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November 8, 2008

Quaker tradition hits home for Peru man

By ROBIN CAUDELL

PERU -- Neal Burdick grew up at 60 Court St. in Plattsburgh.

His father's family originated in Lewis County. His grandfather, Charles Burdick Sr. was an administrator in the state mental-health system and became the superintendent of the State Hospital at Clinton Prison in Dannemora.

That's how Burdick's father, Charles Jr., got to Clinton County. Burdick's mother's Keese ancestors were among the first European settlers in what would become Peru.

FIRST SETTLEMENT

In 1784, Zephaniah Platt, the founder of Plattsburgh, and his associates purchased 30,000 acres of land on Lake Champlain that included Peru and its environs. Platt hired William and John Keese, Quaker brothers from Dutchess County, to survey 425-acre lots and gave them the chance to purchase whatever lots they desired.

"That's where Keeseville gets its name," said Burdick, who is publications writer/editor and associate director of university communications at St. Lawrence University in Canton. "They had surveyed all the land. They knew where the best land was."

And so they picked property on Union Road.

The Keeses, originally from England, lived in the Hudson Valley. They were members of the Religious Society of Friends, called Quakers, that was founded in 17th-century in England as a Christian religious denomination. They established the Quaker Union, Peru's first settlement, in 1790.

"As was typical of Quakers, they used to move entire communities of several families together," Burdick said. "When this particular group heard about what great land there was in the Champlain Valley, they moved lock, stock and barrel. Many were Keeses. I descend from those Keeses."

Burdick's mother, Virginia Mason, was the daughter of Pauline Keese Smith, who married Charles Mason of the Mason Lumber Company. Pauline's father was Benjamin Smith. His father was Stephen Keese Smith, a documented abolitionist and underground railroad agent. Stephen Keese Smith is descended from Stephen Keese, one of the surveyors' siblings.

"The Quaker community lasted about five generations and broke up in late 19th century because people moved westward for new opportunity," Burdick said. "Some ended up in Iowa. They were a small community. ... They ended up marrying out in the late 19th century."

PEACE CHURCH

Benjamin Smith attended meetings, but his daughter and granddaughter, Burdick's mother and grandmother, worshipped at Protestant services at the Peru Community Church.

Burdick's father taught English at Plattsburgh High School. At home, his mother gave him a big dose of their Quaker roots. He practices his ancestors' faith tradition.

"It resonated with me. It seemed to fit me and my beliefs and my outlook on the world. I was a teenager during the Vietnam War years. Every young man had to decide where he stood on things like war. The Quakers are pacifists. Their peace church was very much opposed to war. That fit my personal beliefs."

As an undergrad at St. Lawrence, he started attending Quaker meetings led by a professor.

"We met once a week in traditional Quaker worship format. I felt really comfortable with that. I went to graduate school in Cleveland and met my eventual wife, who was a Quaker. We met at the Friends Meetinghouse in Cleveland. That cemented my faith road from that point on."

Burdick's mother was thrilled to death that he married a Quaker woman.

"They are hard to find. There aren't many of us," he said. "My mother had a great sense of connection to her family history. She was the family genealogist. She began telling the family stories to her grandchildren and to take us to the cemetery there (Quaker Union) and show us the barn where Stephen Keese Smith hid the fugitives."

Burdick and his wife live in Canton. Their adult children live in Boston, a great place to meet a potential Quaker mate.

ANTI-SLAVERY CAUSE

On Saturday, Burdick is presenting a lecture, "Quakerism, the Peru Quakers and the Underground Railroad" at the Peru Community Fellowship Center. The center stands on the very dirt where his mother played as a child.

"They came as pioneers. As Quakers typically do, they had strong convictions and they acted on it. They put it into practice in their daily lives. They practiced what they preached. That's something I always admired."

Quaker fundamentals include tolerance of difference views and acceptance of people regardless of their background and beliefs.

"To be open-minded and accepting of people's differences. To treat people with dignity."

Burdick's former high-school classmate singer-songwriter Lita Kelly will perform at Saturday's event.

During college, they lost track of each other but met up again last February at the Women's History Month celebration hosted by the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts in Plattsburgh.

"We found we both had similar interests in the underground railroad, the music and the Quaker Union," Kelly said. "Very few people realize how the underground railroad and the Quakers relate, but it's a big part of our history. We thought it would be good to bring out to the North Country why the Quakers were so involved in the anti-slavery cause."

Proceeds from the event, sponsored by the North Country Underground Railroad Association, will benefit the restoration of the historical marker at the Keese Homestead in the Town of AuSable.

"The Keese homestead is a place where a lot of our area students had gone to learn their history," Kelly said. "We thought it would be a good fundraiser to combine the need for the sign with the music and the Quaker history."



rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

if you go
WHAT: "Quakerism, the Peru Quakers and the Underground Railroad."
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Peru Community Fellowship Center, Elm Street, Peru.
ADMISSION: Minimum $5 donation.

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