Robert Ingersoll Birthplace facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Robert Ingersoll Birthplace
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Robert Ingersoll Birthplace, May 2011
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | Main St., Dresden, New York |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1833 |
| Architectural style | Federal |
| NRHP reference No. | 88000110 |
| Added to NRHP | February 11, 1988 |
The Robert Ingersoll Birthplace, also known as the Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum, is a special old house in Dresden, Yates County, New York. It was built in a style called Federal, which was popular in the early 1800s. The house has a main two-story section with a pointed roof. It also has a smaller, one-and-a-half-story section with a sloped roof, called a saltbox ell, on its west side.
The main part of the house and the front of the ell were built separately. They were joined together before 1833 and moved to where the house stands today. The back part of the ell was added later at the current spot. This house is famous because Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899), a well-known speaker and politician, was born here. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It was also added to New York State's Register of Historic Places in 1987.
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History of the Ingersoll Birthplace Home
The main part of the house was built around 1800. It first served as a home for the pastor of a Congregational church. This original building was on Charles Street in Dresden, a short distance from its current spot. People in the community donated materials and helped build it for free.
The front part of the ell was also built around 1800. It was located in a nearby settlement called Hopeton. This settlement did not last long. Many buildings, including this ell, were moved downhill to Dresden. This likely happened during a snowy winter, using sleds.
The front ell and the main house were joined together on the current Main Street site before 1833. The back part of the ell was then added to the house at this new location.
Why the House is Important to Ingersoll's Story
Robert Green Ingersoll was born in this house. His father, Reverend John Ingersoll, was the pastor of Dresden's Congregational Church at the time. The family lived in the parsonage, which was this house. Reverend Ingersoll was a strong abolitionist, meaning he wanted to end slavery. This idea was not popular everywhere in the North yet.
Because of his strong beliefs, Reverend Ingersoll often did not stay in one church for very long. His time in Dresden was short, and the family left when Robert was only four months old. Even though Robert lived here for a very short time, this house is important. It is the only one of Robert Ingersoll's homes that is still standing today.
After Ingersoll passed away in 1899, people who admired him wanted to honor his memory. His brother-in-law, Charles P. Farrell, started the Dresden Publishing Company. He named it after Robert's birthplace. This company published a large collection of Ingersoll's writings. The first book, published in 1900, even showed a picture of his birthplace.
The birthplace has been restored and opened as a museum three times. In 1921, famous people like Thomas Edison and Luther Burbank helped open it. It was a museum, community center, and public library. It closed during the Great Depression. In 1954, a group led by Joseph Lewis restored it again. It served as a museum for several years.
The Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum Today
Tom Flynn helped create the museum at Ingersoll's birthplace. He has been its director since it opened to the public in 1993. The museum focuses on freethought, which means thinking for yourself and questioning traditional ideas.
In 1986, the house was in very bad shape. A group called CODESH Inc. bought the property for $7,000. They worked to get it listed on the National Register of Historic Places. About $250,000 was raised from grants and the public. Between 1987 and 1991, the house was made stable and repaired.
In 1992, the group decided to open a museum in the house. Tom Flynn was chosen to develop it. Flynn has said that Ingersoll was heard by more Americans than anyone else before movies or radio existed.
What You Can See at the Museum
The Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum opened on Memorial Day weekend in 1993. It has been open to visitors on weekends during the summer and fall ever since. Many new things have been added over the years.
In 2001, a large statue of Ingersoll was placed in the museum. This statue used to be in a theater that was torn down. In 2003, a front porch was added that looks just like the original one. A volunteer contractor, Jeff Ingersoll, who is a descendant of Robert Ingersoll, built it. That same year, the museum started using its current slogan: "the most remarkable American most people never heard of." This refers to how some history books left out Ingersoll because of his beliefs.
In 2004, a lost piece of music called Ingersolia was found. It was composed by George Schleiffarth, a famous composer from the Gilded Age. The music score is now displayed at the museum. In 2005, two websites were launched. One is a virtual tour of the museum. The other, the Freethought Trail, explores other historical sites related to freethought nearby.
