Epps Graves and Site of Timbuctoo

Though it is little remembered today, the area of Lake Placid was home to a community of free African Americans in the 1840s and known at the time as Timbuctoo. The community was largely the work of Gerrit Smith, an abolitionist and reformer who gave away 120,000 acres of land to thousands of African Americans in the 1840s. Other prominent abolitionists were involved in the development of Timbuctoo, including Frederick Douglass and John Brown, who eventually moved his family to nearby Lake Placid to be more involved in the community. Many of the families who relocated to Timbuctoo eventually left, but the family of Lyman Epps, Sr., moved to the community in 1849 and lived there permanently. Both Epps and his son, Lyman Epps, Jr., are buried in the North Elba Cemetery, and their graves are the only tangible reminders of the innovative community that once grew along Lake Placid.

Upstate New York played an outsized role in the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad. Numerous New Yorkers were fervent abolitionists, and one of the most active of these was Gerrit Smith, a wealthy philanthropist and reformer. Already drawn to progressive causes, Smith became a committed abolitionist after attending the Utica Conference, an abolitionist gathering in 1835 that was violently attacked by a mob. From that point on, much of Smith’s life was dedicated to eradicating slavery.Dell UltraSharp 49 Curved Monitor - U4919DW

In 1846, the New York legislature reinstated a law that required Black men to own $250 in property in order to be able to vote. In response, Smith—who owned hundreds of thousands of acres—proposed a settlement plan that would give Black men 40 acres of his land, which, when cultivated would meet the $250 requirement. Smith ultimately gave away 120,000 acres of his own land to 3,000 Black men from New York. Not only did the land grants allow these men to vote, it also took them out of what was often a harsh urban life, and one where they faced increasing competition from Irish immigrants for work. For fugitive slaves, it meant comparative safety from slave catchers.

The community came to be called Timbuctoo, after the Malian city of Timbuktu, once a thriving commercial and intellectual center. Some sources state that it was John Brown who gave the community its name, but others are less clear. Eventually, Brown, who also had financial support from Smith, moved nearby, where he hoped to help the settlers at Timbuctoo adjust to farm life.

Both Brown and Frederick Douglass praised the settlement and both men encouraged African American families to relocate there. But inherent in Smith’s plan was the problem which would ultimately doom the settlement. Smith deliberately recruited families from New York City to move to the area, believing that city life was toxic for African Americans. Of the families who moved there, most were from cities, either New York City or Troy. Most, no matter how attractive the plan was, would find adjustment to rural life difficult. Most had no previous experience with farming and were unprepared for the changes that farm life would entail.

Among the families who came to Timbuctoo was the family of Lyman Epps, Sr., who came to the settlement from Troy. Of the families who relocated, the Epps family is generally considered to be the most successful, and they remained in the community for almost a century, well after the other settlers had abandoned the project. Lyman Epps, Jr., who came to Timbuctoo with his family as a toddler and lived there until around the turn of the century, although he remained in the North Elba area. Epps, Jr., is believed to be the last person who knew John Brown and who attended his funeral. Part of his reason for remaining in the area, according to a letter he wrote, was to be near Brown’s grave and to tend it, a measure of the great affection he had for Brown.

By the mid-1850s, the experiment at Timbuctoo was largely over, with only a few settlers remaining. Of these, the Epps family was perhaps the most instrumental in the community. Epps, Sr., helped found a school, a church, and a town library, and lived in the settlement until his death in 1897. His son, Lyman, Jr., was the last member of the family in Timbuctoo, and lived there or in the nearby area until his death in 1942. John Brown was hanged for the attack on Harpers Ferry in 1859, but his family continued living on their land near the settlement for several more years, and Lyman Epps helped them to build a farmhouse.

As of this writing, there is talk of placing a historical marker to recognize the site of Timbuctoo, as well as ongoing archaeological work. To date, no remains of homes have been located.

Timbucto: African American History in the Adirondacks , Adirondack Experience . Accessed February 2nd 2022. https://www.theadkx.org/timbucto-african-american-history-in-the-adirondacks/.

Discovering Timbuctoo: A New York Minute in History , June 30th 2021. Accessed February 2nd 2022. https://wamcpodcasts.org/podcast/discovering-timbuctoo-a-new-york-minute-in-history/#:~:text=Devin%20and%20Lauren%20dive%20into,vote%20in%20New%20York%20state..

Lara, RJ. North Elba Cemetery, Upstate Historical . Accessed February 2nd 2022. http://upstatehistorical.org/items/show/55?tour=2&index=0.

Christian, Nichole M. North Elba Journal: Recalling Timbuctoo, a Slice of Black History , New York Times . February 19th 2002. Accessed February 2nd 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/19/nyregion/north-elba-journal-recalling-timbuctoo-a-slice-of-Black-history.html.