The headstone reads, “Erected in Memory of Old Joe the Friendly Indian Guide who died Feb. 19, 1819.”

Joe was a Micmac who grew up with the St. Francis Abenaki because his family had been murdered by English colonists. Because the St. Francis came under English rule during the French and Indian War, Joe began warning Vermonters about Indian raids.

The St. Francis banished Joe to an island on a Danville pond. He married a woman who became known to locals as Molly.

Joe became a captain during the Revolutionary War. After the war, Vermont provided for Joe and Molly’s support. Joe’s Pond in West Danville and Cabot and Molly’s Pond in Cabot are named for them.

The Vermont Book Of Days image.