Footsteps to Freedom 1999: Day Seven

Update posted on Thu, Aug 19, 1999, at 2:51:12 PM Pacific Daylight Time.

First Presbyterian Church
Lewiston, New York

The First Presbyterian Church of Lewiston, New York, (built in 1825) was on a different trail of the Underground Railroad from the sites we saw in Buffalo. From the church, fugitives would be taken to a rich man's house on the banks of the Niagara River Gorge, where they would hide in one of his seven basements with exits to the river.

A cemetery outside the church, although not apparently housing any former slaves, has graves dating back to the first decades of the 19th century. The group participated in an emotional "libation," wherein words and song are used to honor one's ancestors, calling on their support for your journey.

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