OVERVIEW

 

People and Sites Related to the Freedom Trail, Abolitionism, and

African American Life in Syracuse and Onondaga County

 

Part I: Overview

May 2002

 

I. Abstract

 

Recognizing the crucial role that central New Yorkers played in the nationally-important Freedom Trail, the Preservation League of New York State awarded a grant of $9000 in October 2001 to the Preservation Association of Central New York for a survey of sites relating to the Freedom Trail, Abolitionism, and African American Life in Syracuse and Onondaga County, 1820-1870. UpDowntowners provided assistance for developing tours of African American history in Syracuse, based on this material.

 

This survey was carried out using the guidelines in the multiple property document, “Historic Resources Related to the Freedom Trail, Abolitionism, and African American Life in Central New York, 1820-1870,” submitted to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. The survey identified twenty-four standing sites (and many, many sites that are no longer standing) relating to these themes in Syracuse and Onondaga County (thirteen in Syracuse and twelve in Onondaga County). 

 

II. Results. Results of the project include:

 

A.     context statement, written by Professor Milton Sernett.

B.     cultural resources survey, identifying standing sites, archeological sites, related sites, and possibilities for future research throughout the county.  These are presented with maps, photographs, and descriptions.

C.     two national register nominations, written according to the guidelines from the multiple property document, “Historic Resources Relating to the Freedom Trail, Abolitionism, and African American Life in Central New York, 1820-1870:

1.      James C. and Lydia C. Fuller House, a way station in Skaneateles.

2.      two houses owned by Mary Robinson, an African American laundress and landlady in Syracuse.

D.     three databases

1.      preliminary list of names of people affiliated with the Freedom Trail, abolitionism, and African American life.

2.      African Americans listed in the 1850 census for Syracuse and Onondaga County and for Syracuse in the 1850, 1855, and 1860 censuses.

3.      abolitionist and African American property owners.

E.      Additional resources ordered through Bird Library, Syracuse University,

including newspapers relating to the abolitionism and African American life

F.      a web site (http://www.pacny.net/freedom_trail/index.htm) prepared by Michael Stanton and Bob Tracy.

G.     several talks to various groups, including People’s AME Zion Church, Thompson Memorial church in Auburn, Syracuse Friends’ Meeting, the Madison County Freedom Trail Commission, the Oneida County Freedom Trail Commission, the Central New York Social Studies Council, and a workshop sponsored by the National Park Service in New York City.

H.     a script for a walking and tour of sites related to abolitionism and African American life in downtown Syracuse, prepared by Angela Bone-Owens of Cultural Ventures.

I.        a grant proposal, in cooperation with PACNY and the Syracuse Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, to give tours during the summer of 2001, to develop a county-wide tour brochure, and to prepare plans for a regional video on the underground railroad in central New York. This proposal was not funded.

 

Initiatives that will use the results of this project include:

A.     a tour brochure published by the Syracuse Convention and Visitors' Bureau (available December 2002).

B.     a signage project sponsored by the City of Syracuse through the Preservation Association of Central New York (to be completed by July 2003).

 

In terms of what we know about operations of the Freedom Trail, results of this survey challenged several popular stereotypes:

 

1.      While local work was sometimes very secret, by the late 1850s, underground railroad supporters worked very openly in Syracuse.

2.      While many freedom seekers went to Canada, many others settled in Syracuse and Onondaga County. The 1855 New York State census listed fifty-one African Americans (about one-tenth of the entire population African American population or one-quarter of the adult African American population) who said they were born in a southern state or Canada.

3.      Local freedom seekers such as Rev. Jermain Loguen and James Baker took leadership roles in organizing resistance to slavery. They worked in the context of a large group of African American and European supporters.

4.      Support for the Freedom Trail cut across lines of race, gender, and class. African Americans and European Americans, women and men, rich and poor worked on the Freedom Trail. Freedom seekers included women and children as well as men.

