1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse

250th COMMEMORATION: ESSAY FROM THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE AND LOCAL HISTORY

We have developed our 2026 programs in the context of America’s Semiquincentennial (yes, that is actually a word). What does the 250^th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence mean to you? The American Association of State and Local History, the premier national organization for promoting the importance of community history, asked itself a similar question: “What are we commemorating when we celebrate the 250^th?” Some people see this as a chance to highlight only America’s successes, going so far as to remove exhibits and signs at historic sites that discuss controversial topics ranging from slavery to women’s history to climate change. Yet a recent survey by the Pew Research Center suggests that sixty-six percent of American adults from both major political parties believe that it is extremely important or very important to discuss both our country’s historical failures and flaws as well as its historical successes and strengths. https://www.pewresearch.org

In a recent essay for the AASLH, John Garrison Marks, Vice-President for Research and Engagement, suggested that “In the end, the 250th belongs to everyone. It won’t be defined by just a single national narrative handed down from Washington. The Semiquincentennial will continue to be a decentralized, participatory moment, one shaped by thousands of communities, institutions, and individuals. If the 250th becomes a lasting milestone for our field, it will not be because of spectacle or celebration alone. It will be because we used this moment to deepen the public’s understanding of history—and to make the case, clearly and compellingly, for why that understanding matters.” (AASLH Newsletter, March 26, 2026)

We agree. We invite you to join us as we continue to deal with questions of equal rights for all people. These questions that have no easy answers, but they have shaped our past and will shape our future in very important ways. Your voice matters. 

ANNIVERSARY OF CAPTURE OF THE PEARL, APRIL 21, 1848, AND WILLIAM AND ELIZA SMITH HOME FOR SALE

Mary and Emily Edmondson were among more than seventy enslaved people who were captured on April 21, 1848, on a ship called the Pearl, as it tried to sail from Washington, D.C. They came directly to Farmington, where they attended a school called Bird’s Nest School next to the Hamlin-Hathaway House (both still standing at 812 and 806 North Hook Road) run by Quaker women. They likely lived with William R. Smith and Eliza Smith in a beautiful Gothic Revival House at 1096 Victor Road. This house was likely built in the late 1840s, influenced by designs in Andrew Jackson Downing, Cottage Residences (New York and London, 1842), View Andrew Jackson's digitized texts here William R. Smith, like his father Asa Smith, had an extensive nursery and probably knew Andrew Jackson Downing personally. The Smith house is now for sale: https://www.zillow.com.

William R. Smith was a leader in the campaign to rescue William Chaplin (Underground Railroad activist and editor of the Albany Patriot) after he was thrown into jail in Maryland in 1850 for trying to help two people enslaved by two Georgia Congressmen. The Smiths mortgaged their house to help pay Chaplin’s bail. They moved to Wilmington, Delaware, about 1852, where Smith edited an abolitionist newspaper called The Statesman. Underground Railroad activists in upstate New York were strongly connected to Wilmington because Thomas Garrett sent 2700 freedom seekers through his home. Some of them came to Farmington.

Today, the Edmond sisters are honored with a larger-than-life-sized sculpture in Alexandria, Virginia. Judy Wellman and Marjory Perez recently visited this statue. Holding hands with Mary Edmondson was a powerful experience. How can we best honor them in Farmington?

For more on the historic importance of all these buildings, see sites in the Town of Macedon in Judith Wellman, Marjory Perez, and others, Uncovering the Underground Railroad, Abolitionism, and African American Life in Wayne County, New York, 1820-1880, Link: Uncovering-the-Underground-Railroad.