Underground Railroad – Trail to Freedom

The Underground Railroad was part of the Abolitionist Movement to end slavery in America. In 1835, about 600 abolitionists assembled at the Bleecker Street Presbyterian Church in Utica to establish the New York State Anit-Slavery Society. By the end of 1835 there were 17 anti-slavery societies throughout the county. People here and across the north sent hundreds of petitions to Congress protesting slavery, even though Congress had imposed a "gag rule" and refused to acknowledge the petitions or discuss slavery.

Oneidans were prominent in the formation of the Liberty Party, a forerunner of Abraham Lincoln's Republican Party. Abolitionists in Oneida County worked closely with people from Peterboro, Syracuse, and Oswego to help freedom-seekers find safety along the Underground Railroad.  Both black and white Oneidans operated stations that linked central New York to the nation's Underground Railroad system. Long before the Civil War ended the debate on slavery, it was clear that no law protecting "the peculiar institiution" would be enforced in Oneida County.

For more information on the Nation's Underground Railroad history visit "Freedom Center" http://www.freedomcenter.org