5.      Freedom trail supporters were sustained by religious ideals as well as by the essential American value that “all men are created equal.”

6.      Because of Syracuse’s geographic location as well as its effective resistance to the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850, Syracuse became a nationally important center of Freedom Trail work.

 

Rebuilding, especially in urban areas, destroyed many of the most important sites relating to the work of the Freedom Trail. Homes of both European and African American leaders (including Rev. Jermain Loguen, Rev. Samuel J. May, Rev. Luther Lee, Rev. John Lisle, Rev. R.R. Raymond, Prince Jackson, the Merrick family, Thomas and Jane Leonard, Charles and Ellen Birdseye Wheaton, and Charles and Hannah Highgate) are now gone. So are most of the sites relating to the rescue of Harriet Powell and William “Jerry” Henry, including the Police Station, the Townsend Block, and the Syracuse House. Key sites, however, still remain. This report focuses on those sites.

 

III. Acknowledgements

 

Documenting these sites would be impossible without the keepers of the records, and we want to give special appreciation to the Onondaga Historical Association (especially to Dennis Connors and Rebekah Ambrose), the Onondaga County Clerk’s Office (especially to Ann Ciarpelli, Onondaga County Clerk, and Louis Nefflen), Syracuse University, and the Onondaga Public Library for allowing us access to their rich collections. Copies of most of the maps came from the files of the OHA.

 

Directors for this project were Judith Wellman, Principal Investigator and Historian, Historical New York Research Associates, and Milton Sernett, Professor of African American Studies and History at Syracuse University. Project staff included April Harris, Cultural Foundations of Education Department at Syracuse University; Angela Williams, Librarian for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at Syracuse University; Angela Bone-Owens, CEO of MrsOwens.com; and Ron Graves, Youth Leader and Community Speaker. Debbie Stack helped shape the tour of downtown sites. Sally Wagner's extensive list of people associated with the rescue of William "Jerry" Henry provided a major contribution to our original list, as did her research about the Matilda Joslyn Gage home. Volunteers included Bob Tracy and Mike Stanton, web masters; Judy Haven and Darlene Bailey, researchers; and Laree Pease, data entry specialist.

 

This project has benefited immensely from the support of Mark Peckham and Bill Krattinger, of the State Historic Preservation Office, and of Tara Morrison, Northeast Regional Director of the National Park Service's National Network for Freedom program.

Finally, the many local and town historians throughout the county deserve special recognition for keeping so many of these stories alive.

 

IV. Discussion

 

A.     Research

 

1. Phases

 

a.       Phase I. Phase I of this project, completed in December 2001, consisted of a draft context statement prepared by Milton Sernett, and a list of more than 700 possible names of abolitionists (both European American and African American). This list was drawn from oral traditions, secondary materials, files of primary sources, Gerrit Smith’s lists of land grants to African Americans, lists of African Americans in the 1855 New York State census, and African Americans listed in the 1851 Syracuse city directory. More than one hundred of these names were associated with the most dramatic event in Syracuse’s freedom trail history, the rescue of William “Jerry” Henry from recapture by federal marshals after passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. About two hundred of them were names of African American adults listed in Onondaga County in the 1855 census.

 

b. Phase II. Phase II of this project focused on documenting both sites and people related to the Freedom Trail, abolitionism, and African American life. Because so much work had already been done on the rescue of William “Jerry” Henry in 1851, and because most of the homes of known abolitionists, both African American and European American, in Syracuse (including extremely important sites relating to Samuel J. May, Luther Lee, John Lisle, and Jerman Loguen, and Samuel R. Ward) had been torn down long ago, we decided to focus our efforts on locating sites relating to Africans Americans throughout the county and on European Americans outside Syracuse. (For excellent existing maps and tours, see Evamarie Hardin, Syracuse and the Underground Railroad, Syracuse: Erie Canal Museum, 1989, and Evamarie Hardin and Jon Crispin, ed. Syracuse Landmarks, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1993, 135-45.)

