Indian Stones, Historic memorial stones in Reading, Vermont

Indian Stones are two slate markers set into a single granite slab at a roadside pullout on the east side of Route 106 at Knapp Brook Road in Reading, Vermont. Three granite steps lead up to the slab, which is framed by low bushes and trees, with a state commemorative sign in the pullout's oval.

Susannah Willard Johnson, not her daughter Elizabeth, commissioned the two slate markers in 1799 after revisiting the site of her daughter's birth. Captured with her family in the 1754 raid on Fort at Number 4, she gave birth to Elizabeth Captive Johnson on the second day of the forced march. The stones were mounted in a granite slab by descendants in 1918.

Susannah Willard Johnson returned to the site of her daughter's birth several times and published a captivity narrative in 1796 describing the family's ordeal. In 1799 she hired a stonecutter to make the two slate markers, intending one for the birthplace and one for the nearby encampment. Her instructions were not followed, and the stones were set side by side.

The stones sit right along State Highway 106 and are easy to reach from the road. Early morning or late afternoon visits work well when traffic is lighter and the light better shows the carved details.

Susannah Johnson's 1799 instructions were not followed: she wanted one slate marker at the birthplace and the other at the nearby Native encampment site, but the two were set side by side. Descendants of Captain James Johnson mounted both in a single granite slab in 1918, and road improvements on Route 106 later forced the memorial to be moved to its present pullout.