THIS OLD HOUSE

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The Rev. ASHBEL PARMELEE
Malone, N.Y.
Simeon, Hezekiah, Joel, John, John

In 2007, I received a note from a family that purchased this historic home at East Main and Clay Street in Malone, Franklin County, N.Y., that was built for the Rev. Ashbel Parmelee and his family in the mid-1850s.

Ashbel (1784-1862) was the first pastor of the town's 1st Congregational Church., from 1809 to 1845, a noted orator and strong supporter of abolition and African colonization.

In 1835, he was a delegate to the New York State Anti-Slavery Meeting in Utica, and, three years later, hosted his own anti-slavery conference in the Malone church for the "most influential clergymen in the county" to debate slavery issues and make "high-toned resolutions" against it.

Also in the house was this painting, "Where Is She," right, which may have been done by one of Ashbel's seven daughters from two of his three wives. He also had two sons, one of whom died in infancy. Daughter Fanny, who married, Edward Fitch, was the mother of Rep. Ashbel Parmelee Fitch.

Ashbel and his family are buried in Morningside Cemetery a few blocks from the home.