a disbarred attorney and Green Party candidate for attorney 
general, sued Bellantoni in Superior Court, urging the dig be halted to 
prevent damaging or desecrating Smith's grave and headstone, which are part 
of the National Register of Historic Places. Burton dropped the case in 
exchange for an injunction from the court preventing any further work on the 
grave.

Under the terms of the injunction, excavation can continue on the nearby 
graves of Smith's wife and their two children, but Smith's grave must be 
filled in without delay.

Chandler Saint, president of the Beecher House Center for the Study of Equal 
Rights, which manages the documentation project, said archeologists on site 
Tuesday morning double-checked that the excavation on Smith's grave was 
complete and that no remains of Smith had been overlooked.

"We didn't compromise the project in any manner," he said of the settlement.

Descendants of Smith said they were still frustrated that Burton tried to 
stop a project that was trying to document their heritage. But despite that, 
and the disappointment of not finding Smith's remains, they found promise in 
the artifacts discovered.

"She shouldn't have brought [the lawsuit] in the first place, but I wanted 
to learn about my family, and I can still do that," said Ericka Buttram, a 
ninth-generation descendant from Middletown.

The final settlement, reached after nearly three days in court, was due in 
part to the assistance of New London lawyer Richard Dixon, who became 
interested in the Smith proceedings because of his background in 
environmental law. He represented pro bono Coralynne Jackson, the descendant 
who spoke on the family's behalf in court.

"Everybody recognizes that this site is special - that was the basis of this 
agreement," Dixon said.

The excitement generated by the site is not likely to die down soon, even 
without Smith's DNA. A closing celebration is planned for Saturday, analysis 
of the remains found will continue for many months, and the BBC will release 
a documentary filmed by correspondents throughout much of the work. For now, 
even the slightest encounter with Smith's resting spot excites those who 
have worked there.

"They asked me if I wanted to help one morning," said Pastor MJ Hinchliff of 
the East Haddam First Church of Christ, Congregational, in whose cemetery 
Smith is buried. "And I was as close to heaven as I could be in this life."



Contact Sarah Mishkin at smishkin@ courant.com.

Copyright 2006, Hartford Courant