ADAMS, Mass. (AP) – The birthplace of suffragist leader Susan B. Anthony was sold for $164,500 at auction on Saturday, town officials said.

The two-story, 1,566-square foot home was purchased by Carol Crossed of Rochester, N.Y., according to Eugene Michalenko, chairman of the Adams Historical Commission.

Crossed is president of Democrats for Life of America, an anti-abortion organization. She said a member of Feminists for Life of America, an anti-abortion and feminist organization she belongs to, will live in the house.

Serrin M. Foster, president of Feminists for Life, said the group has not decided exactly how they will manage the site, but they are putting a committee together to draw up a plan.

However it is organized, Foster said, “it will bring greater attention to the work of the early American feminists.”

The 2005 assessed value of the house was $105,000 with the half-acre of land worth about $46,000, according to auctioneers J.J. Manning of Yarmouth.

Crossed, 62, has always been interested in Susan B. Anthony’s life. “Particularly being from Rochester,” she said “she’s been always near and dear to my heart.”

Ed Driscoll, a town selectman, said he hoped an organization would take over the home, “We hoped a women’s group would buy it, because they would appreciate Susan B. Anthony’s achievements.”

The house, built in the early 19th century, was bought from Linda and James McConchie of Lincoln. They bought it for about $100,000 in 1998 with the intention of turning it into a museum, but weren’t able to make it work.

Anthony was born in the house at 67 East Road in 1820. She moved with her family to Battenville, N.Y., and later Rochester, N.Y., where she became a publisher, teacher and an advocate of women’s suffrage and prohibition.

She died in 1906. Thirty-nine years later, her house in Rochester became a museum.

Crossed said she does not think her organization’s anti-abortion affiliation will hamper her efforts. In fact, she said, her associates think it will help.

“They feel this is sort of a niche that will make the house viable.”