Julia Griffiths to Frederick Douglass, February 4, 1859
Haverstock Hill[, Eng.]1Haverstock Hill was initially a hamlet located on the road between London and Hampstead in Middlesex County. By the eighteenth century, only six houses remained on the land, much of which was owned by Eton College. In the 1820s, several schemes to develop the land were launched, but it was not until 1830 that the first new homes, fronting Haverstock Hill Road, were built. By the mid-1850s, Haverstock Hill had become a full-blown metropolitan suburb, served by three chapels, with its own post office and railway station. Both the Journeymen Tailors’ Almshouse and the Orphan Working School were located in Haverstock Hill by 1860. John Marius Wilson, , 6 vols. (Edinburgh, Scot., 1870–72), 3:895–96; T. F. T. Baker, ed., , 12 vols. (London, 1911–2004), 9:55–63. 4 Feb[ruar]y [1859].
My DEAR FRIEND
I regret to waste your postage—in sending what must be to you an unsatisfactory note—but I must do the bidding of the members of some of our Societies & tell you that the interests of your nice, new interesting paper will be , if the papers are not regularly sent over—Mrs Johnston2Mary Cook Johnston (1802–64) of Waterside House, Montrose, Scotland. Her husband, Joseph Johnston (1802–87), was a successful salmon curer, manufacturer, and fishery owner. 1851 Scotland Census, Montrose Parish, Angus, Scotland, 12; 1881 Scotland Census, Montrose Parish, Angus, Scotland, 6; David Mitchell, (Montrose, Scot., 1866), 135–36. of Montrose, (an old friend,) states, she has only had 2 papers for her 10/—, because they did not get them —& Mrs Johnstone will stop, if her paper does not reach her—The Barnsley Society3After she returned to England, Julia Griffiths helped organize a number of women’s antislavery societies between 1856 and 1857, including the one at Barnsley in the West Riding, Yorkshire. Simon Morgan, “The Political as Personal: Transatlantic Abolitionism, c. 1833–67,” in , ed. William Mulligan and Maurice Bric (Houndmills-Basingstoke, Eng., 2013), 86; Midgley, , 206; Quarles, , 159. only take one paper—& get it—They are very angry—& all apply to me on the subject—my old friend Mrs Fisher4Mary A. Smith Fisher (c. 1816–?) of Mapes Hill House, Willesden, Middlesex, England. Her husband, Samuel Fisher (c. 1813–?), was a wealthy dressing case manufacturer. 1851 England Census, Willesden Parish, Middlesex, England, 14; 1861 England Census, Willesden Parish, Middlesex, England, 4. has not had a paper for many months—I will now send again these three address—and May you, dear friend, either to see to it yourself or to employ Oliver5Probably William Oliver (1835–95), a native of Scotland, whom Douglass took on as an apprentice in 1851. Remaining in Douglass’s employ for a decade, he eventually became Douglass’s printer. In 1888, Oliver was elected to a single term as clerk of Monroe County. He was also named one of the honorary pallbearers at Douglass’s funeral. 1850 U.S. Census, New York, Monroe County, 35; 1860 U.S. Census, New York, Monroe County, 24; J. W. Thompson, (Rochester, 1903), 24; Phillip S. Foner, (New York, 1969), 84; Peck, , 1:364. to see to it, or to get some careful, competent person to mail the papers regularly—for I cannot but feel and that the directions are but written—& I have true reasons to know, as have, , been .
JULIA GRIFFITHS,
JAMES GANN6Julia Griffiths seems to be making a joking reference to the fictional James Gann, once a coheir of the “London firm of Gann, Blubbery and Gann,” a character in William Makepeace Thackeray’s humorous novella “A Shabby Genteel Story.” Originally appearing in in 1840, the novella was republished in 1853 and again in 1857 in editions of Thackeray’s collected works. In 1861 it was included as a prefix to one of his final novels, (1861–62). The Gann family, of which James Gann, Esq., was the head, comprised the “shabby, but genteel” subjects of the story’s title. Herman Charles Merivale and Frank Thomas Marzials, (London, 1891), vi, 203–04; Lewis Saul Benjamin, , 2 vols. (1910; Grosse Pointe, Mich., 1968), 2:193, 274, 285; William Makepeace Thackeray, (online).
[P.S.] I always tell the who write to me to enquire it is, that I cannot, tell & yet, I have inward compunctions that I scarcely tell when I to Say—
I am truly grieved, dear Frederick to tease you with this business; but I am most anxious that shd. exist to the wider circulation of the Paper—& its often appearing [illegible] occasionally a great drawback—I must not write a long letter this time—Aunt7Mary Powis Griffiths (c. 1789–1877), with whom Julia Griffiths; her husband, the Reverend Henry O. Crofts; and three stepdaughters (Elizabeth, Saley, and Martha Crofts) were sharing their home in both 1861 and 1871. 1861 England Census, Halifax, Yorkshire, 110; 1871 England Census, Gateshead, Durham County, 41; Janet Douglas, “A Cherished Friendship: Julia Griffiths Crofts and Frederick Douglass,” , 33:265–74 (June 2012). is still confined to bed—& four ladies are here—yet I wd. not miss the mail.
