The Austin F. Williams Carriagehouse and House is a historic house at 127 Main Street in

Farmington, Connecticut Farmington is a town in Hartford County in the Farmington Valley area of central Connecticut in the United States. The population was 26,712 at the 2020 census. It sits 10 miles west of Hartford at the hub of major I-84 interchanges, 20 miles ...

. Built in the mid-19th century, the property was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

for the role it played in the celebrated case of the '' Amistad'' Africans, and as a "station" on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

Description and history

Austin Williams (1805–1885) and his wife Jennet Cowles Williams were

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

. This property first became important in the Amistad case. When the Mende men who had participated in the revolt on the slave ship ''

La Amistad ''La Amistad'' (; Spanish for ''Friendship'') was a 19th-century two- masted schooner, owned by a Spaniard colonizing Cuba. It became renowned in July 1839 for a slave revolt by Mende captives, who had been captured and sold to European slave ...

'' were released from prison in 1841, Williams purchased this property and erected a dormitory building in which the Mende men could stay while awaiting arrangements for their return to Africa. Williams was friends with

Lewis Tappan Lewis Tappan (May 23, 1788 – June 21, 1873) was a New York abolitionist who worked to achieve freedom for the enslaved Africans aboard the '' Amistad''. Tappan was also among the founders of the American Missionary Association in 1846, which b ...

who was assisting the Africans. The structure that was built is now part of the

carriage house A carriage house, also called a remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack. In Great Britain the farm building was called a cart shed. These typically were open ...

. The men did agricultural work during this period. In 1842, the Williamses built their

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

house. The cellar of the carriage house served as a hiding place for escaping slaves as a part of the Underground Railroad. The site was declared a

in 1998. and It is located at 127 Main Street in

Farmington Farmington may refer to: Places Canada *Farmington, British Columbia * Farmington, Nova Scotia (disambiguation) United States *Farmington, Arkansas *Farmington, California *Farmington, Connecticut *Farmington, Delaware * Farmington, Georgia * ...

and is part of the Farmington Historic District. The house is a private residence and is not open to the public.

References

External links

Amistad: Seeking Freedom in Connecticut, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Austin F., Carriagehouse And House Houses in Farmington, Connecticut National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut Houses on the Underground Railroad Abolitionism in the United States Carriage houses in the United States Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Greek Revival houses in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut Carriage houses on the National Register of Historic Places Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Connecticut

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

Description and history

See also

References

External links