New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Gerrit Smith Estate

19th Century Experiences in Madison County This Weekend

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Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic LandmarkThe Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum will host a number of 19th Century Experiences as part of Abolition Induction Weekend, set for October 21st through 23rd. [Read more…] about 19th Century Experiences in Madison County This Weekend

Black Adirondack Farmers, Escaped Slaves, Civil War Veterans, Remembered at Union Cemetery

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Curt Stager leads a group of two dozen people in a rendition of John Brown’s Body while playing the banjo in Union CemeteryCurt Stager’s scholarly demeanor cracked on July 4th when he spread three small plastic baggies of soil on three graves of Black Adirondackers at Union Cemetery on state Route 3 in Vermontville, Franklin County, NY.

Stager didn’t know any of these people personally. They all died in the late 1800s. But in researching their lives, Stager, a Paul Smith’s College biology professor, said he’s become immensely respectful of their fights for freedom for all Americans, on the battlefield, or at home. [Read more…] about Black Adirondack Farmers, Escaped Slaves, Civil War Veterans, Remembered at Union Cemetery

Anti-Slavery, Abolition Heritage Sites Opening for Season

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Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic LandmarkThe Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark (GSENHL) and the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) in Peterboro, Madison County, NY will open for the season on Saturday June 4th. [Read more…] about Anti-Slavery, Abolition Heritage Sites Opening for Season

Cazenovia, The Origins of Soccer & The National “Football” Hall of Fame

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Gerrit Smith Miller at 78In 1947 the citizens of Cazenovia in Madison County mounted a campaign to have the proposed hall of fame or shrine honoring American players of “football” located in their community.

Supporters at the village, town, county, and state levels joined in the effort to bring the hall of fame to Cazenovia. Assemblyman Wheeler Milmoe who represented Madison County introduced Resolution No. 154 in Albany in support of Cazenovia’s claim to fame. Gov. Thomas Dewey also voiced strong support for the idea. There were other places in the nation politicking for having the “football” hall of fame located in their communities. [Read more…] about Cazenovia, The Origins of Soccer & The National “Football” Hall of Fame

The Destruction of Gerrit Smith’s Mansion

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SmithMansionFTT copyHistorical research using old newspapers fascinates but also frustrates me. Had you read the March 5th, 1936 edition of The Cazenovia Republican you would have learned that the historic Gerrit Smith mansion in Peterboro, New York, burned to the ground two days earlier. [Read more…] about The Destruction of Gerrit Smith’s Mansion

Searching for Timbuctoo Documentary Showing in Peterboro

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John Brown Farm provided by Gerrit Smith EstateThe Gerrit Smith Estate National Historical Landmark will hold its annual commemoration of Gerrit Smith’s birthday on Saturday, March 5th, with guest speaker Paul Miller and a showing of his film Searching for Timbuctoo.

In 2015 Miller began filming in Peterboro and Lake Placid to capture the history of Gerrit Smith’s 1846 “scheme of justice and benevolence” of giving 120,000 acres of land to 3000 Black Americans so that they would be eligible to vote in New York State. These land grants helped establish a pioneering Black settlement called Timbuctoo which is located near present day Lake Placid in North Elba, Essex County, NY. Timbuctoo brought abolitionists John Brown and Gerrit Smith together in their legacy fight against slavery. [Read more…] about Searching for Timbuctoo Documentary Showing in Peterboro