Update 7

April 19, 2006
Good morning, Friends!

1. All contributions to the meetinghouse fund are welcome! We are still trying to raise $35,000 to pay the costs of dismantling and initially documenting this building. So far, we have raised almost $17,000, enough to begin work. We would like to transfer this meetinghouse to the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Foundation and sign a contract with the mover sometime next week. In order to do this, however, we need to know that we can pay this mover in full, when the contract comes due. Some of us have agreed to guarantee this personally, but we are hoping that we do not have to mortgage the house, literally, to make good on this!

Contributions may now be sent to:
*Elizabeth Cady Stanton Foundation*
* P.O. Box 603*
* Seneca Falls, New York 13148*
* c/o Francis Caraccilo, Treasurer*
* 1816 Farmington Meetinghouse Fund*

2. Yesterday, Lyle Jenks, from the Chace Fund of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, came to review the meetinghouse and our application for funding for its documentation according to Historic American Building Survey standards. It was a beautiful spring day, and we had a thorough and productive discussion of our progress. Many thanks to Lyle and all members of the committee.

3. Many thanks to a good friend and fellow preservationist from the Preservation Association of Central New York, who just sent $250 to the meetinghouse fund! (There is a connection between Quakers in Onondaga County and those in Farmington. At one time, many people in Skaneateles Quaker Meeting (Orthodox) in Onondaga County were extremely active abolitionists and Underground Railroad supporters. As a result of a survey of sites relating to
the Underground Railroad, Abolitionism, and African American Life (sponsored by the Preservation Association of Central New York and funded by the Preservation League of NYS and the NYS Council on the Arts), the home of Quakers James Canning Fuller and Lydia Fuller on Genesee Street in Skaneateles was listed on both the National Register and the National Park Service's Network to Freedom as an Underground Railroad safe house.)

4. Above is a photo of the meetinghouse, taken yesterday from the northeast, for inspiration.

Best, Judy Wellman for the Ad Hoc Committee to Preserve the 1816 Farmington Meetinghouse

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