In the nineteenth century William Blaikie owned a store here where he would hide fugitive slaves. William Blaikie, and his family's efforts to hide fugitive slaves often made the family an anti-abolition target. He also hid slaves in the outskirts of Utica at his home, like other abolitionists and Beriah Green, who used Whitesboro's Oneida Institute and his own home as a station. The Blaikies often had to evacuate their property multiple times in response to multiple threats. William Blaikie, amongst others, did not let threats disrupt their freedom efforts. The store later became Waterford's Drug Company which survived until the twentieth century.

Illustration of Blakie's Drug Store showing adjacency to church

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Although the structure of this building no longer stands, here stood William Blaikie's apothecary in nineteenth century Utica. An apothecary is synonymous with what we now call a pharmacy. Blaikie's store was more than a drug store as it was also a station on the Underground Railway. Blaikie's family was once forced evacuate their home because of threats from anti-abolitionists.

William Blaikie’s Apothecary

Features historic sites that tell the story of the Underground Railroad and the struggle for freedom in Utica, New York

Harry Bird and George left Woodstock, Shenandoah County, Virginia and headed north on the Underground Railroad through Philadelphia and New York City until reaching Utica in September of eighteen thirty six. A Jailor in Shenandoah County, Christian Miller, received information that the two were living in Utica, and County constables arrest the two men. Harry and George then spent the night in Utica’s Watch House located in the Clinton Market, on the north side of Bleecker Street between Charlotte and Burnet Streets, and only steps away from Post Street. The next morning Constable Ira Chase and Christian Miller arrived at Judge Chester Hayden’s office with an arranged stage to Bridgewater waiting for the slave catchers and Harry and George. The moment Judge Hayden signed papers for Harry and George to be put into the custody of Christian Miller, the plan was to leave Utica and head south. Hayden, who intended on turning the fugitives over to the Virginia slave-catchers, was stalled by Spencer Kellogg's intervention.That morning, Kellogg was warned by someone that “two gentlemen from the South, in search of runaway slaves…had seized or were about to be seizing upon their prey.” He went to the front of his dry goods store nearby on Genesee Street, just a few feet away from Hayden’s office and noticed Lewis Lawrence hurrying down the street. Kellogg and Lawrence discussed the warning that Kellogg had been given, and as they talked, Constable Chase drove by in a sleigh with two African Americans. The Constable stopped in front of Hayden’s office. Kellogg and Lawrence watched as the two men were taken upstairs. The Constable said that the two men were arrested “for stealing potatoes.” Kellogg and Lawrence proceeded up to the judge’s office and saw that the two Black men in custody were being held as runaway slaves.Kellogg demanded a trial to prove that these were free men of color, although they had no right to legal counsel per state and federal law. Abolitionist lawyer, Alvan Stewart, whose office was just a few doors away, soon joined in the dispute and offered to defend both Harry and George. Judge Hayden left Harry and George with the slave catchers in a back room until he could return from the County Courthouse. However, before Hayden returned to his office that evening a crowd of African Americans from nearby Post Street, found out about the arrests. A crowd developed, described as mostly Black just before six-thirty p.m., and as darkness settled in, they forced the doors of the room open, beat the two “man stealers,” and whisked the two men away. From there, Harry and George continued their freedom route north to Mexico, New York, then to nearby Oswego, and finally Canada.

Welcome to the Oneida County Freedom Trail walking tour. This tour was developed by the Oneida County History Center in partnership with the Oneida County Freedom Trail Commission.In eighteen thirty six, ninety eight North Genesee Street was home to the private law office of County Judge Chester Hayden, who held two enslaved men in his office awaiting their recapture to Virginia. Hayden was a known foe to local abolitionist and his office is now officially recognized as a Network to Freedom Underground Railroad Site by the National Park Service. The complex of brick buildings is also on the National Registry of Historic Buildings, and stands as the oldest row of contiguous buildings in the city of Utica.Fifteen years ago the Hayden Building was in desperate need of repair with a leaking roof, no electricity, unstable foundation, broken windows, no water or sewage. Eventually a local developer purchased it from the City of Utica and completely restored with much of the original brickwork which is beautifully preserved. Today, the plumbing and electricity remain installed, the basement and foundation are stable, there are two loft apartments, a roof top patio, and commercial space on the first floor.

Judge Hayden's Private Office

Spencer Kellogg, apart from being an abolitionist, was a merchant and prominent citizen. He served on the Utica school board and was elected as mayor of Utica's in eighteen forty. His abolitionist career consisted of him serving as the Treasurer of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society when it was first organized (and disrupted), and for several years thereafter. Kellogg was also President of the Executive Committee. His abolitionist efforts made him a target as some of the members of an anti-abolitionist mob that threatened to torch his home. It was at this spot that Kellogg observed Harry Bird and George and what was happening Hayden’s office.

In eighteen thirty six , one hundred and ten North Genesee was the site of Spencer Kellogg’s dry goods store, which was just few doors south from the Hayden Building. Spencer Kellogg was a dedicated Abolitionist and a charter member of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society who later became the mayor of Utica. The original building was only four stories tall and matched the rest of the buildings on the block. This building is listed on the National Register as part of the oldest contiguous brick structure in Utica. The site of his store is now occupied by the Genesee Tower Apartments.

