The Warsaw Historical Society

Seth Merrill Gates was born in Winfield, New York. In 1806, he moved to Sheldon, New York with his family, He attended public school in Sheldon and the Middlebury Academy, located in the village of Wyoming, New York before serving as a teacher at the Academy. The Middlebury Academy was the first of its kind in the area. Gates became an inspector of public schools, and in 1825, he served as the deputy sheriff of LeRoy, New York He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1827. He began practicing  law in LeRoy in 1830. In 1832. Gates served as a Whig member of the New York State Assembly in 1832. 

Gates was an abolitionist and was eulogized at his funeral as, ‘he felt that duty to his God, who had made of one blood all nations of men. . . bade him to strike as best he could against the fetters on the limbs of his brothers’ (HMdb).  Gates was elected as “an antislavery Whig member of the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh U. S. Congresses, serving from March 4, 1839 to March 3, 1843” (Warsaw Historical Society). Gates's “outspoken criticism of slavery marked his two terms in the House of Representatives, from 1839 to 1843” (HMdb). “When Gates used his congressional position to mail out the proceedings of the World Anti·Slavery Convention in 1840, a Savannah, Georgia planter put a $500 bounty on his head, dead or alive” (HMdb).

Abolitionist residents of Warsaw and the surrounding area formed the first antislavery political party, the Liberty Party, in 1839. Gates moved to Warsaw in 1844 when he did not win reelection to Congress. Here he joined an active local anti·slavery community. Gates became an Underground Railroad conductor. The Underground Railroad route or “line” that ran through Warsaw, NY started in the South and split in Pennsylvania travelling North and then West, through the Finger Lakes Region of New York and on toward Buffalo. Gates, as a station and conductor, hid African American “freedom seekers in his cellar and attic” (Village of Warsaw).

Gates became the secretary of the Wyoming County Insurance Company in 1851 and held that position until 1865. In 1861, he was appointed postmaster at Warsaw, serving in that position until 1870. Gates passed away August 24th, 1877 at the age of 72. 

The Society of the Village Work purchased the Gates home. The members of this Society “helped Warsaw’s poor families for 40 years, operating as an industrial school. Girls were taught sewing and boys were taught carpentry” (Village of Warsaw). The town of Warsaw’s first public school kindergarten was also taught in the house in 1894. Sometime in the 1930s the Society of the Village Work dissolved and the Gates home was gifted to the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Warsaw Historical Society. The home was in disrepair and scheduled for demolition. However, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), during the Great Depression, saved the home and made the necessary repairs “directed by Henry Ten Hagen, Sr.” (Warsaw Historical Society). In 1976-77 the Daughters of the American Revolution deeded the Gates home to the Warsaw Historical Society.

The Warsaw Historical Society’s mission is to “accept, preserve, and exhibit historical materials related to past, present, and future of the Town and Village of Warsaw, to conduct historical programs and exhibits, and promote the study, sharing, and dissemination of local history” (Warsaw Historical Society). Artifacts within the Historical Society include displays brandishing aspects of Warsaw life from the 1830s to present. There are rare artifacts displayed of Warsaw’s business, manufacturing and agricultural history as well. There is a comprehensive research library of rare maps, newspapers, and thousands of photographs and documents.

The Warsaw Historical Society holds a treasure trove of items that show the rich culture of Warsaw, New York. They continue, to this day, to preserve the memory of Seth Gates and his life and the life and times of the 1830s.

, Wyoming County Chamber and Tourism. Go Wyoming. Accessed November 11th 2020. https://www.gowyomingcountyny.com/listings/warsaw-historical-society.

, Village of Warsaw. The village of Warsaw in Wyoming County, New York. Accessed November 11th 2020. https://www.villageofwarsaw.org/.

, The Warsaw Historical Society. Accessed November 11th 2020. http://warsawnyhistory.org/.

, Find a Grave. Accessed November 11th 2020. https://www.findagrave.com/.

, A Brief History of Covington, Accessed December 10th 2020. https://www.townofcovington.com/history/.

, Historical Marker Data Base, Accessed December 10th 2020. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=64950.

, Seneca County, New York., Accessed December 10th 2020. https://www.co.seneca.ny.us/.

, C-Span. Seth Gates, Accessed December 10th 2020. https://www.c-span.org/person/?sethgates.

, Politics. Congress. Seth Gates, Accessed December 10th 2020. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/seth_gates/40446.