American Abolitionists and Antislavery Activists:
Conscience of the Nation

Updated April 4, 2021













l to r: Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips

Massachusetts Anti-Slavey Society (MASS)


Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), founded in 1835 as an auxiliary of the American Anti-Slavery Society, headquarters Boston, Massachusetts. (References)





Return to Top of Page


Chapter: “Activity of the Abolitionists. - Action of Northern Legislatures,” by Henry Wilson, in History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America, 1872:

During the years of 1834 - 35 the operations of the New England Antislavery Society, which had, owing to the formation of the American Society, taken the name and become the Massachusetts Antislavery Society, were conducted on a more extended scale than ever. It employed efficient agents, while several other gentlemen of capacity, zeal, and eloquence largely contributed to the advancement of the cause. Its fourth annual meeting was held in January, 1836, in the city of Boston. Its committee of arrangements had been refused the use of all the churches and halls large enough to accommodate its members; and they were compelled to hold the meeting in their little room in Washington Street, used for ordinary purposes, for the meetings of the executive committee, and for other assemblages during the year. Earnest and radical antislavery speeches were made by Professor Charles Follen, William Goodell, Rev. Cyrus P. Grosvenor, Rev. Orange Scott, Henry C. Wright, and others.

Its fifth anniversary was held in January, 1837, in the loft of the stable attached to the Marlborough Hotel. Its report, which was very elaborate, was read by Mr. Garrison. The meeting was addressed by Amos Dresser, who gave a narrative of the cruel treatment he had received in Tennessee, the recital of which excited deep and tearful emotion. Rev. Samuel J. May eloquently referred to the fact that the Society could not secure a comfortable place of' meeting in this native city; that every church and hall had been closed against them, and that they were driven into a stable. The legislature had been applied to for the use of the hall of the House of Representatives for an evening meeting of the Society; and its application had been successful, the members from Boston, however, generally voting against it. Referring to this fact, Henry B. Stanton wittily said “When Boston votes we go into a stable, but when the State votes we go into the State House." ·

On the evening of the 25th of January, the pioneer antislavery society; as its friends affectionately styled it, assembled, for the first time, in the hall of the House of Representatives. Rev. Orange Scott was the first speaker. He maintained that the sum and substance of antislavery doctrines are that “slavery is sin and must be immediately abandoned." Mr. Stanton spoke in support of resolutions in favor of the immediate abolition of slavery and of the slave-trade in the District of Columbia, and of the right of petition. While he was speaking an effort was made to create a disturbance by persons near the entrance of the hall. But Mr. Stanton, after a moment's pause, proceeded in his speech with great eloquence and power, completely subduing the mob spirit and enchaining the attention of the audience. The reporter failed in his task, because, as he said, “he would not attempt to report a whirlwind or a thunder-storm." Ellis Gray Loring made a learned argument in support of a resolution, declaring that allegiance to his country, to liberty, and to God required that every man should be an abolitionist and should openly espouse the antislavery cause.

The debate of granting the use of' the hall to the society, in which several members participated, and' in which Mr. Ruggles of Fall River spoke with commanding eloquence and power for the right of free discussion, and the speeches made during the evening, exerted a potent influence on the members of the legislature, the effects of which were manifested before the close of the session. The society continued its meeting during the next day, and speeches breathing the spirit of self-consecration and devotion to the cause were made. It was especially manifested in the speech of Rev. Mr. Root of Dover, New Hampshire. “The great moral war," he said, "is but begun. The collision of truth with error, of duty with expediency, will produce commotion; but truth and duty must and will prevail. Should my name reach the next generation, let it be found in connection with abolition. I would sooner be execrated as a Tory of the Revolution than be known hereafter as one who stood aloof from the movements now in progress for laying the last stone of the yet unfinished Temple of Liberty. But above all, when I am summoned to judgment, let me then be found to have been the unflinching friend of God's poor."

Mr. May commenced with great plainness of speech upon the fact that in the city of Boston the cause of impartial liberty was shut out from all the halls and churches under the control of its citizens. He referred to the fact that the colored and other citizens of Massachusetts suffered serious abridgment of their privileges, that slaveholders might not be disturbed in their unrighteousness. He maintained, too, that the citizens of New England were implicated in the sin of slavery, and were forbidden to repent and do works meet for repentance. He avowed his readiness to wear the chain himself, rather than remain silent in view of the great wrongs man was inflicting on his fellow.

Mr. Garrison, referring to the accusation made against him of using harsh language, declared that he was not eager to repel that accusation, for he could not suffer himself to be turned aside from the warfare against merciless oppressors to discuss the proprieties of diction with captious critics. “Who," he asked,” are my accusers? The entire South, reeking with pollution and blood, - slaveholders, slave-dealers, slave-drivers, recreant priests, and lynch committees, Northern apologists for crime, and terror-stricken recreants to liberty, -- all charge me with using hard language! Am I to give heed to such instructors, or aim to suit their tastes? While millions are groaning in bondage, and women are sold by the pound in our country, it is solemn trifling to think of sitting down coolly to criticize the phraseology of those who are pleading and toiling for their deliverance."

Resolutions were introduced by Mr. Stanton censuring the action of members of Congress who had voted to deny the right of petition; applauding John Quincy Adams; calling upon the whole people of the Commonwealth to rally to the rescue of the Constitution and to the cause of God's perishing poor ; invoking the legislature to request their representatives to vote for the immediate abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia; and summoning the people to vote for no member of the national or State legislature who is not in favor of the freedom of speech and of the press, and of the right of petition. He declared that the resolutions were not designed to have a partisan bearing; but that they spoke of the duties, not of a party, but of all parties and creeds.

