Enoch Whitmore House | |
Location | Ashburnham, Massachusetts |
---|---|
Area | 19.4 acres (7.9 ha) |
Built | 1818 |
Architectural style | Federal |
MPS | Underground Railroad in Massachusetts MPS |
NRHP reference No. | 07001362 [1] |
Added to NRHP | January 9, 2008 |
The Enoch Whitmore House is an historic house at 12 Daniels Lane in Ashburnham, Massachusetts. Built about 1818, this Federal period house is historically significant as a documented stop on the Underground Railroad, where fugitive slaves were sheltered. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. [1]
The Whitmore House is located in a remote part of rural northwestern Ashburnham, at the end of Daniels Lane, a short road off Tuckerman Road. The rambling Federal style wood-frame house is estimated to have been built in the second decade of the 19th century, probably after the 1818 marriage of Enoch Whitmore to Clarissa Willard, and the sale of the land on which it stands by Isaac Whitmore to his son. The house consists of a main block, which is a typical Federal period five bays wide and 2+1⁄2 stories high, and a series of additions on the back of the house. The main facade is five bays wide, with a center entrance flanked by sidelight windows and topped by a modest entablature. The relatively large size of the house is an indication of the status Whitmore had in the community, where he served in a number of civic posts. [2]
It is due to Enoch Whitmore's activities as an abolitionist and participant in the Underground Railroad that his house is significant. In this matter Whitmore was influenced by Charles Turner Torrey, who was known to be active in the assistance of fugitive slaves. The only fugitives he is documented to have sheltered are the family of Josiah Thomas, who escaped from Maryland slaveowners and were on his farm in 1847. The Thomases eventually settled in Ashburnham. Whitmore continued to be active in abolitionist circles, joining the Free Soil Party in the 1850s. [2]
The Cyrus Gates Farmstead is located in Maine, New York. Cyrus Gates was a cartographer and map maker for New York State, as well as an abolitionist. The great granddaughter of Cyrus-Louise Gates-Gunsalus has stated that from 1848 until the end of slavery in the United States in 1865, the Cyrus Gates Farmstead was a station or stop on the Underground Railroad. Its owners, Cyrus and Arabella Gates, were outspoken abolitionists as well as active and vital members of their community. Historian Shirley L. Woodward states that through those years escaped slaves came through the Gates' station.
The Owen Lovejoy House is a historic house museum on East Peru Street in Princeton, Illinois. Built in 1838, it was for many years home to Owen Lovejoy (1811–1864), a prominent abolitionist and congressman. Lovejoy, the brother of martyred abolitionist, Elijah Lovejoy, was an open operator of shelter and support on the Underground Railroad, and his house contains a concealed compartment in which escaped slaves could be hidden. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1997. It is open seasonally or by appointment for tours.
The F. Julius LeMoyne House is a historic house museum at 49 East Maiden Street in Washington, Pennsylvania. Built in 1812, it was the home of Dr. Francis Julius LeMoyne (1798–1897), an antislavery activist who used it as a stop on the Underground Railroad. LeMoyne also assisted in the education of freed slaves after the American Civil War, founding the historically black LeMoyne–Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee. His house, now operated as a museum by the local historical society, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997. It is designated as a historic public landmark by the Washington County History & Landmarks Foundation.
Rokeby Museum is a historic farm property and museum at 4334 United States Route 7 in Ferrisburgh, Vermont. The 90-acre (36 ha) property includes a 1780s farmstead, and eight agricultural outbuildings with permanent exhibits. Hiking trails cover more than 50 acres (20 ha) of the grounds. Rokeby is open from mid-May to mid-October each year. The property was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997 for its association with Rowland T. Robinson, a Quaker and ardent abolitionist who openly sheltered escaped slaves at Rokeby as part of the Underground Railroad. Robinson's extensive correspondence is an essential archive giving insight into the practices of abolitionists and the operations of the railroad.
The William C. Nell House, now a private residence, was a boarding home located in 3 Smith Court in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood of Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the former African Meeting House, now the Museum of African American History.
The John Hossack House is a historic house in Ottawa, Illinois, United States. It was built in 1854–55 and was a "station" on the Underground Railroad. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The Nathan and Mary (Polly) Johnson properties are a National Historic Landmark at 17–19 and 21 Seventh Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Originally the building consisted of two structures, one dating to the 1820s and an 1857 house joined with the older one shortly after construction. They have since been restored and now house the New Bedford Historical Society. The two properties are significant for their association with leading members of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts, and as the only surviving residence in New Bedford of Frederick Douglass. Nathan and Polly Johnson were free African-Americans who are known to have sheltered escaped slaves using the Underground Railroad from 1822 on. Both were also successful in local business; Nathan as a caterer and Polly as a confectioner.