 

2. Sources

 

For sources, we relied on four major local libraries and records repositories. The Onondaga Historical Association shared its remarkable collection of newspaper clippings, files, maps, and printed materials with us. The Onondaga County Clerk’s Office provided access to deeds and public records, including censuses. The Onondaga County Library shared its printed resources. Syracuse University, through Bird Library and Martin Luther King, Jr., Library, provided access to books, microfilmed newspapers, and the Gerrit Smith collection. We owe a special thanks to these keepers of the records. Without them, none of this work would be possible.

 

 

3. Methods.

 

To locate sites, we began by using deed indexes to look up key names in the master list. We cross-checked these with maps, city directories, and printed sources to produce a database, sorted by name and by town, that will be available on PACNY’s web site.

 

We also produced a database that included the name of every African

American listed in the censuses for Syracuse and Onondaga County in 1850 and every African American listed in Syracuse in 1850, 1855, and 1860

 

We focused special attention on African Americans, especially those

who might be freedom seekers themselves, since their history has been most neglected.  We began with names of African Americans from the 1850 and 1855 censuses who listed property ownership and birthplaces in a southern state, Canada, or unknown, since these might be freedom seekers. We checked all African Americans who were listed in the 1850 and 1855 censuses as property owners in Onondaga County and all who were listed as property owners in Syracuse in the 1850, 1855, and 1860 censuses. We skipped some European American names because we knew that finding a standing building was unlikely, but we did look up deeds for documented way stations and for those who had major long-term involvement in the movement. If we found property ownership, we marked its approximate location (by lot and block on Sweet’s 1874 Atlas).

 

Deeds are not always an accurate indication of property ownership. Many people bought their property on land contracts and did not receive the deeds until they had paid the total amount.  They did, however, pay taxes annually, so their names show up on assessment records. So we also checked 1860 assessments in Syracuse for African Americans who may have paid taxes on property, even if no deed existed. Finally, we cross-checked many of these names with Syracuse city directories.

 

For all addresses, we checked the 1882 Sanborn maps, which list both old addresses and current addresses. Then we did a windshield survey of current addresses.

 

Further research in assessments in the 1850s and deeds after the Civil War may reveal more property ownership by African Americans who were living in Syracuse and Onondaga County before 1870 but who did not complete payment on their property until after the Civil War. It is unlikely that many of these (or perhaps any of them) in the City of Syracuse will be standing structures.

 

B. Results

 

1.      Freedom Seekers.

 

This whole project revolves around freedom seekers, but almost all sites directly associated with identified freedom seekers in Syracuse and Onondaga County have been torn down.

 

Specific references to freedom seekers, listed by date, include:

 

      1774—two salt workers who were freedom seekers in Salina.

      1779—an African American doctor who lived among the Onondaga and

was killed in Sullivan’s raid in April 1779. (See Appendix IV.)

1837--a freedom seeker known only as George, who came through

Syracuse on his way to Canada in the fall of 1837. (See Appendix IV.)

                                    1839--Harriet Powell, who fled the Syracuse House, with the help

of a group of local African Americans and European

Americans and successfully went to Kingston, Ontario.

1841--Rev. Jermain Loguen, who first came to Syracuse in 1841 and

then settled here with his family in 1848 and whose home became the most important station on the underground railroad in Syracuse by the mid-1850s.

late 1840s-- Rev. Samuel Ringgold Ward, Congregational minister,

abolitionist, lecturer, editor.

1849—William “Jerry” Henry, who came to Syracuse from Missouri and

whose successful rescue in 1851 challenged the power of the federal government to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law locally.

1850—the Harris family, freedom seekers from South Carolina,

who came through Syracuse by canal just after the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850, and who were harassed so badly that William tried to commit suicide and their baby daughter drowned when Susan jumped into the canal.