Rev. Robert B. Hall approved of all the resolutions but the last. That he opposed because he deprecated political action, which would, he thought, excite much clamor and do much harm. Mr. Garrison expressed much surprise at such sentiments from one of the original signers of the declaration adopted by the convention at Philadelph1a, in which it was expressly proclaimed that Abolitionists were to use “moral and political action “for the removal of slavery. He avowed that Abolitionists ought not to vote for any man who would not maintain the right of petition and vote for the abolition of slavery when Congress had the power. Abolitionists, he maintained, had nothing to do with politics, as understood among politicians and political parties of the day; but “they have something to do with politics so far as relates to this question."

Mr. Stanton proclaimed that the motto of Abolitionists is: '' Duty is ours, -- consequences are God's." Political action, he contended, was then bad, and would be, though Abolitionists should remain silent. “Shall the people," he asked, “so act as to renovate the politics of this country, and thus save out liberties; or shall they slumber on until they have passed away forever?" The resolutions were unanimously passed, with the exception of the last, and that passed with only the dissenting vote of Mr. Hall. That vote fully and unreservedly committed the members of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society to political action for the removal of slavery where Congress possessed the power under the Constitution of the United States, and is very significant, especially as viewed in connection with the opposite non-voting policy so loudly and so consistently proclaimed afterward by the same individuals.

Source:  Wilson, Henry, History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America, Vol. 2.  Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1872, 338-351.





Return to Top of Page



Officers, Members and Supporters:


Abdy, Edward S., England, abolitionist, life member, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Adam, William, Cambridge, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Vice-President, 1842-45.  American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1843-45.

 

Adams, George, Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Counsellor, 1841-42.

 

Adams, Hannah S., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) and Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society.

 

Alden, J. W., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Alkinson, Stanwood, Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Vice-President, 1855-1860.

 

Allen, Darius H., abolitionist.  Finance Committee, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Amos, Dorcas Ann, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Arnold, Julia A., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Ashby, William, Newburyport, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1849-1850; 1852-1860.

 

Atwill, Thomas H., Lynn, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Bacon, Benjamin C., abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Recording Secretary, 1835-36, life member.

 

Bailey, Anna M., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Bailey, John, New Bedford, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1849-50, 52-60-.

 

Ball, Mason, Amherst, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1836-38.

 

Ballou, Adin, 1803-1890, Milford, Massachusetts, Universalist and Unitarian, clergyman, reformer, temperance proponent, advocate of pacifism, writer, founder of Hopedale Community, opposed slavery.  President of the New England Non-Resistance Society.  Supporter of abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison.  Anti-slavery lecturer in Pennsylvania and New York, 1846-1848.  Vice President, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1838-1840, 1840-1860. 

(Ballou, 1854; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 1, pp. 556-557; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 48-50; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 2, p. 83)

 

Bancroft, George W., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Bancroft, John, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Barbadoes, Catherin S., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) and the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS).

 

Barker, Joseph T., Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Business Committee, 1854.

 

Barrett, Samuel, Concord, Massachusetts. Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Nominating Committee, 1855

 

Barry, C. C., abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Counsellor, 1835-37, life member.

 

Barry, Joseph, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Bartlett, Robert, Cambridge, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Basset, Anne, Uxbridge, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Basset, Benjamin P., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Basset, Mary B., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Bassett, William, Boston, Massachusetts, American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1839-40, 1843-53.

 

Beman, Jehiel C., c. 1789-1858, Connecticut, Boston, Massachusetts, African American, clergyman, abolitionist, temperance activist.  Manger, American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), 1837-1839.  Executive Committee, American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 1841-1843.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS). (Sinha, 2016, p. 467; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 1, p. 477; Minutes, Convention of the Liberty Party, June 14, 15, 1848, Buffalo, New York)

 

Bennett, William S., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Benson, George W., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Benson, Henry E., Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Recording Secretary, 1836-37.

 

Bent, A. A., Gardner, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1853-55.

 

Bliss, Abel, Wilbraham, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.

 

Borden, Nathaniel B., Fall River, Massachusetts, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1840-1842, Executive Committee, 1842-1843.  Vice President, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1840-1849.

 

Boutelle, Luther, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Bowditch, Henry I., 1819-1909, Boston, Massachusetts, lawyer, abolitionist, physician.  Influenced by William Lloyd Garrison to join the anti-slavery cause.  Aided fugitive slaves, and promoted anti-slavery actions in the North.  Counsellor, 1843-1850, and Vice president, 1850-1860, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. 

(Mabee, 1970, pp. 36, 94, 103, 110, 129, 336; Pease, 1965, pp. 343-348; Bowditch, Slavery and the Constitution, Boston: Robert F. Walcutt, 1849, pp. 120-126; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, pp. 492-494; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 103-104; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 2, p. 267; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 334)

 

Bowen, Abraham, Fall River, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Boynton, Osgood G., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Brackett, Josiah, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Bradburn, George, 1806-1880, Nantucket, Massachusetts, politician, newspaper editor, Unitarian clergyman, abolitionist, women’s rights activist, lecturer.  Member, American Anti-Slavery Society.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1840-1845.  Attended World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in June 1840, where he protested the exclusion of women from the conference.  Lectured for the American Anti-Slavery Society with fellow abolitionists William A. White and Frederick Douglass in 1843.  Editor, the Pioneer and Herald of Freedom from 1846 to 1849 in Lynn, Massachusetts.

 

Bramhall, Cornelius, Vice-President, 1843-44, Counsellor, 1844-56. New York, New York, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1856-64.

 

Breed, A. L., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Breed, Joseph, III, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Bridge, J. D., Duxbury, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1840-41.

 

Briggs, Arnold, Finance Committee

 

Brown, J. W., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Brown, Moses, Providence, Rhode Island, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Brown, Sylvanus, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Brown, William Well, Agent, abolitionist leader

 

Browne, Roswell B., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Buffum, Israel, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Buffum, James N., 1807-1887, Lynn, Massachusetts, Mayor of Lynn, Massachusetts, abolitionist, supporter of Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison.  Vice President, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1845-1858. 

