3. Representing a Community
It was Martha Peterson’s very existence as a free woman living a regular life in such a transitional and challenging era that made her so unique to the members of the Saint Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church. The pastor of the congregation said, “She was found in our African-American burial ground, and because of that, she is a member of our congregation. And as a member of our congregation, it was important for us to make sure that we treated her with the very, utmost respect, that her life and her body was not treated disrespectfully. But most of all, we paid homage to the person that we believed that she was.” Her daily life and struggles echoed the lives of many of the congregation’s ancestors.