Herbert Estes was the superintendent of the Ausable Chasm Horse Nail Works Company. He also served in the Civil War and was captured in Salisbury, North Carolina. This was a Confederate prison that housed over 6,000 men. Conditions were horrible. Herbert Estes kept a diary while he was in the prison. Later, after his release, he read his entire diary in Congress.
Herbert's wife was Harriet. When the Ausable Chasm Horse Nail Works Company was operating, most of the employees were women. At one time, there were three buildings near the present house. These buildings were used to house employees. Herbert grew up as a Quaker and, according to his grandson, was an abolitionist. He was a member of the Baptist Church when he lived in the Keeseville area.

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President Jackie Madison signed the deed to make the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association the sole owner of the Estes House. Founders, Don and Vivian Papson were present for the momentous occasion.

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Three computer games invented by Keeseville Elementary School's enrichment program students for our Children's Table were unveiled on May 21, 2019.
See Press Release.

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On John Brown Day, the group John Brown Lives honors people who follow Brown's tradition of activism and human rights. This year two of the honorees were Don and Vivian Papson, founders of the North Star Underground Railroad Museum.

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The Created Equal Film Series, February-March, 2014 (See Press Release)

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NCUGRHA Eighth Annual Meeting, August 17, 2013

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Dedicated to the work of Noadiah and Caroline Moore in Champlain, NY, August 17th, 2013

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Celebration at North Star Museum, October 28, 2012 (See Press Release)

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Karen Davidson is a great-great-great-great granddaughter of John Haff, one of Peru, New York’s earliest settlers. She visited the North Star Underground Railroad Museum on October 26, 2011 and then John Haff’s restored 1804 home on the Union Road now owned by Joe Stemper. (Read more)

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2012 opening weekend with lecture "Who’s Under that Load of Hay?" given by Bryan Thompson, De Kalb town historian.

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Dr. Margaret Washington, professor of History and American Studies at Cornell University, unveiled the stories of four unsung women activists during a Juneteenth Celebrations at the North Star Underground Railroad Museum on Sunday, June 17.
(Read more)

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Martha Swan and the Board from John Brown Lives! suggested that Dick Gregory visit our museum while in the North Country for John Brown Day 2013 to get a sense of the work that NCUGRHA and others have done to uplift the freedom history of the region.
(Read more)

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Photos taken by John Ryan, Editor of the Peru Gazette, during one of the Museum's summer bus tours of Underground Railroad sites in the Peru/Keeseville area. The tour was led by Peter Slocum, NCUGRHA Board Member and 2nd Vice President.

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Congressman Bill Owens visits the North Star Underground Railroad Museum

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Members of a Brooklyn bus tour visit the North Star Underground Railroad Museum

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Work on the barn at the Stephen Keese Smith farm (Peru, NY), which is now owned by Frank Perusse.

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Jacqueline Madison visited the (Africville
Museum) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 2018.

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