The Underground Railroad (UGRR) is one of America’s greatest stories, consisting of historical facts embroidered with myths and folklore about the multitude of routes to freedom taken by fugitive slaves prior and during the Civil War. It is a rich, complex and on-going national dialog that embodies both the highest virtues and values at the heart of our nation, as well as the challenges and downfalls of its underlying historical and social realities. The UGRR is also a local story for the hundreds of places associated with it across the nation that participated in abolitionist activities that often reached beyond issues of race and creed. In Paterson, Huntoon’s Corner Underground Railroad historic site memorializes the historical, social and cultural significance of the UGRR to the city, and interracial cooperation in support of abolition.
Vermont native Josiah P. Huntoon (1813-1891) relocated to Paterson in 1841. Huntoon purchased the property at the corner of Broadway and Bridge Streets in 1848 to build his home out of which he traded in coffee and spices. By 1855, Huntoon’s successful ventures enabled him to purchase the corner site across the street from his home to erect a brick mill called the Excelsior Coffee & Spice Mill. Beyond Huntoon’s many notable accomplishments in Paterson and Passaic County during his lifetime, he was also an avid abolitionist and a member of the Antislavery Society. Huntoon was a benefactor to William Van Rensalier, a free African American born in 1831 at Spring Valley, NY, who relocated to Paterson with his family after 1850. Huntoon and Van Rensalier may have befriended each other in Paterson because of their shared abolitionist views and activities. Huntoon financed Van Rensalier’s education in Canada, after which he returned to Paterson to live and work with Huntoon’s family at the mill as an engineer – most likely Paterson’s first African American engineer. Van Rensalier married in 1864 and moved to his own home on Broadway not far from the Excelsior Mill, given to him as a wedding gift by the Huntoons.
During that time, the two men were “agents” and “conductors” on the UGRR, using Huntoon’s corner house and factory cellars as Paterson’s “station” stop over, where food, clothing and overnight shelter was provided to fugitive slaves most likely in route to Canada. Passaic County was on a main route that led from New Brunswick to Paterson, New York City, on to Syracuse and finally into Canada. With pressure from pro-slavery sentiment in neighboring states, corrupt federal marshals abducting free blacks, escaping slaves and their accomplices under the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, Huntoon and Van Rensalier were constantly risking their lives along with all others who helped them along the UGRR.
The two men remained close and devoted friends until Huntoon’s death in 1891. William Van Rensalier died in 1904 and was buried in Cedar Lawn Cemetery. Following Huntoon’s death, the story of the two men and their works was not forgotten. When Dr. David Neer purchased Huntoon’s home and developed a drugstore on the site by the turn of the century, he offered to have people look through the basement to showcase where former slaves had passed on their journey to freedom. Neer’s Drugstore continued to be a place hospitable to African Americans despite the existence of Jim Crow laws. Future owners continued with Neer’s tradition which kept the story in local memory. Unfortunately, however, the building was demolished in 1983 for a municipal parking garage that was ultimately not constructed. The site and its adjacent vacant land remained vacant through 1994 when it was put on the market for redevelopment. Following much controversy over the next two years, the site was formally recognized by its designation as a historic landmark in the City of Paterson in November of 1996, and was set aside from future development.
The struggle to commemorate the site and the struggle for its official designation brought to light the interracial collaboration of two men who, among others, defined Paterson’s role in the movement to resist and bring an end to slavery in the United States. The significance of Huntoon’s Corner lies within the spirit of an era when black and white Americans joined together at great personal risk, to rise above overwhelming odds against racism and human bondage in their struggle for freedom and equality.
The City of Paterson, City of Paterson Parking Authority, Passaic County Community College, the Huntoon-Van Rensalier Underground Railroad Foundation, the Paterson Historic Preservation Commission, private donors and volunteers, have collaborted to pay tribute to all generations of Patersonians and abolitionists that contributed to America’s “Network to Freedom,” the Underground Railroad. An impressive memorial plaza and to erect a bronze monument on the grounds of Huntoon’s Corner were completed in 2019. The monument honors both abolitionists, Huntoon and Van Rensalier, depicting them together standing side by side, holding lanterns to light a path toward freedom.