Spencer Kellogg's Dry Goods Store

Alvan Stewart was a well-known Abolitionist lawyer. His office was located thirty yards south from the Hayden Building (96-98 N. Genesee St.). The building's corner-stone inscription, “eighteen thirty-three,” helped identify what we now call the Hayden Building. Stewart was born to farm parents in moderate circumstances in seventeen ninety in Washington County, New York. He practiced law in Cherry Valley, New York for sixteen years, where he was elected as mayor. Stewart was also a state governor candidate of the Liberty Party, which advocated for the abolition of slavery. In September eighteen thirty five he issued a call for the formation of a state anti-slavery society, which resulted in the formation of the New York Anti-Slavery Society.

Alvan Stewart’s law office was located in the building that is now the Great Rentals store. Stewart played a central role in the Utica Rescue at Judge Hayden’s Law Office after Spencer Kellogg summoned Stewart to Hayden’s office to represent the two captured freedom seekers, Harry and George. Stewart argued that the two captives were in fact free men of color, and he was prepared to defend their interests. Judge Hayden decided to resolve the issue later after work at the Oneida County Courthouse. That day-long delay was enough time for African-America residents and local abolitionists to gather in front of the building. That evening they broke into Hayden’s building and rescued the runaways.

The Utica Rescue

On October twenty first, eighteen thirty-five, six hundred delegates, led by Beriah Green, met in the Bleecker Street Presbyterian Church to organize the New York State Anti-Slavery Society. Although the Utica City Council approved of the anti-slaver society meeting, it was supposed to be held at city hall. The City Council revoked the society's permit to assemble in response to the increasing hostility towards the anti-slavery society. At the last minute the church gave them permission to assemble there.At the church a large crowd of anti-abolitionist protesters, including many public officials (including Judge Chester Hayden) disrupted the proceedings. The abolitionists formed the New York State Anti-slavery Society before being forced by the mob to adjourn their meeting.However, the meeting would be continued as Gerrit Smith invited the delegates to re-assemble at his Peterboro estate in Madison County, about thirty miles away. Smith had been at meeting in Utica per the request of Beriah Green, who hoped to sway Smith's opinion in favor of the anti-slavery society. Smith had been a member of the colonization society for some time, which favored sending African Americans "back" to Africa.

This stop on the walking toue is the location of the Second Presbyterian Church, also called the Bleecker Street Baptist Church. This is where the meeting took place that led to the formation of the first New York State Anti-Slavery Society in October of eighteen thirty-five.The building was later home to a Baptist Congregation that lasted up until eighteen eighty-seven, when the congregation disassembled, and the building was sold. It was once home to the Utica YMCA.

The Formation of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society

Post Avenue is where freedom seekers Harry Bird and George were probably hiding when they were arrested. Word of their arrest spread quickly; newspaper accounts said that a crowd of Black men from Post Street lingered all day around Hayden’s building. At nightfall they stormed into the room where the fugitives and slave-catchers waited for Hayden's return. The Virginia captors were subdued by the crowd and released Harry and George. Post Ave residents knowingly broke federal law as stated in the Fugitive Slave Acts by freeing the two enslaved men. None, however, were ever punished. Post Avenue's African Americans were active in the Underground Railroad and assisted many white abolitionists in the fight for freedom and equality. One example of Black activism lives in the legacy of William Johnson, a Black barber living on Post Avenue, who worked with white abolitionist William Blaikie to spirit two fugitives out of Utica. In eighteen fifty five a New York City newspaper noted that a family of freedom seekers had passed through Post Street on their way to Canada. Johnson was one of many Black Uticans who were involved in the Negro Convention Movement of the eighteen forty's.

In eighteen thirty six, most of Utica’s two hundred and forty Black residents lived on Post Avenue, today Post Street, just a few blocks away from Genesee Street where Hayden's and Stewart's offices stood along with Kellogg's store. Post Avenue was an active Underground Railroad Station. In the nineteenth century it was home to mostly boarding houses and taverns. The Black residents of the avenue were no strangers to the freedom struggle since slavery had been abolished in New York only nine years earlier. African American residents on the avenue understood what bondage meant as some had likely been enslaved themselves.

Post Avenue

Gerrit Smith was a graduate of Hamilton College, and an important abolitionist after his introduction to the cause in eighteen thirty five as a delegate of the New York State Anti- Slavery Convention. Smith donated enormous sums of money and land, which he inherited, to the Abolitionist cause. Smith described the eighteen thirty five anti-abolition rioters' behavior at the New York State Anti-Slavery Convention in Utica as “outrageous”. Smith used his wealth and prestige to keep the convention and anti-slavery cause alive.At the disrupted convention, Smith decided the meeting was so important that it had to re-convene at his Peterboro estate in Madison County, just southwest of Oneida County. Peterboro became a well-known Underground Railroad Station. Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and John Brown all visited Smith at his estate. The town is now home to the National Abolitionist Hall of Fame, which showcases Smith's land office.

Although the home no longer stands and it has been replaced by the Broad Street Warehouse Corporation, there is still a plaque on the building that says "Near this spot was born March sixth, seventeen ninety seven Gerrit Smith, pioneer and patriot, abolitionist." Smith was born in Utica and later moved to Peterboro in Madison County after inheriting land and money from his father. Because of his wealth, Gerrit Smith was arguably the most influential abolitionist of the entire movement.

The Oneida County Freedom Trail Walking Tour

William Blaikie’s Apothecary

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information