Beginning in 1834, the First Presbyterian Church of Leroy hosted anti-slavery meetings that brought people together to hear abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and Amos A. Phelps. Twice, violent protesters attacked the gatherings by throwing rocks and timbers through the windows. Local abolitionist leaders included Seth Gates, Henry Brewster, Samuel Grannis, and Samuel Comstock. In January 1841, many hundreds of men and women from Western New York attended a three-day convention in the church. Accounts of these meetings appeared in national abolition newspapers and were also documented in personal letters.
