UNCOVERING THE FREEDOM TRAIL

The Underground Railroad, Abolitionism, and

African American Life Syracuse and Onondaga County, 1820-70

 

Project sponsored by the Preservation Association of Central New York,

with funding from Preserve New York, Preservation League of New York State, 2001-2002

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Prepared by Judith Wellman, Historical New York, Project Director

With the assistance from Milton Sernett, Professor,

African American History, Syracuse University

 

Books and Articles: Freedom Trail, Abolitionism, and African American Life

 

Armstrong, Douglas V., LouAnn Wurst, and Elizabeth J. Kellar. Archaeological Sites and Preservation Planning in Central New York: a Unified Site File and GIS Database for NYSDOT Region 3. Syracuse University Archaeological Research Center Special Publications. Syracuse: Syracuse University, 1999.

______.  and Louann Wurst. "'Faces' of the Past: Archaeology of an Underground Railroad Site in Syracuse, New York," Syracuse University Archaeological Report 10 (January 1998).

Black Abolitionist Papers, ed. C. Peter Ripley. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1986.

Blockson, Charles. Hippocrene Guide to the Underground Railroad. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1994.

Bowker, Silas. New York State Senate report, 1823. (African American salt workers, 1774)

Burke, Ronad K. Samuel Ringgold Ward: Christian Abolitionist. New York: Garland, 1995.

Butchart, Ronald E. "'We Best Can Instruct Our Own People': New York African Americans in the Freedmen's Schools, 1861-1875," Afro-Americans in New York Life and History 12 (Janury 1988).

Campbell, Stanley W. The Slave Catchers: Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, 1850-1860. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1968.

Census of the State of New York for 1855. Albany, 1855.

Census for the State of New York, 1850. Washington, 1852. [check citation]

Chambers, A.B., ed. Trials and Confessions of Madision Henderson, Alfred Amos Warrick,

James W. Seward, and Charles Brown. St. Louis, 1841. Copy in Missouri Historical Society.

Chambers, William. American Slavery and Colour. London, 1857. Quoted in Siebert manuscripts. 

Clark, Sylvester J. H.. "Early Black Syracusans." Onondaga County Public Library, OCPL LN48   Sy8 BEc

Davis, Barbara Sheklin. A History of the Black Community of Syracuse, Exhibit and Symposium.  Onondaga Community College, 1980.

"Decision of Judge Conkling in case of the Syracuse rioters." American Law Journal (October 1851). Quoted in Siebert manuscripts.

Eichholz, Alice. Free Black Heads of Household in the New York State Federal Census, 1790-1830. Detroit, Mich: Gale Research Co., 1981.

Ellis, George H. Memorial Service of Samuel J. May. Boston, 1886.

Emilio, Luis F. History of the Fifty-fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1863-1865. 1894. Repr. New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1968. 

Exploring a Common Past: Researching and Interpreting the Underground Railroad, 2nd edition. Washington, D.C.: Department of the Interior, 1998.

Field, Phyllis. Politics of Race in New York: The Struggle for Black Suffrage in the Civil War Era. Ithaca: Cornell University Press,  1982

Foster, John and Sarah Whitmer. Beechers, Stowes, and Yankee Strangers: The Transformation of Florida.

Franklin, John Hope and Loren Schweninger. Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Freeland, Rebecca. "Anti-Slavery and Underground Railroad Activities in Skaneateles, New York." Unpublished student paper (Milton Sernett's class).  .

Friend of Man, 1836-42. [Check 11/6/39 for letter from Gerrit Smith re Harriet Powell.]

Frothingham, O.B., Gerrit Smith, A Biography. 3rd edition G.P. Putnam, 1909.

Fruehling, Byron D., and Robert H. Smith, “Subterranean Hideaways of the

             Underground Railroad in Ohio: An Architectural, Archaeological and

            Historical Critique of Local Traditions,” Ohio History 102 (Sum-August 1993), 98-117.

Galpin, W. Freeman. Central New York: An Inland Empire. Volume 11 (1941).

______. "The Jerry Rescue," New York History XXVI (January 1945), 19-34.

Gara, Larry. The Liberty Line: The Legend of the Underground Railroad  Lexington, Ky.: University of Kentucky Press, 1961.

Guide to the Survey of Historic Resources Associated with African-Americans in New York

State (Albany: New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, [1998],

Hahn, Gladys. "Anti-Slavery and Underground Railroad Activities in Skaneateles, N.Y.," Paper delivered for the Skaneateles Historical Society, 1974.