      1855—Frank Wanzer and his party, who escaped from Loudon County,                              Virginia, on Christmas Eve, 1855. (See Appendix IV.)

                        1863—a freedom seeker who came to live with the Bettinger family in

Oran in 1863.

Harry Grimes, who settled on the Thorne farm, Skaneateles, after

the Civil War, after coming through this area sometime before the war.

                        James Beulah and family, who settled in Jordan, sometime before 1850,

fled to Canada after the rescue of Jerry Henry and returned to purchase property in the early 1850s. James Beulah remained in Jordan at least until 1870.

 

Two groups of freedom seekers, not specifically identified in printed or oral sources, may have settled in Syracuse and Onondaga County:

 

1.      those enslaved in the South, who may have gone first to Canada and then returned to the U.S. (For further discussion of using censuses to identify this group, see Judith Wellman, “This Side of the Border: Fugitives from Slavery in Three Central New York Communities," New York History, 79:4, October 1998.)

2.      those who had once been enslaved in New York State.

 

Possible freedom seekers in the first group include the following. This list is based on birthplaces listed in the 1855 census as the South, Canada, or a foreign country. (In the case of Jordan, other sources suggest their status as freedom seekers.) This list includes fifty-one people. Assuming that each household held about five people (an average for households in this period), about 250 African Americans, as many as half the African American population living in Syracuse and Onondaga County in 1855, may have lived in a household with a freedom seekers. This does not count the many African Americans who listed their birthplaces as New York State and probably had been born into slavery.

 

Camillus

Bush, Marianne, b. Maryland

 

DeWitt

DeMot, Samuel, b. Maryland

Jones, Sylvester, b. Maryland

Jones, William, b. Maryland

Scroggins, James, b. Canada

 

Elbridge

Baler, James and Mary, b. Virginia and Maryland

Barnard, Prishlian, b. Maryland

Cannon, John, b. Delaware

Johnson, Jane, b. unknown

Morgan, Charles, b. unknown

Roberts, A., b. Maryland

Thomas, Charlotte, b. Africa

 

            Geddes

Cumeger, Alfred, b. Delaware (crossed out and Massachusetts

inserted)

Gray, William, b. Maryland

Myers, Mary, b. Canada

 

                                    Jordan

            Beulah, James

Lloyd, Jim

 

Lysander

Carpenter, Frehala?, b. Canada

Peterson, Charles, b. unknown

 

Manlius

Williams, Mary A.-b. unknown

 

                                    Onondaga

Dessian?, Violet, b. Virginia

Lewis, Peter, b. Canada

Nash, Eliza and Henry, b. Calcutta

 

`                                   Pompey

Cooley, Medallton and Rachel, b. Virginia and South Carolina

Thompson, Deantha, b. unknown

Titus, Robert, b. unknown

 

Syracuse

Briscoe, William, b. unknown

Butler, Thomas J., b. North Carolina?

Castle, Samuel, b. Maryland

Crown, Elizabeth, b. Canada

DeForest, Henry and Rosina, b. unknown

DeWit, Eliza, b. Virginia

Dyson, Henry-DeWitt, Syracuse

Edwards, William, b. Canada

Highgate, Hannah, b. Virginia

Jackson, Elizabeth, b. Maryland

Jackson, Thomas, b. Virginia

Leonard, Thomas, b. Virginia

Loguen, Jermain, b. Tennessee

McCoy, William, b. Virginia

Mires, Temple, b. North Carolina

Montgomery, Margaret, b. Canada

Scroggins, George, b. Canada

Sidney, Martha, b. Canada

Van Allen, Mary, b. Maryland

Watson, Charles, b. Delaware

Whipple, Arabella and Edward, b. Virginia

 

2. African American Communities

 

a. 1775-1827.

