Rochester Images - Many Roads to Freedom

The Underground Railroad began operating in earnest in the 1830s in Rochester and vicinity. Both black and white people managed the railroad, as well as people of different denominations. The Quakers Isaac and Amy Post probably helped the greatest number of runaway slaves, followed by Presbyterians Samuel D. Porter and his sister Maria. Certain members of the founding Fitzhugh family were involved in helping the cause financially and politically. Elizabeth Potts Fitzhugh married James G. Birney, who became the Liberty Party candidate for president (1840 and 1844). Her sister, Ann Carroll Fitzhugh, was the wife of famed abolitionist and Congressman Gerrit Smith. A third sister, Mary E. Fitzhugh, was married to John Talman, a banker who owned the Talman Building in which Frederick Douglass was to begin his North Star. Talman also gave abolitionist speeches.

When Frederick Douglass moved to Rochester in 1847 to begin his abolitionist newspaper, he became one of the prime "stationmasters" on the railroad. Both his home and office were used as stations. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was a stop. William Clough Bloss' home (located where today's Cutler Building is) is also said to have been a stop. Several other local places were probably stops, but here the picture gets murky, as documentation proving a location's use as a stop is hard to find. There are disagreements among scholars and researchers, and the lists of stops can vary greatly.

When the Fugitive Slave Law was enacted in 1850, the penalties for helping runaways and for runaways who were captured were sharply increased, but still the work went on.

Here are some reminiscences you can read:

A Few Leaves from the Diary of an Underground Railroad [pdf, 7.83 MB], by William S. Falls, from the Democrat & Chronicle of June 12, 1881. This article also contains a long obituary of Amy Post with descriptions of her work on the Underground Railroad.

A Reminiscence of Anti-Slavery Days [pdf, 553 KB], by Horace McGuire, read before the Rochester Historical Society, October 27, 1916.

Here are some pictures of probable and likely stops in this area:

CITY OF ROCHESTER
	African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Location: Favor Street, Rochester Said to have contained a trap door by the pulpit and escape tunnels leading to Plymouth Avenue and the Genesee River
	Asa Anthony House Location: 446 Post Avenue, Rochester Asa Anthony, a cousin of Susan B. Anthony, was a founding member of the Rochester Anti-Slavery Society. Photo appeared in the Times Union in 1936; Copyrighted by the Democrat & Chronicle and reprinted here courtesy of the D & C http://www.rochesterdandc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
	Frederick Douglass House Location: 4 Alexander Street, Rochester This was one of several places Douglass lived in Rochester. All were stops on the Underground Railroad. This house was demolished in the 1900s. The later Douglass home on South Avenue was destroyed by fire in 1872. Photo appeared in the Times Union in 1936; Copyrighted by the Democrat & Chronicle and reprinted here courtesy of the D & C http://www.rochesterdandc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
	Frederick Douglass' North Star newspaper office Location: Talman Building, Main Street, Rochester In 1859, Harriet Brent Jacobs opened an abolitionist reading room here.
	George Harvey Humphrey House Location:669 Genesee Street, Rochester This house (now demolished) is said to have had a tunnel and various secret places. Photo appeared in the Times Union in 1936; Copyrighted by the Democrat & Chronicle and reprinted here courtesy of the D & C http://www.rochesterdandc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
	Edmund Miller Harness Shop Location: 61 Spring Street, Rochester This building was identified as a station in the Rochester Times-Union, March 10, 1950.
	Samuel D. Porter House (center building) Location: Fitzhugh Street, Rochester This is one of several residences used by Porter in Rochester. He was corresponding secretary of the Rochester Anti-Slavery Society.
	Isaac and Amy Post House -- Exterior view, Interior view of parlor Location: Plymouth Ave., Rochester The Posts were both founding members of the Rochester Anti-Slavery Society. In the 1840s they came under the influence of Spiritualism and the Fox sisters.
	Saxon Apartments (view of hiding place) Location: 59 South Sophia Street, Rochester This building was used as a boarding house in the 1840s, and was later owned by Dr. Harvey Montgomery. Several people may have housed runaways here. Photo appeared in the Times Union in 1936; Copyrighted by the Democrat & Chronicle and reprinted here courtesy of the D & C http://www.rochesterdandc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
OTHER MONROE COUNTY LOCATIONS
BRIGHTON
	Thomas Warrant Homestead Location: 1956 West Henrietta Road, Brighton Thomas Warrant was a founder of the Rochester Anti-Slavery Society. Slaves may have traveled from this house to Frederick Douglass' home. Photo appeared in the Times Union in 1936; Copyrighted by the Democrat & Chronicle and reprinted here courtesy of the D & C http://www.rochesterdandc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
GREECE
	G.C. Latta House Location: Lake Avenue and Latta Road, Charlotte (Greece) The Latta family is said to have hidden escaped slaves in their cellar before the fugitives could board ships on the Genesee River or Lake Ontario.
	Quinby House Location: Clover Street, Mendon Rev. Henry Quinby was a Hicksite Quaker who was also a founder of the Rochester Anti-Slavery Society. Photo appeared in the Times Union in 1936; Copyrighted by the Democrat & Chronicle and reprinted here courtesy of the D & C http://www.rochesterdandc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
HILTON
	Gideon Archer Homestead Location: 286 South Avenue, Hilton Gideon and Mary Archer are said to have taken slaves to Walter Vond of Parma, who then rowed them to freedom in Canada.
PERINTON
	Gideon and Jeremiah Ramsdell House Location 173 Mason Road, Perinton Gideon Ramsdell was a Quaker. This house is said to be a station.
	Isaac Talman House Location: 2187 Whitney Road, Perinton Isaac Talman (or Tallman) House. A location operated by Isaac Tallman and his family.
	Talman/Butler House Location: 2381 Whitney Road, Perinton This house was built by Darius Tallman, a son of Isaac Tallman (see above). It is considered a possible stop on the Railroad.
PITTSFORD
	Hargous-Briggs House (Ashley Sampson) Location: 52 S. Main Street, Pittsford This home was occupied from the 1820s by Judge Ashley Sampson, reportedly an ardent abolitionist. Photo courtesy of the Ontario County Historian
SOME OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE FINGER LAKES REGION OF WESTERN NEW YORK
	"Cobblestone Farm" 3402 West Lake Road, Town of Canandaigua Photo courtesy of the Ontario County Historian
	Cobblestone-Ferry Farm Lower Lake Road, Bridgeport (Seneca County) Photo courtesy of the Ontario County Historian
	Alfred B. Field House 104 Gibson Street, Canandaigua Photo courtesy of the Ontario County Historian
	Fisher Homestead Main Street, Fishers, Town of Victor, Ontario County Photo courtesy of the Ontario County Historian
	James Harland House Route 21, Town of Manchester Photo courtesy of the Ontario County Historian
	Pitts Mansion Route 20-A (Main St.), Honeoye, Town of Richmond, Ontario County Photo courtesy of the Ontario County Historian
	Isaac Trembley Farm County Road 12, South Bristol Photo courtesy of the Ontario County Historian
	Van Houten House 20 Pulteney Street, Geneva Photo courtesy of the Ontario County Historian