Why Utica?

Why Utica?. The Oneida County Freedom Trail Walking Tour - Stop 1. [Main body] The Convention to establish the New York State Anti-Slavery Society met in Utica because of Oneida County's fiery Abolitionist leadership, the influence of the religious revival movement, the city's unique location, and the concentration of Abolitionist organizations and printing activity. , The fledgling movement took root in Oneida County in 1833 with the arrival of Beriah Green at Whitestown's Oneida Institute. Green committed the school to be the nation's first multi-racial college, dedicated to the principles of Manual Labor and Abolition. By 1835 both Green and Utica's Alvan Stewart had gained national recognition for their anti-slavery efforts. When Green and Stewart called for a convention in Utica, Abolitionists from across New York heeded the call. , In the 1830s the Erie Canal was America's most important transportation system, carrying goods, people, news and ideas. Utica's central location along the canal between Buffalo and New York City made it a convenient meeting place. , After William Lloyd Garrison published The Liberator in 1831, Abolitionist literature quickly appeared across Oneida County, including The Utica Standard and Democrat (1835) and The Friend of Man (1836). , Oneida County was part of the “Burned-Over District” of the religious revivalism movement in the early 1800s. Many revivalists believed that “faith without deeds is useless” and put their faith to work for the abolition of slavery. , [Left column] , Born in Utica, Gerrit Smith became an active Abolitionist after attending the 1835 Convention. He was one of the nation's most important Abolitionist leaders and used his wealth and influence to support social justice, donating over 8 million dollars (1 billion dollars today). Smith not only advocated on a national scale, but actively worked to liberate individual slaves. Smith would send agents into the South to negotiate with slaveholders, subsequently purchasing liberty for many. He and his family aided numerous freedom seekers at their home in Peterboro (Madison County) which was an Underground Railroad “station”. , Hiram Huntington Kellogg acquired his Abolitionist stance in his homeland – Oneida County. Born in Clinton, NY, Kellogg graduated Hamilton College in 1822 and attended Auburn Seminary. Reverend Kellogg opened the Young Ladies Domestic Seminary in Clinton in 1833, one of only 8 interracial schools in the country between 1840 and 1860. Kellogg attended the 1835 NYS Anti-Slavery Convention in Utica as a delegate from Clinton. Kellogg left Oneida County in 1841 to become the first president of Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, an anti-slavery, multi-racial college. , [Right column] , Amos Freeman attended the Utica Convention while studying at The Oneida Institute. He illustrates the influence the Institute had preparing African American leadership for the Abolition Movement beyond Oneida County. Freeman later became an ordained Presbyterian minister. He and his wife Christiana operated a “station” on the Underground Railroad in Portland, Maine, supporting fugitives both at the Abyssinian Congregational Church and in their home. , A member of the National Abolition Hall of Fame, the Reverend Beriah Green was one of New York's most outspoken and influential Abolitionists. Following Green's teachings, the Oneida Institute's black and white students established anti-slavery societies nation-wide. They produced anti-slavery circulars and printed the Abolitionist newspaper “The Friend of Man.” The Oneida Institute was also a “station” on the Underground Railroad.