There is an old book that tells the story of one of Ontario County’s most important residents. It's the biography of Austin Steward. 

"Most of what we know about Austin Steward comes from his first-person account," said Preston Pierce, Ontario County historian. 

Austin Steward spent 22 years as a slave before moving to the Finger Lakes area as a free man. 

“The story as he tells it he came to Farmington by accident but I have a feeling he got some advice," said Pierce. 

Preston Pierce works as the Ontario County historian. The county in the early 1800’s had a large African American population which Pierce says might’ve influenced Steward. After arriving in the area, Steward became an abolitionist. 

"He was a secretary of a group of people protesting here and he wrote letters to editors of newspapers," said Pierce. 

Steward’s work connected him with another well-known abolitionist, Frederick Douglass. 

The two likely worked together when Steward delivered Rochester’s emancipation speech that proclaimed the end of slavery in New York state in 1825. 

But Pierce says that about where their connection ends. 

“Douglass had the advantage of living longer and after the Civil War gaining popularity and political support," explained Pierce. 

In his biography, Steward describes how he taught himself to read. He became one of the first Black schoolteachers in the area. He also became the first Black business owner in the city of Rochester. 

Even though Steward never gained the fame that Douglass did, Pierce says his story is still being told today.