CHESTERFIELD — When he was 11, Phil Estes visited his ancestral homestead built by his great-great-grandfather Herbert H. Estes, a Civil War veteran and superintendent of the AuSable Horse Nail Co.
Then, the sandstone home was in disrepair high above the banks of Ausable Chasm. At the time, Phil vowed to become a millionaire one day to restore the home that was touchstone for him and other Estes descendants.
Last Saturday, Phil's wish was fulfilled beyond his boyhood dream with the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Estes homestead, now home to the North Star Underground Railroad Museum and Town of Chesterfield Heritage Center.
"I didn't know it was a prayer then," said Estes, a major in the U.S. Army Reserve and an Iraq War veteran. He and his family live in Texas, where he opened a dental practice two years ago.
"It definitely was," he said. "I remember the feeling. I wanted to see this house restored with a purpose again."
Long time coming
A decade ago, the spark was ignited for "lighting freedom's road" with the underground-railroad research of Don Papson, and the subsequent founding, with a group of volunteers, of the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association. Its mission was to restore national consciousness of the "Champlain Line" of the underground railroad and its entwined history with the Upper Hudson River, the Champlain Canal and Lake Champlain. The line encompasses Washington, Warren, Saratoga, Essex, Clinton, Franklin and St. Lawrence counties and adjacent areas in Vermont and Canada.
The North Star Underground Railroad Museum is a symbiotic collaboration between the Town of Chesterfield, the Ausable Chasm Company and the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association.
"It would have meant a lot to him to see this," said Bea Estes, speaking of her late husband, Harry Estes Jr. She attended Saturday's ceremony with her son and daughter-in-law, Jim and Deb Estes.
"It's something he couldn't realize," Bea said. "I have no way to express my true feelings. I wish Harry could have seen it. I know what it would have meant to him. He was so family-oriented."
Saturday's ceremony included remarks by Janet Kennedy, director of the Lakes to Locks Passage; John McDonald, president of the Ausable Chasm Company; Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward; Antoinette Martignoni, great-great granddaughter of J.M. McCune Smith; Frank Kinnelly, vice president of the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association; Jerry Morrow, Town of Chesterfield supervisor; and Papson.
"Now that the child is born, it's yours," Papson said. "I've devoted 10 years to do this. Vivian (Papson) and I never dreamed — we never had any idea — this would materialize."
"Good things come slow, and this was one of the best," Morrow said.
Museum features
Emcee was Margaret Gibbs, Essex County historian, director of the Adirondack History Center Museum and North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association board member. Taps was performed by Lynn Wilke, a member of Camp 154, Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War. Under the direction of Dr. Dexter Criss, the Plattsburgh State Gospel choir performed several musical selections. The college's Upward Bound students served refreshments.
Despite Saturday's downpour, the mood was high inside the museum, which features panels on the Underground Railroad as well as an Estes-family history in its main room.
The museum houses two mini theaters. One features a multimedia presentation, "The Forgotten Story of John Thomas," a freedom seeker from Queen Anne's County, Md., who eventually owned a successful 200-acre farm in Bloomingdale. The second theater features "Northward to Freedom," a video by Paul Frederick Productions that highlights several stories of the Champlain Line, including that of Lavina Bell, who was born free in Washington, D.C., and kidnapped as a babe and sold into Texas slavery. She eventually escaped to freedom in Montreal.
A quilted wall hanging, made by Vivian Papson, lists the names of freedom seekers, abolitionists, conductors and agents, including Willis Augustus Hodges.
"He was one of my relatives," said Paula Henry of Geneseo. "He came through this area, got property from Gerit Smith and published 'The Ram's Horn,' a newspaper in the 1840s. I think this is wonderful. It's a real accomplishment, a real educational tool they can use, not only for visitors, but for local people themselves so they can have a different idea about who they are."
A third exhibit space features a model of Stephen Keese Smith, a well-known Underground Railroad conductor, and replicas of three area churches — Quaker, Baptist and Methodist — and how their congregations divided over the issue of slavery. The centerpiece of this room features a leg iron discovered by John Lecky in 1970 during the renovation of the former home of Pliny Hoag on Hallock Hill. It is a chilling reminder to present and future generations of a not-so-glorious American past.
Fourteen-year-old Lindsey La Marche, along with her grandmother Linda Harwood, were among the many museum volunteers. La Marche painted windows and put covers on light switches.
"We are a big part of the underground railroad," she said. "I think it's important we get recognized. This is a great opportunity for people my age to learn more about our history here."
Email Robin Caudell at: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
