Where is Richard Congdon?
Richard Congdon, son of William Congdon (1777-1866) of Washington, was born in 1824. His mother is unknown. William's father, William Sr. (1723-1826), was an original settler of what became known as the McKnight District. This is the area where the Monument Road, Whitney Place Rd and New Lenox Roads intersect, in the area of Farnham's Reservoir. Richard built a home and farm just below where the reservoir is now, on land he acquired from his father. It's not known what he farmed, but it can be assumed he probably grew potatoes, and had herds of sheep and possibly cattle.
Richard married Eunice Coe (1831-1885), around 1853. They had their first son William, in 1854. They would eventually have 8 children; 2 boys and 6 girls.
An interesting fact about Richard is that he did not sell his farm to William Whitney. Deeds show him selling a 50-acre piece to Whitney, but not his 120-acre farm. Richard's brother Henry, who owned a farm farther on the Congdon Road, almost to Ashley Brook near Dalton, also refused to sell to Whitney. Though Richard was not surrounded by Whitney like Michael Navin was in the south part of town, Congdon's neighbors did accept Whitney's offer.
There is no date for Richard's death that I could find. He is listed in the 1900 census, but deeds from 1906 show his son Joseph selling the land to a Mary Hayden. That land was taken by eminent domain by the City of Pittsfield in 1911, for watershed protection. Richard’s wife Eunice died in 1885 and is buried just down the road in the New Lenox Cemetery......but not Richard!
Edward Knurow, who in the 50's, 60's and 70's scoured the back woods of Berkshire County looking for historic sites, took a photograph of two gravestones leaning against trees at the Congden cellar hole. One of the stones he photographed was for the Congdon's young son William, who died at the age of 2 in 1856. The other stone in the photo remains a mystery...is it Richard's? There is no record of him being buried next to his wife in New Lenox, so who was the second stone on the farm for?
Three years ago, my nephew Kevin Turner and I went looking for those stones at the cellar hole. We crisscrossed the entire area, without any luck. We found the trees in Knurow's 1972 photo, but no stones. Walking down the steep hill to the road, Kevin found the base of William's stone, matching Knurow's photo perfectly. Sadly, it appears that someone had dragged the stones down to the road, and took them, leaving the base to William's stone there. So we may never know where Richard and William Congdon are buried.
