Rokeby Museum is a historic farm property and museum at 4334 United States Route 7 in

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 National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

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

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

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

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. 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 a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

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

miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

s, farmers,

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

, 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 centuries 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 fre ...

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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

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 ...

, 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 National Register of Historic Places in Addison County, Vermont

Description and history

Notable residents

See also

References

External links