(Mabee, 1970, pp. 114, 119, 120, 121, 123, 125, 210, 211, 221, 225, 250, 342; New York Times obituary: June 13, 1888).

 

Burchen, John, West Bradford, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Burleigh, Charles C., Business Committee, Agent, 1854

 

Cabot, Henry Jones, Reverend, Vermont, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Capron, Effingham L., 1791-1851, New England, Smithfield, Rhode Island, Uxbridge, Massachusetts, Society of Friends, Quaker, philanthropist, abolitionist.  Vice president, 1833-1837, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  Vice president, 1836-1840, 1840-1860, and life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS). 

(Drake, 1950, pp. 137-140; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833).

 

Capron, Gilbert E., Uxbridge, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Capron, Lydia, Uxbridge, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Carleton, William, Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Carruthers, William P., member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Carter, Gaius, Becket, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.

 

Carter, Henry W., Athol, Massachusetts, Nominating Committee, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Channing, William F., member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Chapman, Henry G., abolitionist, Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Treasurer, 1835-40, 1840-42, life member.

 

Chapman, M. G., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) and Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS).

 

Chapman, Maria Weston, 1806-1885, educator, writer, newspaper editor, prominent abolitionist leader, reformer.  Advocate of immediate, uncompensated emancipation.  Editor of the anti-slavery newspaper The Liberty Bell.  Also helped to edit William Lloyd Garrison’s newspaper, the Liberator.  Co-founded and edited the National Anti-Slavery Standard.  Leader and founder of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS), which she founded and organized with twelve other women, including three of her sisters.  The Society worked to educate Boston’s African American community and to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia.  In 1840, Chapman was elected to the executive committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society.  She was Councillor of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society from 1841-1865.  Her husband was prominent abolitionist Henry Grafton Chapman.

(Dumond, 1961, p. 273; Filler, 1960, pp. 55, 76, 129, 143, 184; Mabee, 1970, pp. 62, 68, 72, 80, 105, 249, 259, 274; Pease, 1965, pp. xliv-l, li, lii, lxx, 205-212; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 199, 367, 402; Van Broekhoven, 2002, pp. 97, 119, 123, 135, 137, 173, 185, 190-191, 206-208; Weston, “How Can I Help Abolish Slavery?, or Councels to the Newly Converted,” New York, 1855; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 581; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, pp. 19-20; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 163-164; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 4, p. 710; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, p. 315)

 

Chase, Benjamin, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Chase, Caroline, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Chase, Harvey, Fall River, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Chase, Isaiah, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Chase, John A., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Chase, William M., Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1841-42.

 

Cheever, George B., Reverend, Salem, Massachusetts, abolitionist, member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Child, David Lee, 1794-1874, Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist, author, journalist.  Leader, manager, 1833-1840, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  Child served as a manager and a member of the Executive Committee of the AASS, 1840-1843, Vice-President, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1835-1836, Councellor, 1840-1841.  Published The Despotism of Freedom—or The Tyranny and Cruelty of American Republican Slaveholders.  Co-editor with his wife, Lydia, of The Anti-Slavery Standard

(Dumond, 1961, p. 269; Mabee, 1970, pp. 193, 327; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 42, 398, 399; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 603-604; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, p. 65; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 165-166; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 4, p. 804; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, p. 324)

 

Church, Jefferson, abolitionist, Springfield, Massachusetts.  Vice President, 1841-1860, Manager, 1851-53, American Anti-Slavery Society.

 

Chute, D., Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Clapp, Richard, abolitionist, Dorchester, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Vice-President, 1852-60, life member.

 

Clark, George L., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Clarke, James Freeman, Reverend

 

Clay, Sarah, Lowell, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Clement, John, abolitionist, Townsend, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1855-1856, 1857-1860.

 

Cleveland, Charles D., abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.

 

Cleverly, Joseph, abolitionist, Abington, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.

 

Coburn, Augustus M., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Coburn, S. M., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Coffin, William C., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Cogswell, George, M.D., West Bradford, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Collins, John A., 1810-1879, abolitionist, social reformer.  General Agent and Vice President, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Recording Secretary, 1840-42.  Edited anti-slavery magazine, Monthly Garland.

(Filler, 1960, pp. 24, 110, 135; Mabee, 1970, pp. 76, 80, 81, 82, 88, 112, 114, 119, 120, 123, 124, 125, 212, 264, 394n30, 394n31, 398n13; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, p. 307; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 5, p. 253).

 

Colver, Nathaniel, 1794-1870, Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist, clergyman, anti-slavery agent.  Baptist minister.  Lectured against slavery in New York State.  Counsellor, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1839-1840. 

(Dumond, 1961, pp. 188, 393n22; Goodell, 1852, pp. 505-506; “The Friend of Man,” March 27, 1837; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 699; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, p. 324)

 

Congdon, Mary T., Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Coolidge, Joshua, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Cowdry, Harris, abolitionist, Acton, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1840-1848.

 

Crawford, James, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Cross, Abdijah, Reverend, West Bardford, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Cross, J. W., Reverend, Boxborough, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Cummings, Hiram, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Cummings, Sampson, Massachusetts, abolitionist, active member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Cushing, James, East Haverhill, Massachusetts, abolitionist, life member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Davis, Elnathan, clergyman, abolitionist

 

Davis, George T., abolitionist, Greenfield, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40, 1840-41.

 

Davis, Timothy, Framingham, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1857-60-.

 

Douglass, Frederick, lecturer, Agent

 

Drew, Charles, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1835-1836.

 

Dunham, James H., Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.

 

Earle, Edward, abolitionist, Worcester, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1840-41.

