Frederick Douglass to Alta Lucia Gray Hilliard Wallingford, January 28, 1856
FREDERICK DOUGLASS TO ALTA LUCIA GRAY
HILLIARD WALLINGFORD1Alta Lucia Gray Hilliard Wallingford (1810-91) was the daughter of the Reverend Joseph
Hilliard, minister of the Second Congregational Church of Berwick, Maine, from 1796 to 1827. In 1840 she married Zimri Scates Wallingford. Sharing her husband’s abolitionist views, she was active in the Dover Anti-Slavery Sewing Circle in the 1850s. D. Hamilton Hurd, History of Rockingham and Strafford Counties, New Hampshire (Philadelphia, 1882), 869—71. John B. Clarke, Sketches of Successful New Hampshire Men (Manchester, N.H., 1882), 70—73; Jody R. Fernald, “Radical Reform in Public Sentiment: Lydia Dixon and the Dover, New Hampshire Ladies’ Antislavery Society,” in , ed. Peter Benes and Jane Montague Benes (Boston, 2005), 99—100; “Zimri Scates Wallingford,” , 1: 161—68 (May 1888).
New Market[, n.p.] 28 Jan[uary] 1856.
DEAR MRS WALLINGFORD,
I am Sorry that the Snow drifts of Maine2Although the severity of the winter of 1855—56 in New England was overshadowed by that of 1856—57, which was remembered as one of the worst on record, the region did experience significant snowfall in January 1856. The storm, which battered the Atlantic coast from Maine to New York, disrupted train travel from Portland to Boston, stranded thousands of people in railroad cars outside Boston, downed telegraph wires (cutting off communication between Boston and New York City), and drove the steamer Plymouth Rock ashore on Long Island Sound. Sidney Perley, (1891; Beverly, Mass., 2001), 273—78; Augusta , 3 January, 10 January 1856.—which entirely blocked the
wheels of travel last week, made it impossible for me to spend yester-
day in Dover3Located in Piscataquis County, present-day Dover-Foxcroft is approximately thirty-five miles northwest of Bangor. Dover, on the south side of the Piscataquis River, was first settled in 1803, and Foxcroft, on the north bank, was founded three years later. The two communities merged in 1922. Seltzer, , 531; Cohen, , 863.—and further, prevented me from expressing to you in person,—my Sincere thanks, for the valuable addition Mrs Adams4Mary Hilliard Adams (1805—82) was Alta Wallingford’s sister. She married Dr. John Owen Adams in 1831. In her later years, she and her daughter, Kate, resided with the Wallingfords in Dover, New Hampshire. 1870 U.S. Census, New Hampshire, Strafford County, 117; Marietta Frances (Stacy) Hilton, “Records of the Second Church of Berwick, Me., 1755—1857,” , 74: 247, 266 (October 1920); “Zimri Scates Wallingford,” 161—68.—Kate,5Kate Adams (c. 1834—1914) resided in the Wallingford household with her mother. The 1860 U.S. Census identifies a Kate Winn, born in Ireland, as a member of the Wallingford household. She was most likely a servant. 1860 U.S. Census, New Hampshire, Strafford County, 154.
& yourself and perhaps, others—including Dear Mr Wallingford6Born in Milton, New Hampshire, Zimri Scates Wallingford (1816—86) was apprenticed at age twelve to a blacksmith. At fifteen he began working in the machine shop of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company in Great Falls, New Hampshire, and over the next several years he pursued that trade in Maryland, Virginia, and Philadelphia. In 1840 he married Alta Lucia Gray Hilliard. Between 1840 and 1844 they lived in Great Falls, but his increasingly outspoken support of both the temperance movement and abolition led to difficulties with his employer. Consequently, in 1844 he accepted the position of master machine builder with the Coheco Manufacturing Company in Dover, New Hampshire. Rising to the position of agent, he remained with the company until his death. Wallingford was also a partner in the Dover Navigation Company, which built schooners, one of which was the highly profitable . A close friend of the Garrisonian abolitionist Parker Pillsbury, he was active in abolitionist circles in Dover throughout the 1850s. Wallingford was a vocal opponent of slavery and a leading New Hampshire Republican. In 1876 he served both as a member of the New Hampshire Constitutional Convention and as a presidential elector, casting his vote for Rutherford B. Hayes. Clarke, , 70—73; Hurd, , 869—71; “Zimri Scates Wallingford,” 161—68.
