Huron (Wolcott) Grove Meeting

The Liberals and Freethinkers of Central and Western New York (later the New York Freethinkers Association) held its first convention, or “Grove Meeting,” on August 17–19, 1877, at the farm of freethinker James Madison Cosad in Huron, New York. (Some sources give the place name as Wolcott.)

This event was followed in the next year by an unquestionably national convention, held on August 22–25, 1878, in a city park and an opera house in Watkins (now Watkins Glen). That conference is best known for the arrest under obscenity laws of Bennett and two other activists for selling a marriage reform and birth control tract. The New York Freethinkers convened again in Watkins in 1882, holding lecture sessions at the Watkins opera house and a gala banquet honoring Bennett at the village's Glen Park Hotel.

The Buildings and Site. See photo two, below.

Special thanks to Ruth and James Chatfield and Rosa Fox for historical assistance.

J. M. Cosad farm

Farm of James Madison Cosad, site of the 1877 Grove Meeting. Cosad himself is depicted in the cameo at top. Image from The History of Wayne County, 1877.

Cosad farm w/callouts

The Cosad farm had two barns, (A) and (B); the residence (C); and the meeting hall (D). When the farm was sold in 1949, (A), (B), and (C) still stood. It was unclear whether the structure at (D) was the 1875 meeting hall or a replacement. Barn (A) was razed at an unknown date; Barn (B) was razed circa 1969. The top story of building (D) was removed after a 1960s fire. The main house (C) lost its upper floor at an unknown date following the sale.

Cosad house remains

This private home incorporates the lower floor of the Cosad farm's principal residence. Photo by Ruth and Jim Chatfield.

Meeting hall remnant

This private home incorporates portions of the first story of the 1875 Meeting Hall. The building was truncated and modernized after a fire in the 1960s.

Historic Marker

This 2019 historic marker (installed 2020) commemorates the Grove Meeting. Funded by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, it is the first historic marker to acknowledge any meeting of what became the New York Freethinkers Association. Photo courtesy of Rosa Fox.