 

Earle, William B., abolitionist, Worcester, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1841-51.

 

Easton, Joshua, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1835-36.

 

Eayrs, Joseph, Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1837-40.

 

Eddy, Nathaniel, Middleboro, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1837-40.

 

Ela, David H., Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1839-40.

 

Everett, Joshua T., abolitionist, Princeton, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40, 1840-58, 59-60-.

 

Fairbanks, Drury, Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1835-38.

 

Farnsworth, Amos, Groton, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Vice-President, 1836-40, 1840-54.  American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1837-40, 1840-42, 1843-53.

 

Fish, William H., Hopedale, Massachusetts.  Secretary, Agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), 1854.  Member of the American Anti-Slavery Society.

 

Fisk, John M., abolitionist, West Brookfield, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40, 1840-55.

 

Fitch, Charles, Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1837-38.

 

Flint, George, abolitionist, Rutland, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1859-60-.

 

Follen, Charles, 1796-1840, Cambridge, Massachusetts, educator, professor, writer, clergyman, Unitarian minister, abolitionist.  Fired from Harvard University for his anti-slavery oratory.  Wrote Lectures on Moral Philosophy, which strongly opposed slavery.  Influenced by abolitionist poet John Greenleaf Whittier and abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison, he became active in the New England Anti-Slavery Society.  American Anti-Slavery Society, Vice President, 1834-1835, 1836-1837, Member Executive Committee, 1837-1838, 1860-1863.  Vice-President, 1835-37, Counsellor, 1859-1860-, of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1859-1960.  Wrote anti-slavery Address to the People of the United States, which he delivered to the Society’s first convention in Boston.  Supported political and legal equality for women.

(Goodell, 1852, pp. 418, 469; Pease, 1965, pp. lxi, 224-233; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 288; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 491-492; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 2, p. 492; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 301-302)

 

Follen, Eliza Lee, 1787-1860, co-founder, leader, Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS) in 1833, writer, church organizer. American Anti-Slavery Society, Executive Committee member, 1846-1860.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1846-1860.  Wrote “Anti-Slavery Hymns and Songs” and “A Letter to Mothers in the States.” 

(Hansen, 1993; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 42, 288; Sterling, 1991; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 491-492; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 2, p. 492)

 

Forbes, Abner, Vermont, general, soldier.  Officer, Vermont auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1835-38. 

(Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 76).

 

Ford, Lewis, Abington, abolitionist, Abington, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1855-58.

 

Foss, Andrew T., Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) Business Committee, Agent, 1854

 

Foster, Abbey Kelly, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) Agent, 1854

 

Foster, Daniel, clergyman, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS)

 

Foster, Stephan Simmons, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) Agent, Business Committee, 1854

 

Fowler, Mr., Cambridge, Massachusetts. Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) member 1854

 

Fuller, John E., Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1835-39.

 

Gardner, Oliver, abolitionist, Nantucket, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1848-57.

 

Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879, journalist, printer, preeminent American abolitionist leader.  Founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  President and Member of the Executive Committee, AASS, 1843-1864.  Founder, editor, Liberator, weekly newspaper founded in 1831, published through December 1865.  Vice President, 1836-1837, Corresponding Secretary, 1837-1844, Counsellor, 1844-1860, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. 

(Drake, 1950, pp. 185, 187; Dumond, 1961, pp. 137, 167, 168, 169, 172, 173, 179, 182, 190, 273, 283, 286-287; Filler, 1960; Garrison, 1885-1889, 4 volumes; Goodell, 1852, 1852, pp. 396-397, 401, 405, 410, 419, 436, 455-456, 458-459, 460, 469, 512, 541; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Kraditor, 1969; Mabee, 1970, pp. 2, 8, 26, 28, 131, 149, 152, 376, 378, 398n15; Mayer, 1998; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 41-42, 106, 131, 152, 179, 208-209, 289, 307-309, 321, 378, 463; Sorin, 1971; Stewart, 1992; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 610-612; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 1, p. 168; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 332-334; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 8, p. 761; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, pp. 305-306; Merrill, Walter M. Against the Wind and Tide. 1963; Thomas, John L. The Liberator: William Lloyd Garrison. 1963)

 

Gifford, Josiah, bolitionist, Sandwich, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1841-47.

 

Godding, Alvah, abolitionist, Winchester, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1840-41.

 

Goodyear, George, Ashburnham, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1836-40.

 

Gove, John C., abolitionist, Boston (Roxbury), Massachusetts, Massachusetts Abolition Society, Executive Committee, 1842-43, Treasurer, 1850-.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Vice-President, 1842-48.

 

Grosvenor, Cyrus P., 1792-1879, Salem, Massachusetts, clergyman, abolitionist leader, anti-slavery agent, anti-slavery Baptist minister, educator.  Lectured on anti-slavery.  American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) Vice President, 1834-1835, Manager, 1839-1840, 1840-1841.  Member of the Liberty Party.  Leader of the anti-slavery movement in Massachusetts and Connecticut.  Vice-President, 1836-40, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

(Dumond, 1961, pp. 188, 285, 393n24; Putnam, 1893, p. 14, “Friend of Man,” October 6, 1836, May 10, 1837).

 

Harding, Sewall, Medway, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.

 

Harlow, Ansel, Boston, Massachusetts.  Nominating Officer, 1854, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Harmon, David P., abolitionist, Haverhill, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1854-60.

 

Haskall, Mehitable, Gloucester, Massachusetts.  Nominating Officer, 1854, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Hassel, Robert, Reverend, Mendon, Massachusetts.  Agent, 1854, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Hawley, Silas Jr., abolitionist, Groton, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1840-41.  (Frederick Douglass Papers).

 

Henshaw, Josiah, abolitionist, W. Brookfield, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1851-60-.

 

Hews, William H., abolitionist, Haverhill, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1840-41.