Liberty Farm is a National Historic Landmark at 116 Mower Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built c. 1810, it was the home for most of their married life of Abby Kelley Foster (1810–1887) and Stephen Symonds Foster (1809-1881), early vocal abolitionists and women's rights activists. The Fosters used their house as a shelter on the Underground Railroad, and famously refused to pay taxes on the property because Abby was unable to vote. The property, a private residence not open to the public, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974. In 2018 the building was sold off to a local family.
The John P. Parker House is a historic house museum at 300 North Front Street in Ripley, Ohio. It was home to former slave and inventor John P. Parker (1827–1900) from 1853 to his death in 1900. Parker was an abolitionist and a well-documented conductor on the Underground Railroad, helping hundreds of escaped slaves. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and it was further designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997. It is now owned and managed by a local nonprofit organization as a museum about Parker's life and the abolitionist movement.
The John Rankin House is a historic house museum at 6152 Rankin Hill Road in Ripley, Ohio. Built in 1828, it was home to Presbyterian abolitionist John Rankin, and was one of the original stops on the Underground Railroad. Harriet Beecher Stowe's visit to Rankin provided some of the story that became Uncle Tom's Cabin. The house was acquired by the State of Ohio in 1938 and is now operated by the Ohio History Connection and opened for tours. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997.
The Frances H. and Jonathan Drake House is an historic house at 21 Franklin Street in Leominster, Massachusetts, United States. Built in 1848, this typical Greek Revival worker's cottage is notable as a stop on the Underground Railroad during the pre-Civil War years. Frances and Jonathan Drake are documented as having hosted Shadrach Minkins after he was successfully extracted from custody at a Boston court hearing. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Ercildoun, population about 100, is an unincorporated community in East Fallowfield Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The hamlet was founded by Quakers and was an early center of the abolitionist movement. In 1985 the entire hamlet, including 31 properties, was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. Of these properties two were vacant land, 14 were significant buildings, ten were contributing buildings, and five buildings, built in the 1950s, were non-contributing. The Lukens Pierce House, an octagon house listed separately on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, is located about half a mile northwest of the hamlet. Ercildoun is one of about ten hamlets in the township, which has no cities or towns, but has 31 sites listed on the National Register. It is one of the larger hamlets, located near the center of the township, and historically among the best known. The city of Coatesville is about 3 miles north.
The Ezra Wood–Levi Warner Place is an historic house at 165 Depot Road in Westminster, Massachusetts. The oldest portion of the house, now an ell attached to the rear of the main block, was built in 1759 by Nathaniel Merrill, and is one of the town's oldest surviving structures. The house has served as a hotel, stagecoach stop, post office, and as a stop on the Underground Railroad. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Dorsey–Jones House is a historic house located at 191 Nonotuck Street in the Florence area of Northampton, Massachusetts. Built in 1849, it is known to have been owned by two former slaves with well-documented escape histories. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The Elijah Burt House is a historic house at 201 Chestnut Street in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Built sometime between 1720 and 1740, it is believed to be the oldest surviving building in the town, and a station on the Underground Railroad. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The William Ingersoll Bowditch House is a historic house at 9 Toxteth Street in Brookline, Massachusetts. It is a good example of vernacular Gothic and Greek Revival architecture, built c. 1844-45 as part of one of Brookline's earliest formal residential subdivisions. William Bowditch, the first owner, was an active abolitionist who sheltered fugitive slaves as part of the Underground Railroad, and was a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 17, 1985.
The Francis Gillette House is a historic house at 545 Bloomfield Ave. in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Built in 1833, it is locally unusual as a stone house, but is most significant for its association with Francis Gillette, one of the state's leading abolitionists in the years before the American Civil War. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
John James Smith was a barber shop owner, abolitionist, a three-term Massachusetts state representative, and one of the first African-American members of the Boston Common Council. A Republican, he served three terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He was born in Richmond Virginia. He took part in the California Gold Rush.
Lewis and Harriet Hayden House was the home of African-American abolitionists who had escaped from slavery in Kentucky; it is located in Beacon Hill, Boston. They maintained the home as a stop on the Underground Railroad, and the Haydens were visited by Harriet Beecher Stowe as research for her book, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852). Lewis Hayden was an important leader in the African-American community of Boston; in addition, he lectured as an abolitionist and was a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee, which resisted the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
The Dr. Nathan M. Thomas House is a single-family home located at 613 East Cass Street in Schoolcraft, Michigan. The house is also known as the Underground Railway House, due to its use as a stop in the Underground Railroad. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.