In 1796 the first European settlers came to the Huron area, which was then part of Junius in Seneca County and was not called Huron for another 38 years. These pioneers arrived at the head of the Sodus Bay area now known as Resort. Captain William Helm accompanied by some 70 slaves came up the Genessee from Virginia, traveled east to Sodus (Sodus Point), where the group stayed at Moses and Jabez Sill’s tavern for a few days, before going up to the head of Sodus Bay. The following article was written for the Sodus Bay Historical Society Newsletter in 2017 about Austin Steward – an enslaved child of the Helm pioneers.

Austin Steward – From Enslavement to Entrepreneur and Social Reform Leader

Rosa Fox, Town of Huron Historian

 Note: This article was composed a year ago for inclusion in a 2019 SBHS Flash!  to commemorate the 150^thanniversary of Steward’s death, February 15, 1869.

The very same year Frederick Douglass was born to enslavement in Talbot County, Maryland in 1818, a grocery and dry goods store opened on the east bank of the Genesee River in Rochester, New York (then Brighton) on the corner of Main Street across from the present-day Riverside Convention Center.  The owner and operator was Austin Steward, the first African American to open a business in this soon to become bustling canal town. Some thirty years later, the two men would meet – advocates for political reform, especially the rights and freedom of African American enslaved persons.            

Austin Steward was born in 1793, his parents were the slaves of Captain William Helm of Prince William County, Virginia.  Helm, a habitual gambler of both card playing and horse racing, sometimes experienced sizeable monetary losses.  To escape his debt, Helm sold his Virginia plantation. At the encouragement of his friend, Colonel Charles Williamson, Helm journeyed north to Genesee Country where he hoped to find a more profitable life. His seventy to one hundred slaves joined him on the journey.  History books are in conflict as to the date Helm arrived at Sodus Bay. McIntosh’s History of Wayne County 1789 – 1877 notes Helm’s arrival at Sodus Bay around 1796. Other writings say Helm came north around 1801. Steward would have been eight in 1801, more ready for his job as Helm’s errand boy.  Steward’s autobiography, Twenty-two Years a Slave and Forty Years a Free Man details his life as an enslaved person, his transition to freedom, and becoming an activist for the cause to end enslavement.

 Helm and his accompanying travelers spent a night or so at Moses and Jabez Sill’s inn located at what was to become Troupville in 1801 and then in 1826 Sodus Point. Helm bought considerable property at the head of Sodus Bay at what is now Resort. The Jim Thomas Farm along Ridge Road, Resort, was part of the “Helm Plantation”. Helm’s plantation may have gone as far north as the old Catchpole Farm – now Oak Park Marina and also included property on the west side of the bay.

Captain Helm is considered the first “settler” in Huron.  Steward writes:  “Provisions were scarce and could not be procured for cash in that section. There was no corn to be had, and we had but little left. We had no neighbors to assist us in this trying time, and we came near starvation. True, the wild, romantic region in which we were located abounded in game — elk, deer, bear, panther, and wolves, roamed abroad through the dense forest, in great abundance, but the business of the slaves was not hunting or fishing, but clearing the land, preparatory to raising crops of grain the coming season.”¹

Helm’s slaves were not skilled or of physical stamina necessary for the work of felling trees nor for living in such a wilderness. The nearly impossible living conditions resulted in Helm moving to Bath in Steuben County, where he was able to purchase two farms in a territory far tamer and more populated than Sodus Bay. Bringing his family north and aided by the hard labor of his slaves, Helm settled at Bath to life more akin to his tastes.

The tale of Austin Steward’s fortunate escape to freedom in 1814 and the people who assisted him along the way is an extensive story. Through much desperation and determination, Steward eventually wound up with Otis Comstock in Farmington, New York, a notable Quaker abolitionist. Steward was treated kindly by Comstock, achieved his freedom, and “acquired quite a knowledge of reading, writing, arithmetic, and had made a small beginning in English grammar.”¹

In 1817, Steward wrote: “commenced a new business—that of peddling in the village of Rochester such articles as my employer, Mr. Comstock, desired to sell: the products of his farm – wheat, corn, oats, butter, cheese, meat, and poultry – all of which met a ready sale, generally for cash at liberal prices. That market was then but little known to the generality of farmers, and the enterprising gentlemen of that place were desirous of encouraging commerce with the surrounding country, offered every encouragement in their power. Hence, we found it a profitable business, which I continued in for several months.” ¹   

Though it pained Steward to leave the Comstock family, he decided to go into business for himself, building a store on the land he purchased in the town of Brighton (soon to become Rochesterville, and finally Rochester) where Steward continued to sell goods supplied by his friend Otis Comstock.

Slavery was fully abolished in New York State on July 4, 1827.  In Rochester, Austin Steward was chosen to deliver the Emancipation speech on July 5, 1827, at Johnson’s Square, now Washington Square Park near the Strong Museum. Local Steward researcher, Chester Freeman says Steward’s “oration encouraged people of color to educate themselves, become entrepreneurs, and live lives of integrity based on faith.”² An advocate for voting rights, temperance, and for the abolition of slavery, Steward continued to host reform meetings. He was a subscription agent for Freedom’s Journal distributed across upstate New York via the Erie Canal.  Steward was elected Vice President of the first national “Colored Convention” in Philadelphia in 1830.

Slavery continued to be an important cause to be eliminated. Much work needed to be done, even in the north and in Canada. In 1831, Steward left Rochester to help the Wilberforce community in Canada. Named after William Wilberforce, who endeavored to abolish slave trade in England, the Canadian colony was established in 1829 as a refuge for American enslaved persons. Steward spent six years at Wilberforce, returning to Rochester in 1837, a decade before Frederick Douglass would arrive.  During the years prior to the Civil War, abolitionist activities brought the two men together. Steward served as a strong and inspirational mentor to the younger abolitionist.

Steward moved “home” to Canandaigua after his store in Rochester was destroyed by fire in 1838. He “taught school, lectured, wrote, and worked with anti-slavery groups.”²Steward’s autobiography Twenty-two Years a Slave and Forty Years a Free Man was published in 1857, nearly a decade before the end of the Civil War. Editions continued to be released, with a fourth edition released in 1867.

Steward died in 1869 – four years after the Civil War ended. There are several sites in Rochester dedicated to the memory of Steward. In February 2019, there was a celebration in Canandaigua of the 150th anniversary of Steward’s death. At the event made possible by the Ontario County Historical Society, a historic marker was presented. Dedicated to Steward, the marker is placed at Steward’s gravesite in the Canandaigua West Avenue Cemetery. Referred to as an “Unsung Hero”, Austin Steward’s role in history, his moral strength against adversity, and his capacity as a leader of reform truly places him in the family of great individuals who had a positive and lasting impact on our nation.

1. You can read Steward’s autobiography, Twenty-two Years a Slave and Forty Years a Free Man, online at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11137/11137-h/11137-h.htm. 

2.  Austin Steward – A Man of Integrity by Chester Freeman may be read online at https://www.lifeinthefingerlakes.com/austin-steward-a-man-of-integrity/