The small building to the rear of the farmhouse was called the Necessary in the colonial era. You may also have heard it referred to as the back house, the outhouse, the little house or the privy. Odiferous as it was during the heat of the summer, the Necessary was usually located not too close to the farmhouse, nor too far away, and it was frequently concealed by flowering shrubs, ivy or honeysuckle.

This Necessary was moved to the grounds of the Miller-Cory Museum from the Knapp farm in South Stafford, New York, an area settled by Revolutionary War veterans on lands granted to them for their service. The people who settled in this part of New York came from the same background and had the same customs as those who settled the West Fields of Elizabethtown