Local nonprofit launches GoFundMe to preserve Stephen Keese Smith Farm in Peru

Dec. 3—PERU — The historic Stephen Keese Smith Farm, located at 625 Union Rd in Peru, is for sale and a local nonprofit has launched a GoFundMe at gofund.me/425cf608 to preserve it.

In 1819, Jan "John" Haff (1748-1823), a Peru settler from Dutchess Co. and a slave owner, deeded this portion of his property to his son, the Rev. Abraham Haff, a farmer and local circuit preacher, according to bigelowsociety.com.

In 1852, the Methodist minister sold the property to Stephen Keese Smith (1805-1894), a Quaker and documented Underground Railroad station master.

Smith was the son of Benjamin Smith and Elizabeth Keese, the daughter of Stephen Keese.

"The GoFundMe page is a result of the current owners Frank and Jackie Perusse who will be selling the property," Jacqueline Madison, president of the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association, said.

"That property has the documented hidden site that we would like to keep intact, to have it remain for future generations. That really is why we are seeking and doing the GoFundMe page. We would like to obtain that property, not for our use, but to actually make it a historical site that would be available through this region — Clinton, Franklin, and St. Lawrence counties — because there isn't a state historic site in this area. That would give this North Country a place that they could come."

HAFFS IN PERU

A Revolutionary War soldier, John Haff obtained 792 acres on Union Road.

Born in Fishkill, Dutchess Co., John married Rebecca Storm (1753-1820), the daughter of Gorus Storm and Maria Parmentier, also of Fishkill, according to Rod Bigelow's bigelowsociety.com

John and Rebecca's six known children were: Jacob, Peter, Sarah, Elizabeth, Hannah and Rev. Abraham (1792-1881), who married Anna Button (1795-1828), the daughter of Elisha Button and Anna Yeaw. Their seven known children are: John, Nelson, Elisha Button, Abraham, Rebecca, Luther and Anna.

"He (John) worked the land, and eventually he would split it between two of his sons, Abraham and Peter," Madison said.

"Abraham got the property that would eventually be owned by Stephen Keese Smith. In his later years, he decided he was too old to farm and would sell his property to Stephen Keese Smith, who was an abolitionist, who was a Quaker, and he actually did his memoirs."

Stephen Keese Smith documented his Underground Railroad exploits in his recollections in which he named fellow operatives such as John Keese, Wendell Lansing in Keeseville and Noadiah Moore in Champlain.

"So we know he was helping freedom seekers get to freedom, and he was hiding them in the last barn on his property, which was just before the wooded area," Madison said.

"He would hide them there in the evening, but not during the day because he had a neighbor who threatened to turn him in, suspecting him of doing this. In the day, they would actually hide in the woods behind the barn."

The Stephen Keese Smith property is significant beyond the Champlain Valley.

"Because there aren't a lot of sites that have documented cases of a hiding place in the U.S., not just in this region," Madison said.

"Because he documented it not only in his memoirs but with a reporter at The Republican newspaper, we do know that this did occur. His family members have talked about this hiding place as well. It's that piece of that property that is very significant but that property also has other things that are educational like what the lifestyle was like during that period."

RIVER ROAD

On his family's homestead, Stephen Keese Smith conducted his Underground Railroad activities prior to the purchase of the Haff property.

"It was on River Road," Madison said.

"The Quakers did not go along with slavery. They were against it. They felt that every man was entitled to their freedom. I do believe John Keese owned a slave. He was removed from the Meeting House until he got rid of that slave.

"Stephen Keese Smith was always involved in the abolitionist movement."

Stephen Keese Smith attributed his involvement in the secretive network to Noadiah Moore in Champlain.

Moore and his wife, and Caroline, were ardent abolitionists, dedicated to bringing an end to slavery. The Moores used their home to shelter people escaping slavery and to help them reach freedom in Canada, according to www.wgpfoundation.org/historic-markers/abolitionists.

"I suspect that he may have also had his family, Samuel Keese, his uncle, was a member of the Underground Railroad movement," Madison said.