 

Higginston, T. W., clergyman, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Hilton, John J., abolitionist, Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1836-40, 40-46, Vice-President, 1846-60-.

 

Hilton, John T., 1801-1864, African American, abolitionist, civil rights activist

(Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 5, p. 615).

 

Himes, Joshua, Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS).  Counsellor, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1840-1843.

 

Himes, Joshua V., Boston, Massachusetts, Counsellor, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), 1839-40.

 

Hodge, Charles E., abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1856-60.

 

Hodges, Charles E., Reverend, Watertown, Massachusetts.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Holly, Sallie, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) Agent, Finance Committee, 1854.

 

Horton, Jotham, anti-slavery advocate.  Helped found the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1843 with abolitionists Orange Scott and LaRoy Sunderland in 1843.  Councellor, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), 1838-1839.

(Dumond, 1961, p. 187; Matlack, 1849, p. 162).

 

Hovey, Charles F., 1807-1859, Boston, Massachusetts, businessman, philanthropist, abolitionist, reformer.  American Anti-Slavery Society, Executive Committee, 1848-59.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice President 1848-1855, Counsellor, 1855-1860.  Hovey was an active supporter of the Women’s Rights Movement.  He helped support the abolitionist movement with significant funding.  (Abbot; Richard, 1991).

 

Howe, Appleton, Weymouth, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.

 

Howes, Alvan, Barnstable, Massachusetts.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) officer, 1854, Business Committee, 1854.

 

Howland, Asa, Conway, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1836-40.

 

Howland, Joseph A., Worcester, Massachusetts.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Secretary, 1854.

 

Hoyt, George, abolitionist, Athol, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1848-50.

 

Hurlbut, Joseph, Cartersville, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.

 

Ide, Jacob, West Medway, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Manager, 1833-1837, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.

(Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833).

 

Innes, J. B., abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) member, 1854.

 

Jackson, Edumnd, Boston and Chelsea, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Executive Committee, American Anti-Slavery Society, 1862-1864.  Counsellor, 1842-1845, Auditor, 1845-1860, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.

 

Jackson, Eliphalet W., Counsellor, 1840-41, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Jackson, Francis, 1789-1861, Boston, Massachusetts, merchant, social reformer, abolitionist.  President of the Anti-Slavery Society.  Supported the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS).  Generously supported abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp and their anti-slavery newspaper, the Liberator.  American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) Member, Executive Committee, 1840-1861, Vice President, 1840-1861, Treasurer, 1844-1861.  Vice President, 1836-1837, and President, 1839-1860, of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.  Boston Vigilance Committee. 

(The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, p. 318).

 

Johnson, Oliver, 1809-1889, Boston, Massachusetts, anti-slavery leader, newspaper editor, printer, reformer.  An early supporter of William Lloyd Garrison.  American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), Member Executive Committee, 1841-1843, Manager, 1852-1853.  Occasionally helped Garrison in the editing of The Liberator.  In 1832, co-founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society.  Lectured extensively against slavery.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) Counsellor, 1839-1842.  Johnson edited various anti-slavery newspapers, including the National Anti-Slavery Standard, the Pennsylvania Freeman, and the Anti-Slavery Bugle

(Mabee, 1970, pp. 86, 87, 214, 215, 226, 261, 262, 297, 335, 368; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 367; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 446; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 5, Pt. 2, p. 412; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 12, p. 107)

 

Johnson, Samuel, clergyman, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Jones, John, Roxbury, Massachusetts.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) Committee, 1854

 

Kenny, Eliza, Salem, Massachusetts.  Finance Committee, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), 1854.

 

Kimball, John S., Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1835-36.

 

Knapp, Isaac, Boston, Massachusetts, printer, newspaper editor and publisher, abolitionist.  Helped William Lloyd Garrison found abolitionist newspaper, Liberator, in 1831.  Manager, 1833-1837, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  He was indicted in Raleigh, North Carolina, for circulating the paper there.  Co-founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society.  Served as editor and publisher of the Liberator until 1842.  Published and distributed numerous anti-slavery pamphlets.

(Rodriguez, 2007, p. 463; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892).

 

Leavitt, Roger Hooker, 1805-1885, Claremont, Massachusetts, abolitionist leader, landowner, industrialist, temperance activist, soldier.  President, Franklin County Anti-Slavery Society.  Vice President, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1838-1840, 1840-1841.  Gubernatorial candidate for Massachusetts on the Liberty Party ticket.  Brother of abolitionist leader Joshua Leavitt.  Stationmaster on the Underground Railroad.

 

Lincoln, Sumner, Gardiner, Vermont, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1844-1848, Vice-President, 1848-1849.  Vice President, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1840-1845.

 

Locke, Joseph J., Barre, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1851-1852.

 

Locke, Theodore, D., Barre, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1842-1848.

 

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, poet, abolitionist, wrote and published anti-slavery poems.  Member, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Longley, Thomas, Hawley, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1837-40.

 

Loring, Ellis Gray, 1803-1858, Boston, Massachusetts, lawyer, abolitionist leader.  Manager and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), December 1833.  Manager, AASS, 1833-1840, 1840-1843, Executive Committee, 1843-1844.  Husband to abolitionist Louisa Loring of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS).  Counsellor, 1835-40, Auditor, 1844-45, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).  Co-founded and wrote the constitution of the New England Anti-Slavery Society in 1833.  Financially aided the abolitionist newspaper the Liberator.  Was the attorney for the defense of a slave child in Massachusetts Supreme Court.  This resulted in a landmark ruling that every slave brought to the state by the owner was legally free. 

(Dumond, 1961, pp. 186, 317; Mabee, 1970, p. 124; Yellin, 1994, p. 51; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 27; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 1, p. 416; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, p. 318).

