LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the Town
of Freedom, New York

WHEREAS, It is the intent of this Legislative Body to honor and commem-
orate the proud and distinguished histories of the people and communi-
ties which comprise the noble body of this great Empire State; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commem-
orate the 200th Anniversary of the Town of Freedom, New York; and
WHEREAS, The first residents of Freedom purchased land in 1810, and
relocated from parts of New England in 1811; notable among these were
Enoch Howlett, assessor, overseer of the poor, commissioner of common
schools, poundmaster, justice of the peace, supervisor and postmaster,
and Colonel Earl Sawyer, town clerk, justice and farmer; and
WHEREAS, The first child born in the settlement was Rufus Metcalf,
Jr., on December 24, 1812; the first marriages were performed in 1817 to
join Mr. and Mrs. Elihu Daggett and Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester Davis; the
first school lessons were taught by Jemima Clark in 1816, with the first
schoolhouse built in 1819; and
WHEREAS, The Town of Freedom was established by an act of the State
Legislature on April 13, 1820, when it was separated from Ischua; by the
time of the 1820 census, the town was home to 75 families; the Town of
Freedom attracted settlers from Scotland in the 1830s, and from Wales in
the 1840s; and
WHEREAS, The Town of Freedom was primarily an agricultural community;
other business enterprises included cheese production, taverns, a grist-
mill, sawmills, a tannery, a mercantile business and a fulling, wool-
carding and cloth-dressing works; and
WHEREAS, Churches in many denominations were established in Freedom's
early years, through 1851, including the First Baptist Church in Free-
dom, the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Sandusky, the First Univer-
salist Church at Sandusky, the Welsh Ebenezer Baptist Church, the Welsh
Calvinistic Methodist Salem Church, the United Presbyterian Church of
Freedom and Lyndon, the Free-Will Baptist Church at Elton and the First
Presbyterian Church of Freedom; in 1935, Mormon leaders worked to
recruit converts in Freedom and were successful in taking 30 men and
women with them to a settlement in Kirtland, Ohio; and
WHEREAS, The gravesite of Daniel Frederick Bakeman, the last pensioned
veteran of the American Revolutionary War, is located in the Town of
Freedom; this venerable man passed away in 1869, at 109 years of age,
and is said to have cast a vote in the first Presidential election and
every election thereafter until his death; and
WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to publicly recog-
nize and honor milestones in the history of communities large and small
in this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Town of Freedom; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the Town of Freedom, New York.