______________, Syracuse and the Underground Railroad. Syracuse: Erie Canal Museum, 1989.

Henderson. Alice Hatcher. “The History of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. University of Michigan, 1963.

Horning, Elinore T. "The Harris Harassment." York State Tradition (Fall 1972), 26-28.

Horton, James Oliver and Lois E. In Hope of Liberty: Culture, Community and Protest Among Northern Free Blacks, 1700-1860. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Hunter, Carol M. To Set the Captives Free: Reverend Jermain Wesley Loguen and the Struggle for Freedom in Central New York, 1835-72. New York and Londong: Garland, 1993.

James, Thomas. Wonderful Eventful Life of Rev. Thomas James. By Himself. Third ed. Rochester, New York: Post-Express, 1887.

Jeffrey, Julie Roy. The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism: Ordinary Women in the Antislavery Movement. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.

Journals of the Military Expedition of Major General John Sullivan (1779), Lieut. Erkuries Beatty, April 21, 1779.

Kammen, Carol. “The UGRR and Local History,” CRM 4 (1998).

Klees, Emerson. Underground Railroad Tales, with Routes Through the Finger Lakes Region. Rochester: Friends of the Finger Lakes Publishing, 1997.

Lee, Luther. Autobiography of the Rev. Luther Lee.. New York: Phillips and Hunt, 1882.

Liberty Almanac. Published by I.A. Hopkins, edited by J.N.T. Tucker.

The Liberty Harp, "containing a choice selection of Liberty Hymns, Songs, Etc."

Published by J.N.T. Tucker.

Lodder, Grace B. "Bibliography of Newspapers of Onondaga County Down to 1900."

Unpublished. Copy in Onondaga County Public Library? [Loucks]

Loguen, Rev. J.W., The Rev.J.W. Loguen, as a Slave and as a Freeman: A Narrative of Real Life, 1859 (repr. New York: Negro Universities Press).

Loucks, Esther C. "The Anti-Slavery Movement in Syracuse from 1839-1851." Unpublished M.A. thesis, Syracuse University, 1934.

McGraw, Marie Tyler, and Kira A. Badamo. Underground Railroad Resources in the United States: Theme Study. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, 1998.

McManus, Edgar J. "Antislavery Legislation in New York," Journal of Negro History 46 (October 1961), 207-15.

Mau, Clayton. Development of Central and Western New York. Rochester: DuBois Press, 1944.

Maxwell, Mary Ellis. Among the Hills of Camillus. Syracuse, 1952.

May, Joseph. A Memorial Study of Samuel J. May. Boston: George H. Ellis, 1898.

May, Samuel J. A Brief Account of His Ministry. Syracuse: Masters and Lee, 1867.

______. Some Recollections of Our Anti-Slavery Conflict. Boston: Fields, Osgood, & Co., 1869.

______. Speech of the Rev. Samuel J. May, to the Convention of Citizens of Onondaga County. Syracuse: Agan & Summers, 1851.

Merrill, Arch. The Underground, Freedom’s Road and Other Upstate Tales. New York: American Book-Stratford Press, 1963.

Miller, Charlotte Birdseye. "Reminiscences of the Late Charles A. Wheaton," in the Onondaga Historical Association Publication. Syracuse, 1910.

Morris, Thomas D. Free Men All: The Personal Liberty Laws of the North, 1780-1861. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1974.

Mulford, H. Onondaga County Centennial Address May 27, 1894. Syracuse, 1894.

Mumford, Thomas J. Memoir of Samuel J. May. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1873.

Myers, John L., "The Beginning of Anti-slavery Agencies in New York State, 1833-1836," New York History 43 (April 1965), 149-81.

­­­­­­­___________. "The Major Effort of National Anti-Slavery Agents in New York State, 1836-1837," New York History 46 (1965), 162-86.

National Register Bulletin: Guidelines for Evaluating and Registering Historical Archeological Sites and Districts. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior, 1993. 

National Register Bulletin: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for

             Evaluation. [Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior, 1990, rev. 1997.

National Register Bulletin: How to Complete the National Register Registration Form. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior, 1977, rev. 1997.

National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Exploring a Common Past: Researching and Interpreting the Underground Railroad. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1998.

Nordstrom, Carl. "The New York Slave Code," Afro-Americans in New York Life and History 4 (January 1980), 7-25.

Northrup, A. The Formative Period: Some Intellectual and Moral Influences in the History of Onondaga Coutny. Syracuse, May 1896.