 

Lothrop, Stillman, Watertown, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-1840, 1840-1854.

 

Lowell, James Russell, 1819-1891,Cambridge, Massachusetts, poet, essayist, journalist, anti-slavery activist, temperance and labor reform advocate. Wrote antislavery poetry.  Married to abolitionist Maria White Lowell.  Became a contributing editor to the abolitionist newpaper, Pennsylvania Freeman.  Counsellor, 1847-52, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. 

(Filler, 1960, pp. 29, 141, 185; Mabee, 1970, pp. 66, 208, 257, 342; Mitchell, 2007, pp. 155, 267n; Pease, 1965, pp. 310-315; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 468; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 39-42; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 1, p. 458; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 14, p. 40).

 

May, Samuel J., 1797-1871, Brooklyn, Connecticut, reformer, abolitionist leader, temperance advocate, clergyman, early advocate of women’s rights.  Unitarian minister.  Organized local auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  May was an advocate for immediate, uncompensated emancipation of slaves.  Vice president, 1848-1861, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  Agent of the New England Anti-Slavery Society.  Corresponding Secretary, 1835-1837, Vice-President, 1838-1840, 1840-1846, of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.  May was opposed to both the annexation of Texas and the Mexican War.  He adamantly opposed both the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law and actively advocated resistance to it.  Active in Underground Railroad in Syracuse, New York.  In 1851, he helped rescue a fugitive slave, Jerry McHenry, from the federal government.  Early supporter of William Lloyd Garrison.  In 1856, he joined the anti-slavery Republican Party, supporting John Frémont for the presidency of the United States. 

 

(Bruns, 1977, p. 456; Drake, 1950, p. 176; Dumond, 1961, pp. 182, 211-212, 273, 276; Filler, 1960, pp. 34, 44, 59, 65-66, 216; Mabee, 1970, pp. 12, 13, 20, 22-24, 26, 28, 29, 35, 37, 43-48, 78-79, 93, 124, 132, 149, 156, 168-170, 232, 272, 287, 289, 296, 300, 307, 308, 310, 359, 360, 368; Sernett, 2002, pp. 63, 102, 132, 134-144, 175, 176, 274-275, 312-313n39; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 273; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 447; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 585-586; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, p. 313; May, Samuel Joseph. Memoir of Samuel Joseph May. Boston, 1873; May, Samuel Joseph, Recollections of the Anti-Slavery Conflict. Boston, 1868; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 169.  Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 127)

 

May, Samuel, Jr., Leicester, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Executive Committee, 1849-1864, American Anti-Slavery Society.  Vice President, 1840-1848, Counsellor, 1849-1860, Corresponding Secretary, 1854-1860, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.

 

McIntire, Charles B., Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Business Committee, 1854

 

Merrill, Joseph, Davenport, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40, Nominating Committee, 1854.

 

Miles, George, Westminster, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1845-1860.

 

Nye, Charles, Sandwich, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.

 

Oakes, William, Ipswich, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1834-1837.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Vice President, 1835-1838. 

 

Ober, Reuben H., Boston, Massachusetts.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Finance Committee, 1854

 

Odiorne, James C., Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Treasurer, 1835-36.

 

Packard, Theodore, Shelburn, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1836-40.

 

Parker, Gilman, Haverhill, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.

 

Parker, Theodore, Reverend, abolitionist leader. Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Parkman, John, Greenfield, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-1840, 1840-1841.

 

Peabody, David, Worcester, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.

 

Peirce, Cyrus, Nantucket, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Vice-President, 1838-40, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.

 

Perry, Gardiner B., East Bradford, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1836-1840.

 

Phelps, Amos A., 1805-1847, Boston, Massachusetts, clergyman, editor. Manager and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), December 1833; Manager, 1834-1835, Vice-President, 1834-1835, Executive Committee, 1836-1838, Recording Secretary, 1836-1840.  Editor, Emancipation and The National Era. Husband of abolitionist Charlotte Phelps. Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Vice-President, 1835-1936, Recording Secretary, 1838-1840.

(Dumond, 1961, pp. 182, 185, 266, 276, 285; Pease, 1965, pp. 71-85; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 290; Yellin, 1994, pp. 47, 54, 54n, 59-60, 125; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 751; Phelps, “Lectures on Slavery and its Remedy,” Boston, 1834; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 132, 228-229).

 

Philbrick, Samuel, Brookline, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1837-1840, 1840-1841, Treasurer, 1842-1860-.

 

Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884, lawyer, orator, reformer, abolitionist leader, Native American advocate.  Member of the Executive Committee, 1842-1864, and Recording Secretary, 1845-1864, of the American Anti-Slavery Society.  Called “abolition’s golden trumpet.”  Counseller, 1838-1940, 1840-1843, of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.  Advocate of Free Produce movement. 

(Dumond, 1961, pp. 182, 186, 273, 340; Filler, 1960, pp. 39, 42, 45, 59, 80, 94, 130, 138, 140, 183, 204, 206, 214, 275; Hofstadter, 1948; Irving, 1973; Mabee, 1970, pp. 72, 86, 105, 109, 116, 123, 124, 136, 165, 169, 173, 180, 193, 200, 243, 248, 261, 262, 269, 271, 278, 279, 286, 289, 295, 301, 309, 316, 337, 364, 369; Pease, 1965, pp. 339, 459-479; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 50, 54, 56, 169, 309, 399, 476, 602-605; Stewart, 1998; Yellin, 1994, pp. 35, 82, 86, 260, 306, 308n, 309-311, 311n, 333; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 759-762; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 2, p. 546; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 17, p. 454; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, pp. 314-315; Hinks, Peter P., & John R. McKivigan, Eds., Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition.  Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood, 2007, Vol. 2, pp. 529-531; Bartlett, Irving H. Wendell Phillips: Brahmin Radical. Boston: Beacon Press, 1961; Sherwin, Oscar. Profit of Liberty: The Life and Times of Wendell Phillips. New York: Bookman, 1958)

 

Pierce, Cyrus, Newton, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1849-1860-.