 

At least one African American, a doctor, lived with the Onondaga Nation in 1779. Along with many Onondagas, he was killed by U.S. troops in the Sullivan-Clinton campaign. In the eighteenth century, African Americans (whether free or enslaved, we do not know) also began to work as salt workers. Beginning shortly after the end of the American Revolution, several European American families came to Onondaga County with people in slavery, including the Sabine (Onondaga Valley), Gold (Pompey), and Cuddeback and Vredenberg (Skaneateles) families. In 1820, fifty-nine African Americans lived in slavery in Onondaga County. The Sabine and Gold houses are still standing.

 

In the late 1780s or early 1790s, Henry Bakeman, an African American veteran of the American Revolution, settled in what was then Onondaga County, on the west bank of the Oswego River in Fulton. His children and grandchildren purchased more than twenty pieces of land in Oswego and Onondaga Counties, especially in the towns of Onondaga and Lysander.

 

Sometime in the 1820s, Isaac Wales, the first person who lived as a slave in Syracuse, purchased his freedom for $80. His descendents continued to live in Syracuse, where his son, Isaac Wales, Jr., purchased property at the corner of Ash and Catharine.

 

b. 1827-1830.

 

With the official end of slavery in New York State in 1827, freed people of color (most of them born in New York State, some of them formerly enslaved) began to buy property. Many of them lived in Salina, now Syracuse’s north side. This was the earliest area of post-Onondaga settlement for European Americans as well as African Americans. Prince Jackson purchased land on what is now North State Street, near the corner of Ash, in 1829, along the east bank of the Oswego Canal. He lived there until he died in 1867. The site is now occupied by a cement block building.  The Allen, Wales, and Wandell families also moved to the north side before 1830 and purchased property there on Catawba Street and the corner of Ash and Catherine.

 

c. 1830-1860.

 

Beginning in the mid-1830s, freedom seekers directly from the South began to settle in Onondaga County, some of them in Syracuse and some in outlying villages. In Syracuse, most of them settled either on the north side, in what is now the downtown, or in the near east side, in what became Wards 3, 7, and 8. Outside the city, probable freedom seekers settled in villages such as Jordan (the James Beulah family), Elbridge (Thomas families), Skaneateles (William VanSoiyck), and Pompey (Madison and Rachel Cooley).

 

By 1850, 613 African Americans lived in Syracuse and Onondaga County. Many left this area, some to go to Canada, after passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in September 1850. The 1855 census recorded only 502 African Americans, divided equally between city and county, a drop in population of one-third. By 1860, with increasing safety for freedom seekers in central New York, the African American population rose slightly to 321 in Syracuse and 234 in the county.

 

Many freedom seekers bought property. In the city, no standing homes purchased by probable freedom seekers have yet been identified. The chances of finding standing buildings associated with this group are slim, since urban renewal destroyed much of the near east side historic neighborhood in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Peter Hollenbeck (or Hornbeck), active in the Jerry Rescue, purchased property in what was then DeWitt (probably along what is now Beech Street), and there may be a chance that his family's house still stands.

 

Thomas and Jane Leonard and Martha and William Sidney illustrate those freedom seekers who owned property in the Eighth Ward and whose house no longer stand. The Leonards owned three properties. Thomas Leonard listed his birthplace as New York State in 1850 and 1860, as Virginia in 1855, and as Maryland in 1865, so Thomas was quite likely either a freeborn African American from the upper South or a freedom seeker himself. He assisted Harriet Powell in her escape in 1839 and continued his commitment to freedom all of his life. In the 1860s, when he was nearly seventy years old, he volunteered to fight in the Civil War. His sister, Martha Sidney, was probably also a freedom seeker. She and her husband also owned property in the Eighth Ward, and their son William was killed in the Civil War.

 

In the Onondaga County, at least one member of the Thomas families (Charlotte, who listed her birthplace as Africa) may have been a freedom seeker, and their houses probably stand on South Street in Elbridge. Two houses owned by Rev. James Beulah, a well-documented freedom seeker who settled in Jordan, have been destroyed. It is possible that other standing buildings associated with freedom seekers in the county will yet be discovered.

 

In Syracuse, at least five (as perhaps as many as seven) sites relating to African Americans born in the North are still standing, Some of these families may have been born into slavery before it was abolished in New York State in 1827. The Allen/Schneider house at 35 Catawba and the Richard Wandell house at 54 Ash may be the oldest standing houses owned by African Americans in Syracuse. Beginning in 1849, Mary Robinson, a laundress born in Schenectady, purchased two houses on the east side of Catherine Street, near the corner of Burnet Avenue. George Vashon, the first African American lawyer in New York State, had offices in the Dana Block on Hanover Square, at the corner of Warren and Water Streets, in 1851. Other possible standing sites include the home of Henry and Mary Allen, on North State Street. The home of Francis Lando, the last person to live in Syracuse who was once enslaved, may stand behind the Robinson houses at the corner of Burnet Avenue and Catherine Street.

 

The home of Jermain and Caroline Loguen, located at 293 East Genesee Street, was the single most important site relating to the underground railroad in Syracuse. It no longer stands. Jermain W. Loguen owned thirteen properties in Syracuse, however, more than any other African American in the city. A building, perhaps a store, owned by Loguen, may possibly stand at the northwest corner of Fayette and Walnut.

 

In Onondaga County, at least one home owned by a free African American family still stands, the farmhouse of Absalom and Magdalene Talbot in the Town of Onondaga, They were part of a group of five African American families (Bakemans, Days, Talbots, DeGroats, and Lewises) who settled in Onondaga.

 

3. Safe Houses on the Underground Railroad.

 

Only one standing underground railroad safe house has been definitely identified in Onondaga County, and that is the home of James Canning Fuller and Lydia Fuller  in Skaneateles. In the City of Syracuse, Thomas Schneider, who lived in the Allen/Schneider house, may have been a freedom seeker himself. The Wandell house may also have used as a way station. Other possibilities include the Harriet May Mills house in Syracuse, the Matilda Joslyn Gage house in Fayetteville, the Elisha Noble house in Fayetteville, and the Nottingham house on Stone Road in DeWitt (associated with the rescue of Harriet Powell).

 

3.      Abolitionist Homes. A few sites identified with abolitionism still

remain. In the City of Syracuse, we found two standing houses directly associated with European American abolitionist families—the George Barnes house (now the Corinthian Club) and the C.D.B. and Harriet Mills house. George Barnes was a member of the Vigilance Committee for the rescue of Jerry Henry. C.D.B. Mills and Harriet Mills were well-known and very public abolitionists who may have used their home as a safe house on the underground railroad. The Sabine house in Onondaga Valley represents a European American family who moved from owning slaves to endorsing anti-slavery. The Hamilton White house represents those European Americans sympathizers who took an active stand in the 1850s against the extension of slavery to the territories. One more house, the Moses Burnet home (now the Century Club) illustrates local opposition to those who broke the law by rescuing Jerry Henry.

 

In Onondaga County, at least six European-American homes associated with abolitionism still stand: the Matilda Joslyn Gage and L. P. Noble houses in Fayetteville; Ellen Birdseye Wheaton house in Pompey; Fuller house and Community Place in Skaneateles; and the Spaulding house in Spafford. More homes associated with abolitionism will likely be discovered.

 

Public Sites.

 

Several public buildings associated with Freedom Trail and abolitionist activities still remain in Syracuse, including the Courier Building, Plymouth Church, the Dana Block on Hanover Square, the Wesleyan Chapel, and Fayette Park. The former AME Zion Church on Fayette Street housed the historic congregation, although the building itself dates to 1910-11.

 

In the county, the Borodino Baptist Church (and probably also the Baptist Church in Skaneateles) represent congregations who hosted anti-slavery speakers (in this case, Frederick Douglass). As more work is done in newspapers, more churches will almost certainly be identified as abolitionist meeting sites.