Onondaga Landmarks : A Survey of Historic and Architectural Sites in Syracuse and Onondaga County. Syracuse: Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency, 1975.  Bird-Call Number: New York F127.O6 S95 1975

Pettit, Eber M. Sketches of the History of the Underground Railroad. Fredonia, N.Y., 1879. Reprint Westfield, N.Y.: Chautauqua Region Press, 1999.

Priebe, Paul J. “Central and Western New York and the Fugitive Slave Law of

            1850,” Afro-Americans in New York Life and History 16:1 (January 1992), 19-30.

Proceedings of the New York State Antislavery Society, Held at Utica, October 21, and New York Anti-Slavery State Society, Held at Peterboro, October 22, 1835. Utica: Standard and Democrat, 1835.

Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery society, Convened at Uitca, October 19, 1836. Utica: For the Society, 1836.

Quarles, Benjamin. The Black Abolitionists. New York: Oxford University Press, 1969.

Richardson, Joe M. Christian Reconstruction: The American Missionary Association and Southern Blacks, 1861-1890. Athens: University of Georgia, 1986.

Roff, Sandra. “Researching the History of Blacks in New York Sate: Resources.” Afro-Americans in New York History and Life. 9 (1985), 43-49.

Schwartz, Jean and Dan. A Stroll on Main Street: An Architectural and Historical Guide. Review in Dick Case in Herald-Journal, 10/28/99.

Schwarz, Philip J. Migrants Against Slavery: Virginians and the Nation.

Charlottesville and London: University Press of Virginia, 2001.

Sernett, Milton. "'A Citizen of No Mean City': Jermain W. Loguen and the Antislavery Reputation of Syracuse." Syracuse University Library Associates Courier (Fall 1987), 33-55.

______ and Judith Wellman, Douglas Armstrong, Helen Breitbeck. "Historic Resources Relating to the Freedom Trail, Abolitionism, and African American Life in Central New York, 1820-1870." Draft Multiple Property Nomination, National Register, 2000. www.oswego.edu/Acad_Dept/a_and_s/history/ugrr.

______. North Star Country. Forthcoming, Syracuse University Press, 2001.

______.“On Freedom’s Threshold: The African American Presence in Central New York, 1760-1940.” Afro-Americans in New York History and Life. 19 (1995), 43-49.

______. "'On Freedom's Trail': Researching the Underground Railroad in New York State," Afro-Americans in New York Life and History 25:1 (January 2001), 7-32.

Siebert, Wilbur. The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom. New York: Macmillan,

1898. Reprint Arno Press, 1968.

­­­­­­­___________. "Siebert Manuscripts for New York State." Microfilm, Bird Library.

Simpson,  Elizabeth. Mexico, Mother of Towns. Mexico, N.Y.: 1949.

Slocum, R. In Old Onondaga Valley. Syracuse, January 1897.

Smith, C. Pioneer Times in the Onondaga Country. Syracuse, 1904.

Sokolow, Jayme A. “The Jerry McHenry Rescue and the Growth of Northern Antislavery Sentiment during the 1850s,” Journal of American Studies 16:3 (1982), 427-443.

Sorin, Gretchen Sullivan, and Cara A. Sutherland, A Heritage Uncovered: The Black Experience in Upstate New York 1800-1925. Elmira, N.Y: Chemung County Historical Society, 1988.

Sperry, Earl, ed. The Jerry Rescue. Syracuse: Onondaga Historical Association, 1924.

Sterling, Dorothy, ed. We Are Your Sisters: Black Women in the Nineteenth Century. New York: W.W. Norton, 1984.

Still, William. The Underground Railroad. 1872.

Strong, Douglas. "Partners in Political Abolitionism: The Liberty Party and the Wesleyan Methodist Connection." Methodist History 23 (Janury 1985).

______. Perfectionist Politics: Abolitionism and the Religious Tensions of American Democracy. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1999.

Underground Railroad: Official National Park Handbook. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, 1998.

Underground Railroad: Special Resource Study. Washington, D.C.: Department

            of the Interior, National Park Service, 1995.

Ward, Samuel R. Autobiography of a Fugitive Negro. London: John Snow, 1855.

Wellman, Judith. “The Underground Railroad in Central New York: A Research Guide,”

www.oswego.edu -- Oswego County Underground Railroad

______________. “This Side of the Border: Fugitives from Slavery in Three Central New York Communities Before 1855 [Oswego, Seneca Falls, and Waterloo].” New York History (October 1998).