 

Putnam, Caroline F., member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS) and the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS).

 

Putnam, George W., Lynn, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS).

 

Quincy, Edmund, 1808-1877, Dedham, Massachusetts, author, anti-slavery writer, abolitionist leader.  Served as a Manager, 1838-1840, 1840-1842, member of the Executive Committee, 1843-1864, Vice President, 1848-1864, and Corresponding Secretary, 1853-1856, of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (AFASS).  Counsellor, 1838-40, Corresponding Secretary, 1844-54, Vice-President, 1849-60,  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. 

(Mabee, 1970, pp. 70, 72, 73, 75, 77, 80, 200, 224, 248, 250, 255, 256, 257, 260, 262, 297, 313; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 153; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 1, p. 306)

 

Remond, Charles L., 1810-1873, free African American, Boston, Massachusetts, orator, abolitionist leader.  Member, 1849-1860, Vice President, and delegate of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS).  Member of the Executive Committee, 1843-1848, and a Manager, 1848-1853, AASS.  He attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society Agent, Counsellor, 1842-48, Vice-President, 1848-49, 1855-60, Business Committee Agent 1854.  First Black abolitionist employed as spokesman in anti-slavery cause (in 1838).  Recruited African American soldiers for the Union Army. 

(Dumond, 1961, p. 331; Leeman, pp. 302-310; Mabee, 1970, pp. 61, 64, 103, 104, 106, 122, 124, 131, 157, 161, 173, 177, 180, 252, 254, 258, 261, 264, 294, 320, 322-324, 335, 373; Pease, 1965, pp. 314, 335-342; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 32, 45, 436-437; Wheaton, 1996; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 1, p. 499; Annals of Congress; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 18, p. 335; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 9, p. 404).

 

Rhoades, Zenas, N. Marlboro, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1844-1850.

 

Richards, William M., Deerfield, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.

 

Robbins, James W., Lenox, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.

 

Robeson, Andrew, New Bedford, Massachusetts, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1840-, 1843-53, 1862-63.  Vice President, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1840-1860.

 

Rogers, John, Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1840-1857.

 

Rowland, Mr., member, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), 1854-1855.

 

Russell, George W., Worcester, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1836-37.

 

Sargent, John T., Massachusetts, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Executive Committee, 1862-1864.  Counsellor, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1852-1860.

 

Scott, Orange, 1800-1847, Springfield, Massachusetts, Methodist clergyman, anti-slavery agent, abolitionist leader.  Member of Congress from Pennsylvania.  Entered anti-slavery cause in 1834.  Lectured in New England.  In 1839, founded and published the American Wesleyan Observer, an anti-slavery publication.  Withdrew from Methodist Church to co-found the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1843 with Jotham Horton.  Manager of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), 1838-1840, Executive Committee, 1847-1851, 1853-1855, Recording Secretary 1849-1855.  American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society.  Vice President, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), 1835-1838.

(Dumond, 1961, pp. 187, 285, 349; Locke, 1901, pp. 93, 140; Mabee, 1970, pp. 46, 228-229; Matlack, 1849, p. 162; Annals of Congress; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 438; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 2, p. 497; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 19, p. 503; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, p. 315)

 

Sewall, Samuel E., Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist leader.  Co-founding member of the New England Anti-Slavery Society (NEASS), founded January 1, 1832, in Boston, Massachusetts.  Manager, 1833-1837, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  Leader, active member, Liberty Party.  Liberty Party candidate for Governor of Massachusetts.  Sewall was a close working associated of abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison.  Auditor, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1836-1840.

 

(Dumond, 1961, pp. 301, 405n12; Sinha, 2016, pp. 222-223; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Minutes, Convention of the Liberty Party, June 14, 15, 1848, Buffalo, New York)

 

Shipley, Simon B., Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1840-1844.

 

Shipley, Simon G., Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1835-40.

 

Smith, George H., Salem, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1837-38.

 

Smith, John, Andover, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1840-1841.

 

Smith, Moses, Holden, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Nominating committee, 1854.

 

Snow, Benjamin, Jr., Fitchburg, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1844-1860.

 

Southard, Nathaniel, Boston, Massachusetts, New York, New York, abolitionist. American Anti-Slavery Society, Executive Committee, 1840-1841. Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Recording Secretary, 1837-38,

 

Southwick, Joseph, Danvers/Boston, Massachusetts.  Vice president, 1833-1835, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  President, 1835-1837, and Vice President, 1837-1840, 1840-1848, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. 

(Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833).

 

Sprague, Elbridge, Abington, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Finance Committee, 1854.

 

Spear, John Murray, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1846-55, Vice-President, 1843-46.  Severely beaten by a mob of pro-slavery supporters in Portland, Maine.

 

Spooner, Bourne, Plymouth, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1845-1853, Vice-President, 1863-1864.  Vice President, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1847-1860.

 

Sprague, Seth, Duxbury, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1840-1848.  Vice President, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1840-1841.

 

Stafford, J. S., Cummington, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1850-56.

 

Stanwood, Atkinson, Newburyport, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Vice-President, 1855-60-.

 

Stockman, E. A., Cunnington, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Business Committee, 1854.

 

Stoddard, William H., Northampton, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.

 

Stone, William B., abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1848-50.

 

Stow, Baron, 1801-1869, Boston, Massachusetts, clergyman, abolitionist, Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society.  Stow was a Vice President of the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1834-1836.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Vice-President, 1835-1836.

(Appletons’, 1888, Vol. V., p. 713; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 114)

 

Swasey, J. B., Esq., Newburyport, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Business Committee, 1854.

