1816 FARMINGTON QUAKER MEETINGHOUSE & MUSEUM

“I have come to the conclusion that God created all men free and equal, and placed them upon this earth to do good and benefit each other, and that war and slavery should be banished from the face of the earth.”

Austin Steward, Twenty-two Years a Slave

and Forty Years a Freeman (1857)

HELP US MATCH THE LISK MORRIS FOUNDATION GRANT

We are delighted to report that the Lisk Morris Foundation has offered us a matching grant of $28,000, but we need your help!

To receive the grant, we must raise another $28,000 to match it. Would you make a donation and help spread the word?

This money will help us restore the first floor of the Meetinghouse, so that we can open this historic building to the public by 2028, for the first time in 100 years.  

We are so, grateful to the Lisk Morris Foundation for their support. Let’s show them that we can match their generosity. We welcome donations—large and small.

Checks may be sent to:

1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum

P.O. Box 25053, 230 Sheldon Road

Farmington, NY 14425

Online payments: can be made through PayPal, Venmo, or credit card using the link below.

DR. DAVID ANDERSON: A POWERFUL MEMORIAL SERVICE

On Thursday, August 20, 2026, hundreds of people gathered in the chapel at Nazareth College to celebrate the life of Dr. David Anderson. Representatives of many community members, politicians (from Senator Schumer to the Rochester Mayor’s office), and family members gave moving tributes to Dr. Anderson’s powerful legacy. Maggie Moore, from Memorial AME Zion Church, gave a eulogy that elegantly reflected Dr. Anderson’s life. Based on Psalm 133 (“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”), it highlighted the power of community (come unity). Akoma: the Rochester African American Women’s Gospel Choir brought the crowd to its feet with its spectacular musical presentations.

David Anderson began to work with the 1816 Meetinghouse when we first gathered in 2006 to save it. He appeared several times at our programs, often as Austin Steward or Frederick Douglass.

As founders of the Black Storytelling League of Rochester and AKWAABA: The Heritage Associates, David and Ruth Anderson made an inseparable team. Ruth Anderson succeeds him as Director of AKWAABA. In recognition of their outstanding importance to the history of our whole region, the 1816 Meetinghouse group gave David and Ruth Anderson our “Carrying on the Vision” plaque in 2018, one of only three we have awarded. 

Our heartfelt condolences and love go out to Ruth and their whole family, as they deal with this immense loss. Ruth Anderson writes: “Please keep the light shining, Dave is now where he belongs. With the ancestors.”

Dr. Anderson’s logo was Sankofa, the bird who turns to look behind, finding strength and vision from the past to light our way toward the future. May his light and vision continue to brightly in this world, an inspiration to us all.

AUSTIN STEWARD & COMMEMORATING EMANCIPATION DAY

On a lovely summer day, we gathered with friends from the Greater Rochester area at Austin Steward’s grave in West Lake Cemetery, Canandaigua, to commemorate August 1, celebrated by abolitionists both Black and White as the end of slavery in the British Empire.

Austin Steward, who escaped from slavery in 1815 and came directly to Farmington, became a major Black leader who spoke often at Emancipation Day ceremonies.

We were honored with presentations by Preston Pierce, Ontario County Historian; Nancy Tolliver, who had once been enslaved with Steward (a.k.a. Robin Nowell, an 1816 Board member); the Rochester Women’s Chorus, whose songs added a powerful spiritual dimension; and Chester Freeman, who told stories about Steward’s relationships with Indigenous, Black, and White people and who concluded the program with singing “There Is a Balm in Gilead.”


A video by Valentino Cinotti is now available on the 1816 website and on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com

1816 PROGRAMS

SISTER ORGANIZATIONS

The Underground Railroad Today Festival | September 12, 9:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m., Auburn

"Come celebrate the different cultures that make up the Finger Lakes area and learn about how communities have supported each other over the last 250 years through the lens of the Underground Railroad!"

Susan B. Anthony House:

Guest Lecture Series | 2026-27