New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

North Elba

The Last Days of John Brown: North Elba

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One of the familiar attacks on John Brown (and by extension his anti-slavery legacy) involves his failed business ventures and accusations that he was a swindler and a drifter, roaming from place to place – only briefly and uneventfully staying in North Elba, Essex County, NY.

“Over the years before his Kansas escapade Brown had been a drifter, horse thief and swindler,” Columbia University historian John Garraty once wrote. Garraty served as the president of the Society of American Historians and was co-author of the high school history textbook The American Nation (he died in 2007).

A closer look at Brown and the his family, however, reveals an experience typical of many Americans, then and today, and the importance of North Elba in Brown’s plans for a raid into Virginia. [Read more…] about The Last Days of John Brown: North Elba

The Last Days of John Brown: The Secret Six

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Franklin Benjamin SanbornJohn Brown has often come down to us as a lone nut, bent on an suicidal mission, but this is far from the truth.

Brown was part of a larger movement to free slaves that grew with passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 (which required the return of escaped slaves to their masters with all its potential for torture and death at their hands) and the large Underground Railroad movement.

It’s little understood that Brown was intimate with northern politicians, industrialists, ministers, and folks from all walks of life, including the leading intellectuals of the era – the Transcendentalists. [Read more…] about The Last Days of John Brown: The Secret Six

The Last Days of John Brown: August 1859

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john brown illustrationThis is the story of the October 16, 1859 anti-slavery raid, during which John Brown led 19 men in an attack on the Harpers Ferry Armory.

He was afterward charged with murder, conspiring with enslaved people to rebel, and treason against Virginia (West Virginia was not yet a state) and after a week-long trial was sentenced to death in early November.

Brown was hanged on December 2nd (John Wilkes Booth snuck in to watch) and his body was afterward carried to North Elba in Essex County, NY to “moulder in his grave.” [Read more…] about The Last Days of John Brown: August 1859

NY’s Voter Suppression History & John Brown’s Farm

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John Brown Farm courtesy John Brown LivesThis year we are celebrating New York State’s acquisition of John Brown Farm 125 years ago. And it’s good that we are.

But let us also recall a 200th anniversary linked to the John Brown Farm – a connection that has particular importance this year as we witness a voter suppression spree around our country. Two hundred years ago, that was us – our New York ancestors – enacting explicit rules to keep blacks from voting.

John Brown and his family moved to the Adirondacks as part of an effort to counteract New York State-sponsored suppression of voting rights for black men.

We are now seeing a wave of voter suppression efforts in states controlled by Republican legislators fearful of losing their majority power. Well, guess what? That’s exactly what was going on here in good old New York back in the early 1800s. We New Yorkers apparently were leaders in voter suppression. We even put it into the state constitution! That’s more than the states are doing today. [Read more…] about NY’s Voter Suppression History & John Brown’s Farm

Timbuctoo: An Adirondack African American Settlement

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a new york minute in history podcastIn this episode of the A New York Minute In History podcast, the history of Timbuctoo, an African American settlement founded by philanthropist Gerrit Smith in response to an 1846 law requiring all black men to own $250 worth of property in order to vote in New York State.

To counter this racist policy, Smith decided to give away 120,000 acres of land to 3,000 free, black New Yorkers, hoping to enable them to move out of cities and work the land to its required value. Lyman Epps and other black pioneers relocated to the wilderness near Lake Placid, New York — as did abolitionist John Brown, who based his family in North Elba to assist the black pioneers in their farming. [Read more…] about Timbuctoo: An Adirondack African American Settlement

John Brown Farm Celebrates 125 Years of State Ownership

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John Brown Farm courtesy John Brown LivesIn 2021, the state of New York will celebrate 125 years of being caretaker to the John Brown Farm in North Elba, just outside of Lake Placid in the Adirondack Park.

Brown came to the area to help recently freed slaves become farmers. At that time in New York State, black men (and only black men) needed to own $250 dollars worth of land to be eligible to vote. Brown immersed himself in this new community of black farmers and participated in a wide variety of organizing. [Read more…] about John Brown Farm Celebrates 125 Years of State Ownership

North Elba Launches New Grant Fund

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North-Elba-LEAFThe Town of North Elba has announced the newly established North Elba Local Enhancement and Advancement Fund (LEAF). The mission of LEAF is to provide funds for programs, activities, and facilities that will have direct benefits to North Elba communities and improve the quality of place for both residents and visitors. [Read more…] about North Elba Launches New Grant Fund

Public Hearing On North Elba Zoning Changes Planned

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APA Building in Ray Brook NYThe Adirondack Park Agency is set to hold a teleconference public hearing for zoning changes in the Town of North Elba, Essex County, on Friday, May 15th, 2020.

Three of eleven seats on the Adirondack Park Agency Board are currently vacant, which means that this proposed map amendment will a unanimous vote of approval.

[Read more…] about Public Hearing On North Elba Zoning Changes Planned