Wheaton, Ellen Birdseye. The Diary of Ellen Birdseye Wheaton. Edited by Gordon, Donald. Boston, 1923.

Yacovone, Donald. Samuel Joseph May and the Dilemmas of the Liberal Persuasion, 1791-1871. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991.

Zilversmit, Arthur. The First Emancipation: The Abolition of Slavery in the North (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967).

 

Newspaper Articles, Anti-Slavery--Secondary

 

Anklin, Karen Richards. "Slavery in Skaneateles Was Scarce; but Anti-Slavery Activities

Were Prevalent." Press-Observer [Skaneteles], February 22, 1989.

Bain, George. "Congregationalists formed association for abolition; local pastors played

roles." ." Herald-Journal, February 8, 1998.

Beauchamp, M.E., newspaper articles, presented to Onondaga Historical Association, January

11, 1897.

Case, Richard. "CNY Region Opened Door to Freedom." Herald-American, February 1, 1998.

Hirsch, Melanie, "Along the Underground Railroad." Clipping, n.d.[re Skaneateles]

Humphreys, F.J., Scrapbook articles from Skaneateles Press, May 18, 1933.

Shear, Robert V. "As the Amistad captives waited, people here freed a woman from slavery."

Herald American, February 8, 1998.

Sunday Morning Times. June 10, 1877.

Syracuse Daily Journal, November 17, 1893.

Syracuse Herald, December 13, 1908.

Syracuse Daily Standard, July 3, 1911.

Post Standard, January 24, 1933.

 

Books and Articles: Local History

 

Anguish, L. History of Fayetteville-Manlius Area. 1966.

Anonymous. Re-Union of the Sons and Daughters of the Old Town of Pompey, Held at the Pompey Hills, June 19, 1871. Also  History of the Town, Biographical Sketches of Its Early Inhabitants. Syracuse, 1875.

Baker, A. Old Syracuse 1754-1899. 1941.

Bannon, Theresa. Pioneer Irish of Onondaga (1776-1847). 1911.

Beauchamp, Rev. William M. "Notes of Other Days in Skaneateles." In Onondaga Historical

Association Publication. Syracuse, 1914. Based on the diary of his father.

______. Onondaga in the Revolution: Some Errors in Current History Corrected. Syracuse, 1897.

_______. Past and Present of Onondaga County, New York. 2 vols. New York and Chicago: S.J.

Clarke Publishing, 1908.

Benedict, C. Resources of Onondaga County, Historical Sketches. Syracuse, 1883.

Brewster, A. Memories of Clinton Square and Other Tales of Syracuse. Syracuse, 1951.

Bruce, Dwight Hall. Memorial History of Syracuse, New York. Syracuse: H.P. Smith and

Company, 1891.

_______. Onondaga's Centennial. 2 vols. Boston History Company, 1896.

Chase, Franklin.  Where toFind It: Bibliography of Syracuse History. Syracuse: Dehler Press, 1920.

_______. Syracuse and Its Environs: A History. 3 vols. New York and Chicago: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1924.

Cheney, T. Reminiscences of Syracuse. Syracuse 1857, repr. Onondaga Historical Association,1914.

Clark, Joshua V.H. Lights and Lines of Indian Character and Scenes of Pioneer Life. 1854.

______.Onondaga: Or, Reminiscenceses of Earlier and Later Times: Series of Historical Sketches Relative to Onondaga; with Notes on Several Towns in County and Oswego. 1849.

Clayton, W.Woodwford. History of Onondaga County. Syracuse: D. Mason, 1878.

Collins, G. History of Spafford. 2 vols. Syracuse, 1917. Reissued 1989.

Durston, H. History of Manlius.. Manlius, 1935-38.

Faigle, E. "Syracuse: A Study in Urban Geography. 1936. Unpublished dissertation.

Geddes, George. "Survey of Onondaga." Transcations of New York State Agricultural Society, v. xx (1859), 219-352. NYSHA. 

Grant, H. Roger, ed. “The Skaneateles Community: A New York Utopia.” Niagara Frontier (Autumn 1975), 68-72.

Great Georgian Houses of America. New York: Kalkhoff Press, 1933-37.

Hall, E. comp. History of Baldwinsville. Baldwinsville, 1936.

Hall and Patterson, comp. History of Onondaga County, 1794-1867. Syracuse, 1867.

Hand, M. Syracuse from a Forest to a City. Syracuse 1889.

Hardin, Evamarie and Jon Crispin, ed. Syracuse Landmarks. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1993, 135-45.