Pray send these people this year’s numbers,
A letter from Rev: M. Fisch,8The Reverend George Fisch (1814–81), pastor of the French Evangelical Church at Paris. Born in Switzerland and educated in Lausanne, Fisch spent most of his career serving pastorates in France. He was a founding member of the French branch of the Evangelical Alliance and a frequent attendee of the British branch’s annual conference. In 1863 he published , an account of his observations on the Civil War. Later that same year, Fisch was a signatory to the “Address of French Protestant Pastors of Every Denomination” to their British counterparts. The address, which argued that the war in the United States was motivated solely by “the desire of the South to maintain slavery,” urged British clergy to “offer those who fight for the right of oppressing the slaves no hope of ever seeing . . . Christians . . . give them the hand of fellowship.” (London, 1863), 383–84; George Ripley and Charles A. Dana, eds., , 16 vols. (New York, 1873–76), 7:216; , 35: 253–54 (August 1881). Paris, came to day, says that nine of his lady-friends will be happy to meet me there, to talk over Slavery—
God bless you, My dear friend—kiss dear little Annie9Annie Douglass. for me. Give my kind regards to all, & believe me, ever,
Your true & faithful friend,
JULIA GRIFFITHS—
[P.P.S.] See that the Paper is sent to—
Mrs Johnstone
Water Side
Montrose
Scotland
Mr Lister10A native of Yorkshire, England, Thomas Lister (1810–88) was a well-known Quaker poet and naturalist. He first came to prominence upon the successful publication of a collection of verse, Rustic Wreath, in 1834. Through the patronage of Lord Morpeth, later the 7th Earl of Carlisle, Lister was appointed postmaster of Barnsley (Yorkshire) in 1839 without having to take the usual oath, which would have been contrary to his religious beliefs. He held the post until his retirement in 1870. He frequently contributed observations on birds and meteorological matters to the Barnsley and regularly delivered papers on those subjects at the annual meetings of the British Association. He was also for many years president of the Barnsley Naturalists’ Society. Lister was an avid supporter of the British temperance movement. William Smith, ed., , 3 vols. (London, 1889–91), 3:241–49; (online).
Post Master
Barnsley—
Yorkshire—
Mrs Fisher
Mapes Hill House
Willesdeer
Middlesex
[graphic line]
—
Enter papers of
Miss Urwick11Either Sarah Urwick (1820–1907) or her sister Elinor Urwick (1822–1902), daughters of the Reverend Dr. William Urwick (1791–1868), a Congregationalist minister and professor of dogmatics and pastoral theology at the Dublin Theological Institute. One of the Miss Urwicks was a member of the Ladies’ Irish Anti-Slavery Society. , 1 June 1858; Thomas A. Urwick and William Urwick, (London, 1893), 215–18, 224–25; (online).
Joseph Allan12A Quaker merchant, Joseph Allen (c. 1810–78) was the son of Edward and Ellen Allen and brother of Richard Allen (1803–86), a linen merchant and leading Dublin abolitionist. Like his brother, Joseph Allen was a member of both the Dublin Yearly Meeting and the Hibernian Anti-Slavery Society. , 35:170 (1 June 1878), 170; Hannah Marie Wigham, (London, Eng., 1886), 97; (online).
Mr Manders
William Webb13William Webb was the husband of Maria Webb, an Irish abolitionist correspondent of Douglass’s. Webb married Maria Lamb in 1828, and the couple settled in Belfast. The family eventually included six children. A business partner in Richard Allen’s textile firm, Webb also was an active member of the Dublin Anti-Slavery Society. American Anti-Slavery Society, (Boston, 1852), 107; Marie-Louise Legg ed., (Cork, Ire., 1999), 83.
}
all
also,
Miss Hincks14Hannah Hincks (1798–1871), the daughter of a former professor of Hebrew at Queen’s College, the Reverend Thomas Dix Hincks (1767–1857) and his wife, Anne Boult Hincks. Hannah Hincks, an algologist, discovered a species of brown alga that was named for her, . She also contributed to George Dickie’s 1864 book, . For a few years Hannah Hicks served as corresponding secretary of the Belfast Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. , 1 December 1859; , ser. 3, 1:409–10; Ray Desmond, (London, 1977), 310; Oldham, “Irish Support of the Abolitionist Movement,” 184–85; (online). Belfast—
Miss Evans,15Either Miss A. D. Evans or Miss H. Evans of Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland. Both Miss Evanses were Quakers and members of the Ladies’ Irish Anti-Slavery Society. In the 1850s they operated a boarding school for “Daughters of Friends” out of their home at Prior Park. , 16:6 (1 January 1858); , 1 June 1858. Clonmel
Miss Forster—Clifton
Mrs Young,16Marianne Ffolliott Young (1794-1879), was the daughter of John Ffollliott, Esq., of Hollybrook House, County Sligo, Ireland, and the wife of George Young, Esq., of Culdaff House, County Donegal, Ireland. Mrs. Young was a member of the Irish Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. Her husband was for many years both a magistrate and deputy lieutenant of County Donegal. , 1 June 1858, 1 December 1859; Belfast (Ire.) , 4 June 1877, 19 December 1879. Culdaff House Ireland—
all paid one year—
These are subscribers, & I conclude their addresses are, already, properly entered in the book—& I have not given them , in full—
ALS: General Correspondence File, reel 8, frames 691–95, FD Papers, DLC.