WORK SCHEDULE. We were not able to find someone to dismantle the meetinghouse as per our original schedule, so we are working on Plan B. With the gracious agreement of the Farmington Town Board, we will stabilize the building beginning next week, document it as thoroughly as possible while it is still standing, and dismantle it later this summer. We are currently in the process of getting liability insurance for the building so that the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Foundation can (finally!) take ownership of it and work can begin. Many thanks to all who are making this possible.
CONDITIONS ASSESSMENT/BUILDING INTEGRITY. We are blessed to have the help of John G. Waite, architect, who came on May 9 with two people from his office, Bill Brandow and Jessica Malarik, to measure the building, do preliminary sketches, and take photographs. The building is 60 feet three inches x 47 feet in its exterior measurements. As per a suggestion by Mark Peckham, from the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, we are wondering whether this may be one of the largest (if not the largest) extant pre-canal buildings in upstate New York. Can anyone think of a larger one?
As the building stands, you can clearly see outlines of the old gallery on three sides. Pieces of benches, stair railings, the divider between men's and women's meetings, and other interior features are visible. We are delighted to know that much more of the original fabric of the building remains and can probably be saved than we had originally thought. So the extra time that the building stands will be very helpful for documenting the structure. Stephen Spaulding, of the northeast regional office of the National Park Service, has been extremely helpful with technical advice. Thanks also to Bruce Harvey, of Kleinschmidt Energy and Water Resource Consultants, who has taken HABS quality photos of the exterior of the building.
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION. Charles Lenhart and Helen Kirker videotaped an interview with Gus Wehrlin, who as a child witnessed the actual moving of this meetinghouse in 1927. They are also interviewing other local people who attended annual meetings of Friends ("Quaker Days") in this meetinghouse. We have searched the Accessible Archives database of African American newspapers for all references to Farmington. Charles Lenhart has also worked with local historians in Macedon and Margaret Hartsough of Farmington to find material from local newspapers and photographs. Christopher Densmore has contributed photographs and much printed material from Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore and from his own research. Local people have found references in family diaries to speeches in the meetinghouse by Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Susan B. Anthony. Several people have told us about benches, stoves, or other artifacts related to the meetinghouse. Many, many thanks to all of you who have shared this material. If others find references to the Farmington Meetinghouse, we much appreciate knowing about them.
FUNDING. Because much of the documentation for this building will take place before it is dismantled (instead of afterwards, as we had originally planned), and because much more can be saved than we had originally anticipated, we will have to spend money now that we thought we could defer until the building was dismantled. Upfront costs will be in the range of $75,000 or more, instead of $35,000 that we had originally estimated.
We now have potentially $25,000 (about $12,000 from private donations, $5000 from Heritage New York's Women's History Trail, $1500 from the New York State Council on the Arts, $1500 from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and, we are hopeful that we will have $5000 soon from another grant.)
The member item we have requested through Senator Nozzolio's office ($75,000) would be a wonderful step forward for this project.
We are also developing plans to raise money to rebuild the meetinghouse. We are looking forward to a creative combination of private and public monies and appreciate any ideas that any of you may have. All suggestions are welcome!
Donations large and small may be sent to:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Foundation
P.O. Box 603
Seneca Falls, New York 13148
1816 Farmington Meetinghouse Fund
THANK YOU! Several interested people showed up to look at the meetinghouse on May 9, including Liseli Haines and her son Alex from Hamilton, New York, and neighbor Bob Wilton, who reported that a car had hit the southwest corner of the meetinghouse in an accident several years ago, which may explain why this corner was weaker than the others. Mr. Wilton also brought a marker with the name of John Van Lare on it. Mr. Van Lare is the farmer who moved the meetinghouse when it became a barn in 1927. One of the potato crates also had John Van Lare's name on it.
Thanks to everyone, including the Wiltons, the Stanton Foundation, and the Farmington Town Board, for your patience and your concern for this important building.
We'll keep you posted. If you are of Quaker persuasion, we ask that you hold all concerned with this project in the Light.
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Update 8
Hello Friends--
This has been a momentous week for the Farmington Meetinghouse!
1. SIGNING CONTRACTS! We expect that next Tuesday, May 2, 2006, we will transfer the building from the current owners, Lyjha and Jillian Wilton, to the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Foundation. Many, many thanks to the Wiltons for maintaining this building for future generations and to the Stanton Foundation for its willingness to assume responsibility while we work to find a permanent site. Without both of you, this building--with its nationally important stories of abolitionism, the Underground Railroad, Seneca land rights, and women's rights--would be lost.
Architect Jack Waite has put out bids for this project, and we hope to be able to review them in time to sign a contract on Tuesday with whomever will be doing the actual work on this building.
2. FUND-RAISING.
a. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has donated $1500 from its emergency fund to help us document, dismantle, and move this building! Many, many thanks for this very welcome contribution.
b. We now have about $18,750 (in private donations, as well as from the Heritage New York Women's History Trail, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Trust) toward the needed $35,000. We still need $16,250. We also have an outstanding application for a $5000 grant to the Chace Fund of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for documenting this meetinghouse.
Donations may be sent to:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Foundation
P. O. Box 603
Seneca Falls, New York 13148
Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Fund
Thank you all who have helped to support this project so far. Because of the need to move this building, beginning by May 3, timing is short for us to raise this money. We appreciate all of you so much who care about this building and all that it represents.
3. PUBLICITY The Google search algorithm counts links to blogs and web-sites. You can help others find this blog by including a link to http://farmingtonmeetinghouse.blogspot.com from your web-site.
-------------
Discovering extraordinary people and places in time.
"All men and women are created equal." Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls, 1848
"Right is of no sex. Truth is of no color." Frederick Douglass. North Star, 1848
Previous Post
This has been a momentous week for the Farmington Meetinghouse!
1. SIGNING CONTRACTS! We expect that next Tuesday, May 2, 2006, we will transfer the building from the current owners, Lyjha and Jillian Wilton, to the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Foundation. Many, many thanks to the Wiltons for maintaining this building for future generations and to the Stanton Foundation for its willingness to assume responsibility while we work to find a permanent site. Without both of you, this building--with its nationally important stories of abolitionism, the Underground Railroad, Seneca land rights, and women's rights--would be lost.
Architect Jack Waite has put out bids for this project, and we hope to be able to review them in time to sign a contract on Tuesday with whomever will be doing the actual work on this building.
2. FUND-RAISING.
a. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has donated $1500 from its emergency fund to help us document, dismantle, and move this building! Many, many thanks for this very welcome contribution.
b. We now have about $18,750 (in private donations, as well as from the Heritage New York Women's History Trail, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Trust) toward the needed $35,000. We still need $16,250. We also have an outstanding application for a $5000 grant to the Chace Fund of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for documenting this meetinghouse.
Donations may be sent to:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Foundation
P. O. Box 603
Seneca Falls, New York 13148
Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Fund
Thank you all who have helped to support this project so far. Because of the need to move this building, beginning by May 3, timing is short for us to raise this money. We appreciate all of you so much who care about this building and all that it represents.
3. PUBLICITY The Google search algorithm counts links to blogs and web-sites. You can help others find this blog by including a link to http://farmingtonmeetinghouse.blogspot.com from your web-site.
-------------
Discovering extraordinary people and places in time.
"All men and women are created equal." Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls, 1848
"Right is of no sex. Truth is of no color." Frederick Douglass. North Star, 1848
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Update 7
April 19, 2006Good 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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