Canandaigua was the first great town in what is now Greater Rochester. Many of its early leaders, including Robert Rose and Israel Chapin, enslaved people. The 1810 U.S. Census shows more than 100 people enslaved in places like Canandaigua, Farmington, Phelps, Bloomfield and Geneva.
One of them was Lloyd Colbert. Brought to Canandaigua by an enslaver named Daniel Dorsey, Colbert gained his freedom in 1814. He remained in Canandaigua for the rest of his long life, and saw enslavement ended nationwide after the Civil War.
Ontario County was home to many people, Black and white, who fought back against enslavement. Henry Johnson was admired for his antislavery speeches and moved to Liberia in June 1865 to help start a colony for emancipated African-Americans.