 

Taft, Dora M., abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS), Business Committee, 1854.

 

Thatcher, Ezekial, Banstable, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1854-1860-.

 

Thatcher, Moses, N. Wrentham, Massachusetts.  American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1833-37.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1835-1838.

 

Tilton, David, Edgartown, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-1840.

 

Tingley, C. T., Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1838-40.

 

Walker, Amasa, 1799-1875, Boston, Massachusetts, political economist, abolitionist.  Republican U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts.  Active and vigorous opponent of slavery.  American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) Manager, 1837-1840, 1840-1841, 1843-1844, Counsellor, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1840-1841.  Co-founder of Free Soil Party in 1848.  Served in Congress December 1862 through March 1863. 

(Filler, 1960, pp. 60, 254; Mabee, 1970, pp. 258, 340, 403n25; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 324-325; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 338; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 22, p. 485)

 

Wallcut, Robert F., N. Dennis, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1845-47, Recording Secretary, 1847-61-.

 

Ward, Alvan, Ashburnham, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Nominating Committee, 1854.

 

Ward, Thomas W., Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1837-1840.

 

Wasson, D. A., clergyman, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.

 

Waters, George, Holden, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-1840.

 

Webster, Nathan, Haverhill, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1841-51.

 

Wellington, Cornelius, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Finance Committee, 1854.

 

Wells, E. M. P., Boston, Massachusetts.  Vice president, 1833-1835, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice President, 1835-1837.  (Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833).

 

Weston, Anne W., Weymouth, Massachusetts, abolitionist leader.  Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS).  Executive Committee, American Anti-Slavery society (AASS), 1843-1864.  Counsellor, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1844-1860.  (Dumond, 1961, p. 275; Mabee, 1970, p. 222; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 199; Yellin, 1994, pp. 40n, 41, 43n, 45, 56, 57n, 61-62, 64, 173, 176n, 253n, 258, 259, 289, 294).

 

Weston, Caroline, Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist leader.  Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS). Vice President, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1843-1859.  (Rodriguez, 2007, p. 199; Yellin, 1994, pp. 60, 62, 64n, 65, 172, 176, 253n, 256, 285, 294).

 

Whipple, Charles K., Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1836-1837, Executive Committee, 1840-1841.  Counsellor, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1846-1860.

 

Whitaker, William, North Salem, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1837-1840.

 

White, J. C., 1806-1872, Boston, Massachusetts, African American, abolitionist, businessman, father of Jacob C. White, Jr.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1838-39.

(Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 12, p. 32).

 

Whiting, William, Concord, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1853-60-.

 

Whiting, Nathaniel, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Agent, Business Committee, 1854.

 

Whitney, Daniel S., Southboro, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Agent, Committee Member, 1854.

 

Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892, Haverhill, Massachusetts, poet, journalist, newspaper publisher and editor, Society of Friends, Quaker, radical abolitionist.  Wrote and published antislavery poetry for the society.  Publisher and editor of the Pennsylvania Freeman.  Founding member, Manager, and Secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society.  Member of the Executive Committee, American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice President, 1835-1839.  Leader and active with the Liberty Party.  Member, Free Soil Party.  Called for immediate abolition of slavery in the United States. 

 

(Blue, 2005, pp. 5, 37-64; Drake, 1950, pp. 113, 127, 137, 140-142, 158-159, 176, 181, 195; Dumond, 1961, pp. 167, 245, 286, 301; Filler, 1960, pp. 56, 66, 90, 105, 134, 148, 151, 194; Mabee, 1970, pp. 2, 4, 9, 11-13, 18, 21-22, 25-26, 29-30, 35-36, 48, 51, 65, 194, 211, 309, 326, 329, 359, 368, 373, 378; Pease, 1965, pp. 65, 102-104, 123-128; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 161, 433, 641, 723; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 493-494; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 2, p. 173; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 23, p. 350; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. I. New York: James T. White, 1892, p. 407)

 

Williams, Henry W., Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Recording Secretary, 1842-47.

 

Williams, John S., abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Auditor, 1835-36.

 

Williston, Samuel W., East Hampton, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1837-1840.

 

Winslow, Isaac, Danvers, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1836-1840.  Father of Emily Winslow, also a prominent abolitionist.  Attended World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840.

 

Wood, Horatio G., Middleboro, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1842-1847.

 

Woodward, Solomon, Teunton, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1840-1841.

 

Wright, Henry C., 1797-1870, Boston, Massachusetts, reformer, orator, author, abolitionist leader.  Executive Committee, American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), 1859-1864.  Vice President, 1836-1837, Business Committee, 1855, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. 

(Filler, 1960, pp. 55, 109, 115, 120, 129, 131, 133, 138, 263; Mabee, 1970, pp. 42, 43, 46, 47, 67-69, 71-75, 77, 80, 82, 94, 140, 195-197, 293, 296, 324, 329, 336, 345, 346, 359, 361, 367, 371; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 399; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 623; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 24, p. 28)

 

Wright, Luther, Woburn, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1837-38.

 

York, J. H., Dr., Boston, Massachustts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Committee, 1854.

 




Return to Top of Page


References


(Basker, 2005, p. 79; Dumont, 1961, p. 173, 182; Mabee, 1970, pp. 2, 20, 34, 47, 48, 72, 115, 116, 119, 122, 123, 124, 165, 211, 212, 232, 242, 249, 250, 251, 252, 262, 291, 295, 308, 317, 387n11, 415n18, 421n23; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 32, 36, 45, 47, 183, 208, 364, 401, 436; Wilson, 1872, pp. 356-360; Yellin, 1994, pp. 50, 54n, 56, 79, 250, 253n, 258, 263, 264, 302, 307; Proceedings of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society Annual Meetings, 1835-1860, Boston, Massachusetts [downloaded from openlibrary.org, June 26, 2016])