Rokeby Museum is a historic farm property and museum at 4334

United States Route 7 U.S. Route 7 (US 7) is a north–south United States highway in western New England that runs for through the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. The highway's southern terminus is at Interstate 95 (I-95) exit 1 ...

Ferrisburgh, Vermont Ferrisburgh is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. It was founded June 24, 1762. The population was 2,646 at the 2020 census. The town is sometimes spelled Ferrisburg. History The site that would eventually become Ferrisburgh was ...

. The property includes a 1780s farmstead, and eight agricultural outbuildings with permanent exhibits. Hiking trails cover more than of the grounds. Rokeby is open from mid-May to mid-October each year. 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 ...

in 1997 for its association with Rowland T. Robinson, a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

and ardent abolitionist who openly sheltered escaped slaves at Rokeby as part of 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. T ...

. Robinson's extensive correspondence is an essential archive giving insight into the practices of abolitionists and the operations of the railroad.

Description and history

Rokeby Museum is set on the east side of United States Route 7 in the rural community of Ferrisburgh. The central focus of the property is a cluster of buildings, including the 1780s main house, a smokehouse, hen house, outhouse, creamery, tool shed, and other agricultural buildings. The property also includes foundational remnants of a barn and a school. The main house is a two-story Federal style wood-frame structure, with an older -story frame Cape style ell attached to its rear. What is now the main block of the house was built in 1814; the ell was built as a freestanding house in the 1780s by the Dakin family, who cleared the land. In 1793, the property was purchased by Thomas Rowland Robinson, a

from

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

. For almost 200 years, the house was the home of the Robinson family, who were millers, farmers,

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 ...

, authors, naturalists, and artists. In the 1830s and 1840s, under the auspices of Rowland Thomas Robinson, Rokeby served as a safe house along the Underground Railroad. Letters from the family of Rowland T. and Rachel Gilpin Robinson, devout Quakers and radical abolitionists, mention

fugitive slave In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th century to describe people who fled slavery. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Such people are also called free ...

s by name and in some detail.http://www.rokeby.org/underground.html Rokeby Museum: Underground Railroad The record of their correspondence gives an important view into the practices and methods of abolitionists and details about the operation of the Underground Railroad. Rowland Robinson, a son of Rowland T. and Rachael Robinson, spent most of his life at Rokeby and became a celebrated author. Rowland Robinson's daughter Rachael Robinson Elmer was raised at Rokeby and was a celebrated artist. Rokeby was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1974, and was declared a

in 1997. and

Notable residents

Delia Webster Delia Ann Webster (December 17, 1817 – January 18, 1904) was an American teacher, author, businesswoman and abolitionist in Kentucky who, with Calvin Fairbank, aided many slaves, including Lewis Hayden, his wife Harriet, and their son Joseph to e ...

, abolitionist and teacher * Rachael Robinson Elmer, painter * Rowland Robinson, author

References

External links

Rokeby Museum
{{National Historic Landmarks in Vermont Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont National Historic Landmarks in Vermont Museums in Addison County, Vermont Houses completed in 1833 Historic house museums in Vermont Houses on the Underground Railroad Houses in Addison County, Vermont Populated places on the Underground Railroad National Register of Historic Places in Addison County, Vermont

Description and history

Notable residents

See also

References

External links