In 2008, a special plaque from Ingersoll's New York City home was installed in the museum. In 2009, a new high-definition video was added for visitors. It features the Ingersolia March music. Also in 2009, the museum received many items and papers from Eva Ingersoll Wakefield. She was Robert Ingersoll's last living granddaughter. Some of these items have been on display since 2010.
In 2014, the inside of the museum was fully updated. Display cases were improved, and new signs were created. These signs include large wall graphics. A room on the second floor that used to be private is now open to the public. The new interior is named the T. M. Scruggs Museum Interior. This honors the person who gave the most money for the renovation in 2013.
Images for kids
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Undated photo from the early 1950s shows the Robert Green Ingersoll birthplace prior to its 1954 restoration by Joseph L. Lewis's organization. The man and woman are Arthur and Ruth Cromwell, husband-and-wife freethinkers from Rochester, New York, who served as Lewis's primary agents for much of the restoration work. Their daughter, Vashti McCollum, had been the plaintiff in McCollum v. Board of Education
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The birthplace was built in three sections. The central block (beige) was built circa 1800 on a lot about 500 feet southeast of the building's current location. The saltbox ell (pink) originally stood in the failed village of Hopeton; prior to Robert Ingersoll's birth it was sledged downhill to Dresden and mated to the central block on its original site. At some time after Ingersoll's birth in 1833, the central block and ell were moved to their current location and the rear portion (green) was added on that site.
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Completion of the physical rehabilitation of the Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum (Dresden, New York) was observed at a dedication on Free Inquiry’s birthday, August 11, 1988. Left to right: Tim Madigan, then director of the Robert Ingersoll Memorial Committee and editor of Free Inquiry Magazine; Paul Kurtz, founder and chair of the Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism, as the organization was then known; the late Phil Mass, founding chair of the Memorial Committee; and Jean Millholland, founding executive director of the Council.
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This large photo of Ingersoll was once owned by the late Virginia atheist activist Arnold Via. It bears a bold Ingersoll autograph to fellow lawyer Horace Traubel, dated 1893. The original 19th-century photograph is in the public domain.
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The room where Robert Ingersoll was born is furnished with period furniture of the sort that might have been owned by a struggling minister's family.
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Robert Green Ingersoll’s collected works were published in 1900 by the New York City-based Dresden Publishing Company. The name was a tribute to his birthplace. The Works, first in 12 volumes, later 13, were continually in print from 1900 through 1929.
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The second main display room at the museum. On the door at center is an extremely rare original poster promoting an Ingersoll speech; such posters were usually printed on high-acid pulp paper and very few have survived. To right of the door is a photo of Ingersoll’s poem in praise of Robert Burns, written when he visited the Burns cottage in Scotland. It is the only poem not by Burns to be displayed at the cottage.
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Anchoring the Piano Room are the Museum's orientation video and three historic busts of Robert Green Ingersoll.
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An upstairs room newly opened to the public, displays focus on Ingersoll's birth and youth, his Civil War service, and his law career.
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Visitors to the Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum view artifacts in the newly-refreshed display cases. At rear, visitors listen to early Edison recordings of Ingersoll himself reciting highlights of his lectures. Photo by Monica Harmsen.
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Visitors to the Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum study the new wall graphics, part of the T. M. Scruggs Museum Interior installed for the 2014 season. Photo by Monica Harmsen.
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Participants in the “Robert Green Ingersoll and the Reform Imperative” conference and tour pose before the Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum in Dresden, New York, on August 17, 2014. Photo by Monica Harmsen.
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Ingersoll Museum docent Frances Emerson welcomes one of 55 Ingersoll Conference participants who visited the Birthplace Museum during the “Robert Green Ingersoll and the Reform Imperative” conference motor coach tour, August 17, 2104. Photo by Monica Harmsen.
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Robert Ingersoll Memorial Committee chair Jeff Ingersoll and Council for Secular Humanism CEO Ronald A. Lindsay applaud Museum director Tom Flynn, who was presented with an award for his work on the Museum. Photo by Monica Harmsen.
