Macedonia A.M.E. Church (1802) Flushing Queen, NY

*MACEDONIA A.M.E. CHURCH OF FLUSHING QUEEN, NEW YORK.  AFRICAN AMERIANS IN FLUSHING, NEW YORK (1802) FLUSHING QUEEN NEW YORK (c. FLUSHING QUEEN HISTORICAL SOCIETY)

Underground Railroad, a network set up by abolitionists to shuttle slaves to freedom, was chugging along in New York City well into the mid-19th century and possibly until the start of the Civil War in 1861.  The Underground Railroad basically started when the first slaves left their plantations and wanted their freedom.  New York City served as a route of escape, especially as some slaves journeyed north to Syracuse or Rochester.  Celebrated abolitionist Harriet Tubman reportedly used a direct route up the Hudson River, through upstate New York and straight into Canada, to help hundreds and perhaps thousands of slaves escape.

Escaping to Canada was primacy goal of slaves that used the Underground Railroad.  New York’s proximity to Canada made it a heavily traveled slaves escape route.  Although slavery was a very real part of life in pre-Civil War Flushing was regarded as something of a sanctuary for slaves seeding freedom.  Among suspected “station” was the Macedonia A.M.E. Church (1802) the oldest black church in Flushing.  The original building was destroyed by fire; the current church, built at the turn of the century, stands on the same site at 37022 Union Street.

Other Underground Railroad refuges are though to have included the Quaker Friends Meeting House (Norhern Boulevard), the Bowne House (37-01 Bowne Street) and the Kingsland House (143-35 Ave,).  Along with the A.M.E. church, all are part of the Flushing Freedom Mile Historic Trail run by the Queen Historical Society.  Quakers were among the first groups to speak out against slavery in the early 1700’s.  Samuel Bowne Parsons, a prominent and affluent Quakers, was noted as a key figure in the antislavery movement in Flushing.  He was credited with providing money and material support to help free slaves from North Carolina and bring them to Flushing.  Abolitionists such as Edward Africanus, who would later become minister of the Macedonia A.M.E. Church, and Abbey Kelly Foster, a member of he American Anti-Slavery Society, would rally against slavery and racial inequality.

One glaring example was a law passed in 1821 that no longer required whites to own property in order to vote, but kept the requirement for blacks.  As a result, only two blacks were able to vote in the Flushing elections of 1840.  Abolitionist groups such as the New York City Vigilance Committee, which helped hundreds of slaves escape, and major slave opponents such as William Lloyd Garrison continued to rally and demonstrate against slavery until the outbreak of the Civil War.  In 1853, Garrison spoke at a big rally in Flushing to celebrate West Indian Emancipation Day, which occurred when the British abolished slavery in the West Indies in 1834.  The whole antislavery movement set the country on the path to war.

Most slaves who escaped were caught and often punished severely upon capture. For slaves, staying one step ahead of pursuing bounty hunters was an ever-present concern.  Many slave owners would post rewards for runaways and would even warn people against aiding slaves to freedom.

(SOURCE: ALAN KRAWITZ, NEWSDAY, 2003, JAMES DRISCOLL-HISTORIAN, EDITED BY: LAWRENCE E. WALKER, 2004)