The Underground Railroad at the Lott House

The Lott family oral history tells the story of a closet within a closet on the second floor of the Lott House where the family hid freedom seekers—participants in the Underground Railroad. Newspaper pasted to the wall of this closet is dated June 10, 1863. The descendants who shared this oral history understood that the family believed in the abolitionist movement.

Stops on the Underground Railroad weren’t advertised, and providing shelter to runaway slaves was illegal. Information traveled by word of mouth. How do we know that the Lott House truly was a stop on the Underground Railroad?

Several details of circumstantial evidence, combined with the family’s oral history, bring credibility to the story. The Lott House is ideally located to have acted as a safe house. Located adjacent to Gerritsen’s Creek, a tidal inlet, it was easily accessible to boats that may have come up the eastern shoreline. The property was also adjacent to the Flatbush Road and Kings Highway, which would have provided a relatively direct route to Weeksville, the free African American community located in present-day Crown Heights.

But what of the family’s beliefs? Without primary source written statements, we can only hypothesize. We can also compile a timeline of known actions.

In 1800, Hendrick I. Lott’s household included 14 people, four of whom were free persons of color. There were no enslaved people in the household. There is one enslaved person listed on the 1810 census, but none in 1820. There are other free persons of color in both censuses.

Three manumission slips have been identified, documenting that Hendrick freed a 21-year-old man named Sam in 1801, a woman named Jude in 1807, and, in 1816, a man named Joseph and a woman named Susan. In 1827, Hendrick witnessed his son Johannes H. and daughter-in-law Gashe selling 3 acres of land, one acre each, to three Black men: Anthony Moore, William Paupaw, and John Johnson.

Slavery ended in New York State in 1827, 34 years before the Civil War. At that time, Johannes H. Lott was approaching 70, too old to fight in the war. His son Henry DeWitt registered for the draft in July 1863 at age 41.

Today, the Lott House is recognized by New York State as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Having walked past the Hendrick I. Lott House many times during their childhood, Girl Scouts Adela, Alyssa, and Sofia of Troop 2010 were excited to learn that the house played an important role in the road to freedom for the enslaved. Recognized by New York State as a stop on the Underground Railroad, the girls felt it was important to draw attention to this forgotten history in the area. As a result, they focused their efforts on helping educate the local community as part of their Silver Award Project by creating signage for passersby and visitors alike. People can now learn more about how the family contributed to the pursuit of freedom through workshops and information on this website.