—have
been pleased to make to my wardrobe. It would have given me Some plea-
sure—to have appeared in my New Suit at Dover—but failing of this—I
take the Liberty of reminding of my grateful appreciation of your kind-
ness and continued interest in my welfare, prosperity and happiness. I es-
teem you among my earliest antiSlavery friends and whatever differences
may arise in respect to men or measures, I hope our friendShip will ever
Survive.
Please remember me kindly to Mr Wallingford—to Miss Kate—and
especially to your kind Sister Mrs Adams—
I Shall not be able to lecture in Dover before I return to my home in
the West—and probably—not again before next fall.
I am Dear Madam, With Best wishes for your Health and happiness,
Your faithful friend
FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
ALS: Miscellaneous Manuscripts, NhHis.
in the Dover Anti-Slavery Sewing Circle in the 1850s. D. Hamilton Hurd, History of Rockingham and Strafford Counties, New Hampshire (Philadelphia, 1882), 869—71. John B. Clarke, Sketches of Successful New Hampshire Men (Manchester, N.H., 1882), 70—73; Jody R. Fernald, “Radical Reform in Public Sentiment: Lydia Dixon and the Dover, New Hampshire Ladies’ Antislavery Society,” in , ed. Peter Benes and Jane Montague Benes (Boston, 2005), 99—100; “Zimri Scates Wallingford,” , 1: 161—68 (May 1888).
2. Although the severity of the winter of 1855—56 in New England was overshadowed by that of 1856—57, which was remembered as one of the worst on record, the region did experience significant snowfall in January 1856. The storm, which battered the Atlantic coast from Maine to New York, disrupted train travel from Portland to Boston, stranded thousands of people in railroad cars outside Boston, downed telegraph wires (cutting off communication between Boston and New York City), and drove the steamer Plymouth Rock ashore on Long Island Sound. Sidney Perley, (1891; Beverly, Mass., 2001), 273—78; Augusta , 3 January, 10 January 1856.
3. Located in Piscataquis County, present-day Dover-Foxcroft is approximately thirty-five
miles northwest of Bangor. Dover, on the south side of the Piscataquis River, was first settled in 1803, and Foxcroft, on the north bank, was founded three years later. The two communities merged in 1922. Seltzer, , 531; Cohen, , 863.
4. Mary Hilliard Adams (1805—82) was Alta Wallingford’s sister. She married Dr. John Owen Adams in 1831. In her later years, she and her daughter, Kate, resided with the Wallingfords in Dover, New Hampshire. 1870 U.S. Census, New Hampshire, Strafford County, 117; Marietta Frances (Stacy) Hilton, “Records of the Second Church of Berwick, Me., 1755—1857,” , 74: 247, 266 (October 1920); “Zimri Scates Wallingford,” 161—68.
5. Kate Adams (c. 1834—1914) resided in the Wallingford household with her mother. The 1860 U.S. Census identifies a Kate Winn, born in Ireland, as a member of the Wallingford household. She was most likely a servant. 1860 U.S. Census, New Hampshire, Strafford County, 154.
6. Born in Milton, New Hampshire, Zimri Scates Wallingford (1816—86) was apprenticed at age twelve to a blacksmith. At fifteen he began working in the machine shop of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company in Great Falls, New Hampshire, and over the next several years he pursued that trade in Maryland, Virginia, and Philadelphia. In 1840 he married Alta Lucia Gray Hilliard. Between 1840 and 1844 they lived in Great Falls, but his increasingly outspoken support of both the temperance movement and abolition led to difficulties with his employer. Consequently, in 1844 he accepted the position of master machine builder with the Coheco Manufacturing Company in Dover, New Hampshire. Rising to the position of agent, he remained with the company until his death. Wallingford was also a partner in the Dover Navigation Company, which built schooners, one of which was the highly profitable . A close friend of the Garrisonian abolitionist Parker Pillsbury, he was active in abolitionist circles in Dover throughout the 1850s. Wallingford was a vocal opponent of slavery and a leading New Hampshire Republican. In 1876 he served both as a member of the New Hampshire Constitutional Convention and as a presidential elector, casting his vote for Rutherford B. Hayes. Clarke, , 70—73; Hurd, , 869—71; “Zimri Scates Wallingford,” 161—68.