The Abolition Road

The Abolition Road. “…the greatest revolution the world has ever known.”. In late October 1835, a group of 104 men who had attended a meeting of abolitionists in Utica commissioned an Erie Canal lumber boat to take them to Canastota. The delegates had been threatened with violence if they did not leave Utica. Their final destination was Peterboro, where they would gather with hundreds of others at the Presbyterian Church to formally establish the New York State Anti-Slavery Society. , They walked from Canastota to Peterboro on “The Oxbow,” a road well known for being a challenging route. One of the delegates, James Jackson, wrote: “To climb the hills is like going up Jack the Giant Killer’s ladder.” Moreover, it was cold and raining that day as they passed the scattered farms. Jackson continued: “We startled the house dwellers along the way…calling out to them: ‘Put on a clean shirt and come along with us.’” , Despite the hardship of rioters and widespread public scorn they had endured, the men climbed the long hill between Canastota and Peterboro - shouting, laughing, and praying as they went. Their shared hardship seemed to strengthen the delegates sense of purpose, as Jackson wrote: “… we have begun the grandest revolution the world has ever known.”