Post Residence (Historic Marker)

After marrying in 1828, Amy and Isaac Post relocated from Scipio to this location in Rochester in 1836. Isaac Post established a drugstore in 1839 which would provide financial stability for the Posts over the course of their time there. Both lifelong Quakers, the Posts were prominent members of the burgeoning Spiritualist movement that occurred during the mid-1800's. Their Quakerism also had a great deal of influence on their social and political beliefs. Shortly after arriving in the city, both Posts became heavily involved in the Abolitionist and Women's Suffrage movements. Beginning in the early 1840's, the couple opened up their home as a station for the Undergound Railroad. The station would become one of the most important in the northeast, providing an essential hiding place for escaped slaves travelling to Canada. On some nights the Posts would hide as many as 20 former slaves in the cellar of their house.

Their home also frequently hosted other leading figures in the movements. Frederick Douglass, William C. Nell, William Lloyd Garrison, Susan B. Anthony, Soujorner Truth, and Abby Kelley were some of the many close activist friends to the Posts and would visit or stay with them often. In fact, it was the Posts who convinced Frederick Douglass to move to Rochester and publish his Abolitionist newspaper 'The North Star' in 1847. A year later, Frederick Douglass accompanied Amy Post to the historic Women's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls fifty miles away. The Post Residence was also where Amy Post- frustrated by the local Quakers Society's disapproval of radical anti-slavery efforts- founded the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society in 1842. Membership was open to both men and women of any race and meetings were held regularly in the Posts' house.

After her husband's death in 1872, 70-year-old Amy Post was one of those who, alongside Susan B. Anthony, attempted to vote in the election. Although she was unable to cast her ballot (unlike Anthony), she did succeed in registering. The following year she attempted to vote again, but was again turned away. Amy Post stayed very involved in activism throughout the later years of her life, attending conventions across the country and founding new radical reform organizations in Rochester. On her 80th birthday in 1882, the Rochester community held a citywide celebration for Post's lifetime of progressive work. This later became a tradition that honored other Rochester activists Susan B. Anthony on her 70th birthday and Mary T. Gannett on her 75th birthday.

At the age of 86 in 1888, she was able to attend the largest women's convention in history at the time- the International Council of Women in Washington, DC. Post died one year later on January 29, 1889 at the age of 87. Her funeral was hosted at the Unitarian Society building. Following her death, the Central Presbyterian Church- located next to the former Post Home- bought the property on which the Post Home sat and expanded its building onto the land. Sometime in the subsequent years, the residence fell into disrepair and was torn down. In 1984, the City of Rochester erected a historical marker on the approximate location of where the house stood.

Freethought Trail. Post Home / Western New York Anti-Slavery Society, Freethought Trail. Accessed November 6th 2020. https://freethought-trail.org/trail-map/location:post-home-western-new-york-anti-slavery-society/.

NY Historic; Conheady, Matthew. Post House, NY Historic. October 2012. Accessed November 6th 2020. https://nyhistoric.com/2012/10/post-house/.

River Campus Libraries. Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers, Rochester University. Accessed November 6th 2020. https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/finding-aids/D93#bionote.

Rochester Regional Library Council. Amy Post, Western New York Suffragists: Winning the Vote. Accessed November 6th 2020. https://rrlc.org/winningthevote/biographies/amy-post/.