"I'm sure they had an influence on him. Maybe Noadiah convinced him the most.

CROSS-LAKE TIES

Smith's network also included Quaker Roland Robinson in Ferrisburgh, Vt.

"Roland helped individuals mostly on the Vermont side, but there was a case where there was a young man, whose master was right behind him," Madison said.

"He ended at Roland's home, and Roland helped him. He sort of stayed there, and then Roland sent him through Charlotte, by the ferry, over to Stephen Keese Smith, who picked him up and took him, I'm sure, to Noadiah Moore's place to take him over into Canada.

"Initially that story was that Roland had actually sent him through Vermont, but his son later said the young man did end up at Stephen Keese Smith's home. We know that it was documented."

GROUND GAME

The Keese family were early settlers to the region. The central part of Peru was included in Zephaniah Platt's "Great Location" of 17,983 acres, according to Nathan R. Weaver's account in "Pioneer Days of Peru."

"William and John Keese of Dutchess Co. were employed by Platt as surveyors, and it is said for their services he gave them their choice of 500 acres of land. In 1789, William Keese built a log cabin on the land owned by Timothy Davern. This was the beginning of the early settlement of the portion of Peru known as The Union. John Keese, the father, settled directly west of him. Three other sons (Oliver, Stephen and Richard) of John Keese came and settled nearby."

"The Keese family was crucial to The Union," Madison said.

"There was a community called the Quaker Union, and they were prominent. In the very beginning, the majority of the residents were the Keeses in this region. Peru was founded in 1792. It was the combination of not just Plattsburgh and Willsboro on Dec. 28. It included the towns of Ausable and Black Brook."

LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES

The Stephen Keese Smith property could be re-imagined as a Colonial Williamsburg of the North.

"It could be an educational place," Madison said.

"It could be a funding place. It could be a place that could be an employment place for this region. It would help people to learn more about this region and understand what it was like during that early history.

"There are other barns on there that were used to either house sheep, cattle, that would be useful for students, especially to learn about life, real life, at that particular time in our history."

The 1813 clapboard dwelling has 10 bedrooms and two kitchens.

"There was, when Stephen Keese Smith lived at the home, a kitchen that was built behind the house because kitchens were not really part of the main part of the house because of the fire hazard," Madison said.

"That did burn down. But this could be, if the state was to take it over, a destination place. The rooms could be a bed-and-breakfast of some sort. They could do educational outreach to the schools, especially homeschoolers and people in the community. It could be a place that could be employment for people in this region."

The John Brown Farm Historic Site in Lake Placid is the only one of its kind. That site was purchased by interested citizens for its preservation before the state purchased the property from them.

The "Friends of the Stephen Keese Smith Farm" seek an outcome like that, even a federal-state partnership like the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Church Creek, Md., and the GoFundMe is the first step in making that a reality.

"We're hoping to raise $1 million, and that's because of numerous repairs that need to be done to the farm, the home," Madison said.

"The barns needs to be reinforced. We've had some reinforcement by a barn expert Bill Umbreit, who has continued to monitor and maintain the facility for us and the home itself needs some repairs to it."

"I think it's very exciting, and I think it's an important location to be preserved," Peru Town Historian Helen Nerska said.

"It would be nice if the community could support this because it's special. It makes Peru even more special than it is because it's one of the original towns. We as historians know how important that building is and we want to save it."

NEW LLC

The North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association is not seeking to retain the property.

"We have a building and a museum," Madison said.

"We are hoping to be sort of an interim (steward) to make sure it doesn't get torn down or damaged in some ways that it is no longer available to the community. We are interested in anyone that would like to shepherd or start an LLC. If you're interested in helping to retain this property that will hopefully be turned over to the state, and you would like to work on it, we would certainly be interested in working with you."

The Association is seeking assistance in many forms.

"We are actually seeking any input from anyone that knows about the history or may have something related to the history, we would be interested in that as well because sometimes people might have letters or documents of some kind that they didn't think was important but they have kept them for whatever reason," Madison said.

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell