Elizabeth Burden took time from her day-to-day life living in Lincoln to visit the land owned by her great-grandfather for the first time on Oct. 22.

His name was Henry Burden, the first black person to homestead in Saline County.

Elizabeth visited the Saline County Historical Society and Museum in Dorchester and shared with a group of museum volunteers some of her family his-tory. The original house built by her great-grandfather was moved and it now is part of the 13 buildings on the museum grounds.

The house was donated to the museum in 1971 after being uninhabited since Henry's death in 1913.

Henry Burden was born into slavery sometime between the late 1830s and early 1840s (his exact birth date is unknown). Burden was a slave for the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He then surrendered to the North and enlisted as a Union soldier.

After the war in the late 1860s, he moved to Lincoln and applied for a homestead in Saline County, which was approved in 1868. He was given 80 acres of land to start off with about two and one-half miles south of Pleasant Hill.

He was the first black person to live in Saline County and for several years it stayed that way. For Burden, it was a difficult first few years in the area.

One of the biggest reasons for this was that he spoke English and the rest of the population spoke Czech.

"To see what kind of a neat guy he was, he eventually taught himself Czech and he taught his wife and kids Czech as well so that they could communicate with the rest of the community,"

said Connie Strouf, member of the Historical Society.

"(Elizabeth's) great-grandfather must have been just out of this world, quite a guy."

Burden's first wife died of a sickness after only a couple years of marriage.

Henry and his second wife, Mary Burden, went on to have eight children, six boys and two girls. In 1895, Mary died, and Burden would have been left to raise his kids alone if it were not for the help of the community.

The eight children all attended school and received the education they needed. After their father's death, they dispersed from the area but a few still came back. Some even went to have children of their own.

His great-granddaughter, Elizabeth, is a local artist who continues to be interested in her family's history.

"There is something unique about this particular area; immigrants from Eastern Europe that were first generation immigrants who came here and who did not have the southern attitudes that made for a different environment for the homestead to thrive here,"

Elizabeth Burden said.

"It could have all been different a few miles up the road in any other county
"It is a fascinating story that is quintessentially American in almost all of its facets. It has meaning for me and it also has much more meaning beyond that."

The Burdens have been a very important part of Saline County history and that makes them an important piece of American history. It is a story of freedom, of neighbors and of the hard work that comes with being an American.

Henry Burden's roots remain where he planted them and the people who came after him, not only his blood descendants but also those within the community he left behind, keep his memory alive. Burden is mentioned in many historical books and after his death in 1913, the paper published a heartfelt obituary in his name.

He is buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery alongside his wives and three of his children. Elizabeth stopped and visited their graves on the visit. She promises to continue to commemorate his story, her roots and their legacy through her art and continued research.