John W. Jones Museum - Elmira (NY)

5 /5 Nancy Shumway: What a wonderful little piece of history. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Our tour guide Cleveland was extremely knowledgeable and made all these facts interesting. He was friendly and seemed to truly enjoy sharing the life of John W. Jones with us. Take the time to stop and visit. You wont be disappointed.

5 /5 Jordan Hoban: My wife and I visited Elmira for the first time last week (7/20/24). Didn’t know much about who John W. Jones was, but we kept seeing his name mentioned on signs throughout Woodlawn Cemetery. After our visit to the cemetery, we chose to visit the John W. Jones museum to get a better understanding of who he was. We had no idea what the museum would be like or what to expect. Cleveland was our guide, he was very friendly, knowledgeable, and a real gentleman. He was happy to answer any questions we had, and even encouraged it. We learned a lot about Mr. Jones and the incredible life he lived. Very happy we visited. Cleveland is a great guy.

5 /5 Ethan Zuckerman: The story of Jones is deeply inspiring - a man who escaped slavery, who led 800 fellow enslaved people to freedom and who buried - with care and dignity - confederate prisoners of war. The museum is simple, beautiful and informative and docent Cleveland Thrower is a gem. A must visit.

5 /5 Frank McDonald: Highly recommended! I enjoyed learning about this great hero of US history. The docent Cleveland was very knowledgeable and engaging. I didn’t know that the last stage of one of the Underground Railroad routes was a 4 am freight train! The train ran through Elmira to St. Catherine’s across the Canadian border, which marked freedom from the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law. It was remarkable to learn about Mr. Jones’ humanity toward the Confederate army prisoners, who represented what Jones had escaped when he fled Virginia in 1844. It was also fascinating to learn about how the house was constructed and the challenge of moving the building to its present site.