The Susan B. Anthony childhood home was built by her father Daniel, starting in 1832. Everything was done locally, including making the bricks, according to historian Debi Craig.

Craig led a tour in Battenville, where the American icon and women’s suffrage activist grew up. Her home had come under hard times in recent years, but the state is putting $700,000 into restoring it.

“They were upper middle class, I’d say. They had a number of children, and Daniel was a very hard worker,” said Craig.

Her father held three jobs while the family lived in the home. He ran the mill across the street, owned a store across the street, and was the postmaster of the first post office in Battenville – also across the street.

Susan’s ideals about social equality were learned locally. Her family was Quaker. They had strict beliefs about certain things, but were progressive in other areas, including social equality.

After spending several years teaching, her family moved to Rochester when the historical icon turned ideals into action.

Craig says that’s when the suffragette really started to take shape.

“When she got to Rochester, eventually she became friends with Elizabeth Cady Stanton,” Craig said. “They worked together for years. Elizabeth would write the speeches and Susan would deliver them, because she had five children at home and she couldn’t leave to go make the speeches with Susan. Susan traveled all over the country.”

Anthony passed away before women got the right to vote across the U.S., but that doesn’t mean she didn’t try to cast her ballot.

“When she was in Rochester, she voted when she wasn’t really supposed to, along with her sisters,” Craig said, “and she was supposed to pay a fine, which she never did pay, and their votes didn’t count because they were ‘only women.’ ”

Across the river, you can find the gravestones of several members of Anthony’s family, including her mother’s parents, Susanna and Daniel Reid. They moved to the area from Adams, Mass., and died in Battenville.

Susan’s younger sister Eliza, who died of scarlet fever, was also laid to rest in Battenville. Although her exact burial location isn’t known, her gravestone was found in a backyard and moved near those of her grandparents.

Anthony’s last visit to Battenville came in 1905, just months before she died, to place a monument in honor of her grandfather.

Currently, the gravestones and the monument are the only official markings of Anthony’s time in the area. Despite being a champion of women’s rights and an American icon, there are no historical markers highlighting her connection to Battenville.