Cayuga County

Slavery ended in New York State in 1827. From that point forward, free people of color and a few European American allies—in Auburn, Cayuga County, and throughout New York State and the North--worked both for the abolition of slavery and equal rights for African Americans. They sent antislavery petitions to Congress, organized antislavery societies, supported antislavery newspapers, voted for antislavery politicians, and collected money for antislavery lecturers. A small number of them actively supported the Underground Railroad. By the time Harriet Tubman purchased property in Auburn in 1857, Cayuga County was already a hotbed of Underground Railroad activity, concentrated in particular places.