______________, Syracuse and the Underground Railroad. Syracuse: Erie Canal Museum, 1989.

Hasbrouck, Mary Josephine. Early Onondaga in Letters to Young Students, by "An Old Lady." Syracuse, 1942.

"Historical Resume of the People's A.M.E. Zion Church," from Souvenir Program, May 10, 1991.

Leslie, Edmund Nelson. Skaneateles: History of Its Earliest Settlement. New York: Kellogg, 1902. (other editions in 1882, 1896, 1901).

Maxwell, M. Among the Hills of Camillus:The Story of a Small Town. 1952.

Newman, W. W. Septuagenary of the County of Onondaga Methodist Episcopal Society. 1904.

______. South Onondaga and Vicinity 1834-1904. Syracuse, 1904.

Onondaga Historical Association. Annual volumes, 1914-

Landmarks Planning. Historic Preservation and Downtown in Revitalization,

Syracuse, 1973. LN48Sy8 C11—Onon Co. Public Library

Palmer. L., Comp. Historical Review of Town of Lysander. C. 1947.

Parsons, I. Centennial History of Marcellus. Marcellus 1878.

Scisco, L. Early History of Town of Van Buren. Baldwinsville, 1895.

Sheller, A. A Vanished Work. [Cicero]. Syracuse, 1964.

Smith, C. Syracuse Village and City: History of the Half Century of Its Cityhood. Syracuse, October 1897.

Spain, Barbara, and Karen Anklin. Skaneateles, Glimpses of the Past.

Strong, Gurney S. Early Landmarks of Syracuse. Syracuse: Times Publishing Company, 1894.

Teall, S. Onondaga's Part in the Civil War. Syracuse, 1915.

Van Schaack, H. A History of Manlius Village. Fayetteville, 1873.

Wells, L. "The Skaneateles Communal Experiment, 1843-1846." 1953.

 

Maps

 

Sanborn Insurance Maps. Available at the Onondaga Historical Association.

Sweet, Homer D.L.  Atlas of Onondaga County. 1874.

 

Manuscripts

 

Anti-slavery petitions, National Archives. "Resolutions of Syracuse Convention Against the Extension of Slavery,"  [May 16, 1850], sent to Committee on Territories, House of Representatives, National Archives, HR31A-G23.1 and others.

Beauchamp, William. Diary. Original lost but a copy exists, made by his son. [in Skaneateles

Historical Society]?

May, Samuel J.  Diary, Cornell University.

Sedgwick, Charles B. Letters. Syracuse University. Loucks noted that "only a few" pertain to

the anti-slavery movement.

Seward. William Henry. Papers, Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester.

Smith, Gerrit. Papers. Syracuse University.

Smith, Gerrit. "Account of my Distribution of land among colored men," 1846. "Onondaga," 72.

Weed, Thurlow, Papers. Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester.

 

Newspapers

 

Bugle Blast. June 22, 1844. Published by S.F. Smith. Lasted only three months. Whig.

Colored American,1837-39[?]

Emancipator.

Friend of Man. Publication of NYS Anti-slavery Society, 1836-42. Index, Oswego

County Freedom Trail Commission. Available at Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, SU.

The Liberator. Edited by William Lloyd Garrison, Boston. Index by John Blassingame.

The Liberty Intelligence. Syracuse, 1845. Liberty Party newspaper published by Silas

Hawley, Jr., edited by J. Kinney. Loucks, 21. One issue only.

Liberty Party Paper, edited by John Thomas, 7/4/1849-51. Thomas left in 1851 to work

on Frederick Douglass's Paper.

Liberty Party Press, 1842-49.

National Anti-Slavery Standard.

National Era.

North Star and Frederick Douglass’s Paper, 1847-1861.

Onondaga Democrat, May 8, 1847. Published by S.B. West.

Onondaga Standard. 1841-49. Published by A.L. Smith. Whig weekly.

Religious Recorder. May 1845-October 1851. Published by Reverend P. Terry and

Reverend D. Platt. Presbyterian.

The Republican. December 1843-June 1846. Published by S.B. West at Baldwinsville.

Skaneateles Columbian. 1839-43. Published by Luther A. Pratt. In Skaneateles

Historical Society.

Syracuse Daily Star, April 1846-October 1851. Published by Kinney, March, and

Barnes. Became the Syracuse Star, under George F. Comstock, until 1852.

Syracuse Daily Journal, July 1846-October 1851, published by S.F. and A.S. Smith.