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Underground Railroad

First Congregational Church of Malone

The First Congregational Church of Malone, NY, located at the corner of Clay and Main Streets in the center of Malone, has long been held by its members and by the community to have been a part of the Underground Railroad. That tradition has now been recognized by the State of New York, which has named the church as a designated historic site on its Underground Railroad Heritage Trail.

The current imposing church building was built in 1883 of blue limestone in the Romanesque style, and towers over the village of Malone. This building is actually the third church building of the Malone Congregational Church. The first building was completed in 1827 and dedicated in 1828. In 1851, that building was torn down and a brick building erected in its place. The "Brick Church" as it is known, was in the Federal Style and featured a large raised portico entrance covered by an extended, prominent pediment with five ionic columns. The brick church was built the same year the Fugitive Slave Law was passed, and was demolished in 1883 to make way for the current building. The basement of the current church is largely remnant of the earlier church building, and includes tunnels and a formerly concealed room under the old portico, which argue strongly for the presence of Underground Railroad activities. The records of the church also indicate the involvement of its members in the anti-slavery movement.

An excerpt from the First Congregational Church's application for Heritage Trail designation, written by Peter Kivic:

Malone, despite its remote location, was an early hotbed of abolitionist sentiment. The Malone Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) was formed in 1836, with about forty members (unusually large for such a small village); among them were a dozen members of the Congregational Church [Church records; Seaver, 1918]. Prominent among these was Ashbel Parmelee, the church's first pastor (1809-1845), a noted orator and strong supporter of both Abolition and African Colonization [Hurd, 1880; Church records; Davis, 1969; Seaver, 1918]. .... In 1835, Parmelee was a delegate to the New York State Anti-Slavery Meeting in Utica [Calarco, 2004]. Three years later, he himself hosted another Anti-Slavery conference, in the Malone church, for the "most influential clergymen in the county" to debate slavery issues and make "high-toned resolutions" against it. [Canfield, 1838]
... Parmelee's successor, Silas Woodruff, the second pastor of the Congregational church (1845-1853) [Church records], was also a longtime member of the MASS [Seaver, 1918]; he was the pastor during the construction of the brick church, resigning the next year. Woodruff was followed by John Herrick, the church's third pastor (1854-1867) [Church records]. Like his predecessors, Herrick was also a longtime member of the MASS [Seaver, 1918]; he was the pastor during the period when the church building was presumably being used by the UGRR, adn the Civil War which followed. During the war, the church hosted "many patriotic meetings" and was "used by recruiters for soldiers"; Henry Ward Beecher spoke at a high-school graduation exercise held in the church during this time. [Davis, 1969]"

William A. Wheeler, Vice-President of the United States 1877-1881, was a member of the Congregational Church and had been a member of the anti-slavery movement. "In 1860, Wheeler was the featured speaker at a huge "Wide Awake Club" rally in Brush's Mills (now Bruston), NY; (he attacked slavery in Kansas). [Malone Palladium, Aug. 3, 1860]." The Wide Awakes were a radical wing of the Republican Party, with a very strong anti-slavery platform.

Other Area Underground Railroad Sites

An excerpt from the First Congregational Church's application for Heritage Trail designation, written by Peter Kivic:

"The long-time (1836-1848) president of the MASS was the county's most prominent lawyer, and most outspoken abolitionist, Jabez Parkhurst of Fort Covington, the border town ten miles north of Malone. Parkhurst, elected a vice-president of the NY State Anti-Slavery Society in 1840, was leader of the Franklin County Liberty Party and its candidate for NY State Assembly in 1843. [Calarco, 2004; Seaver, 1918] Parkhurst made little secret of his UGRR stationmaster and conductor activities.... He is known to have secreted in his house and barn groups of fugitives (presumably ones transported north from Malone), whom he then carried the half-mile across the border to Dundee, Quebec in his haywagon. Mr. Parkhurst's midnight deliveries of "hay" to Canada were a standing joke in town. [Seaver, 1918].
Two miles north of Malone, on the road to Fort Covington, was the house of Maj. John Dimick, a retired military officer and lumberyard owner, who was a member of the Malone Congregational Church for several years. Dimick, a known UGRR conductor and stationmaster, transported fugutives from Malone to Fort Covington and Canada in his lumber wagons. [Seaver, 1918]. Concealed hiding-places (e.g. a room hidden within the base of the chimney-stack) have been discovered in his home.

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