Dr. Dyer House

Dr. Dyer House

Dr. Dyer House

No longer standing, was located in the 100 block of East State Street, Burlington (verified site)

“[Dr. Dyer’s Burlington home] was… to shelter three fugitive slaves, on their separate journey to Canada and freedom…. All three fugitives in later years retraced the steps of their journey and stopped to thank [Dyer] for his share in their rescue.”

Excerpt from a paper read by Harriet Mabel Norton, granddaughter of Dr. Edward Dyer, at the unveiling of the sundial monument in Burlington dedicated to Dr. Dyer in June 1935.

Evidence:

• Dyer’s daughter wrote about finding a fugitive slave in their attic.
• Dyer was a well-known abolitionist:
  • Helping to organize the Territorial Anti-Slavery Society in August 1842 and the Burlington Liberty Association in 1844.
  • As a stockholder in the American Freeman, an abolitionist newspaper.
  • Acting as a delegate for the 1843 Territorial Liberty Party Convention in Madison.
  • Acting as a delegate to the 1848 Liberty Party Convention in Buffalo, New York.