WARSAW, N.Y. — New York is rich with history in the anti-slavery movement of the 1800s leading up to the Civil War. While some of those people, places and stories are well-known, others might surprise you.
“We have quite a few early newspapers that are like gold,” said Cindy Amrhein, Wyoming County historian.
Tucked away in boxes inside the Wyoming County Historian’s Office in Warsaw are carefully preserved newspapers, some nearing 200 years old — documenting the anti-slavery movement that arose in rural Wyoming County, about 45 miles east of Buffalo.
“I think they probably just saw it as wrong,” Amrhein said.
She has researched how folks in this part of the state created several abolitionist newspapers and activist groups in the years leading up to the Civil War. America’s first anti-slavery political party was formed here at the Warsaw Presbyterian Church in 1839.
“People that had money were anti-slavery activists and would fund all these things,” she said.
Frederick Douglass, the famed escaped slave who became a leader of the movement, spoke here in 1847 in Middlebury.
“Hundreds of people that were regular citizens who wanted to hear and wanted to learn and were supportive of the anti-slavery movement in the county,” Amrhein said.
The area was also home to several sites along the Underground Railroad, used by escaped slaves from the South on their journey to freedom in the northern United States and Canada.
“We were very progressive and we didn’t agree with what was happening with slavery,” said Eric Szucs, director of tourism & marketing in Wyoming County.
His office teamed up with Amrhein’s to create a detailed pamphlet highlighting the timeline, key local figures and places in the fight against injustice.
“There was a certainly need, a desire and people wanted to know this information,” he said.
There are names like Augustus Frank, a congressman from the area who was instrumental in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery. Earlier, Congressman Seth Gates was an ardent abolitionist whose home was believed to be part of the Underground Railroad.
“It seems to me like they felt like that was one of their missions to really stand up for people who weren’t served as well as they were,” said Barb Morrissey, president of the Warsaw Historical Society, which is housed in the Gates House Museum.
Inside, we met Patricia Meek, who produced a play called “The Woman in the Box” written by her husband about the real-life story of a pregnant woman who escaped slavery in Maryland and came here with her children.
“It was really amazing because people really hadn’t ever looked at that part of it here at that point. And what was really amazing was that Wyoming County had more abolitionists than any other New York state county except for Monroe,” Meek said.
The Warsaw Historical Society is actively looking for people who are descendants of Seth Gates.
If you’d like to learn more about the anti-slavery movement in Wyoming County you can visit gowyomingcountyny.com to find the pamphlet, which details important sites relating to this history.