           

In addition, several cemeteries are associated with this movement, including Rose Hill and Oakwood in Syracuse, the Fayetteville cemetery in Fayetteville, and one cemetery in the Town of Onondaga.

 

IV. Summary and Recommendations.

 

Material produced by this project is the basis for further research and interpretation. This is an initial survey only, a beginning, not an end. There are many sites and buildings that deserve further research, and more will most likely emerge as more people become involved.

 

PACNY and other community groups may wish to consider the following possibilities:

 

1.      Develop a priority list for sites that might be nominated to the National

Register under the Multiple Property Nomination for Historic Resources Relating to the Freedom Trail, Abolitionism, and African American Life in Central New York, 1820-1870. Draft available at www.oswego.edu/Acad_Dept/a_and_s/history/ugrr. Further sites identified in this survey that might be eligible for the National Register include the Spaulding, Talbot, Robinson, Noble, and Sabine homes, as well as Rose Hill Cemetery. the Dana Block, and the Courier Building. Oakwood Cemetery might also be designated as part of this multiple property nomination, although it is already listed on the National Register.

 

2.      Develop a list of sites that might be nominated to the National Network to

Freedom. This is a program administered by the National Park Service that includes documented Freedom Trail sites, research centers, exhibits, and programs. So far, the only historic site definitely eligible in Onondaga County under this program is the Fuller house in Skaneateles. Further research might make several more sites eligible, including the Matilda Joslyn Gage House in Fayetteville, the Harriet May Mills House in Syracuse, and the Spaulding House in Spafford. Research and exhibit sites include the Onondaga Historical Association, the Onondaga County Public Library (downtown branch), the Onondaga County Clerk’s Office, and Bird Library at Syracuse University. Some local research centers might also be eligible. The contact person for this program is Tara Morrison (tara_morrison@nps.gov). This program had $250,000 in competitive grants available in 2002.

 

The Matilda Joslyn Gage house has already been deemed eligible for nomination as a National Historic Landmark and should be nominated as soon as possible. Gage’s national visibility as a woman’s rights leader as well as her work with the underground railroad, Native American rights, L. Frank Baum, and liberal religious movements makes this site one of national important.

 

3.      Connect relevant sites to the New York State Freedom Trail, administered

through Heritage New York, in Governor Pataki’s office. The contact person for this is Cordell Reaves (cordell.reaves@heritageny.st.ny.us) This program will have some funding for bricks and mortar projects for sites that are open to the public and owned by not-for-profit organizations.

 

5.      Continue to pursue possibilities for tours relating to the Freedom Trail in Onondaga County. Oswego County has begun to get bus tour groups for its Freedom Trail sites. So have Monroe County, Erie County, Niagara County, and several Canadian sites.

 

6.      Seek ways to link Freedom Trail sites with educational programs for students through such funding opportunities as the Teaching with American History grants. $100 million dollars is available this year through this federal program for competitive grants that involve cooperative efforts between local school districts and not-for-profit groups. This money is expected to be allocated again next year.

 

7.      Let local, state, and federal politicians know about this project and about some of the benefits to the community—both in terms of education and of economic development.

 

8.      Pay special attention to potentially important African American archeological sites. Recent research in African American sites has revealed important clues about African American world views. (See, e.g., the work of Jessica Neuwirth in Annapolis.)

 

9.      Make most of this information available on the web.

 

10.  Involve other community groups in research, in particular, local historians and genealogists. Church buildings in the county are underrepresented in this survey. Further research in anti-slavery newspapers (especially the Friend of Man, 1836-42; the Liberty Press, 1843-44, on microfilm at the Onondaga Historical Association; the Madison and Onondaga County Abolitionist, OHA) and petitions sent to Congress will undoubtedly provide much more information. National newspapers such as the Liberator (indexed), True Wesleyan, National Anti-Slavery Standard, or the National Era may also yield information. Church records will be a rich source of information.