Man of Integrity 1793 - February 15, 1869

1793 - Born a slave in Prince William County, Virginia
and brought to Sodus and Bath, New York where he self
emancipated by flight.
With the assistance from the Quaker community he
gained legal freedom to become a great abolitionist, author,
teacher and spoke out against inequality of races.
1816 - Assisted the Quaker Community with the
construction of the 1816 Farmington Quaker Meeting
House.
1817 - Established a meat market and grocery as the
first Black business in the city of Rochester.
1818 - Opened the Sabbath School for Children of Color
in Canandaigua.
1827 - Orated the Emancipation speech in Rochester
marking the end of slavery in New York State.
1828 - Elected as a Trustee of the First African Methodist
Episcopal Church in Rochester.
1830 - Served as Leader for Wilberforce Colony in Ontario,
Canada (the first settlement for African Americans
seeking freedom)
1857 - Publication of his autobiography, "Twenty-Two
Years a Slave and Forty Years a Freeman", a significant
contribution to Black history, racial understanding and
the regional histories of Sodus, Bath, Lyons, Oaks Corners,
Palmyra, Geneva, Canandaigua and Rochester.
Austin Steward was truly a man of integrity.

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