Westbury, [N.Y.]¹The placeline of the letter also includes “L. I.” after Westbury. 22 April [1849].

MY DEAR FRIENDS AMYPost, Amy Kirby

The Posts, Isaac (1798-1872) and Amy Kirby (1802-89), were prominent abolitionists who spent their most active years in Rochester, New York. Isaac was born on Long Island but moved to Scipio, New York, in 1823 with his first wife Hannah Kirby. After Hannah's death in 1827, he married her younger sister, Amy, a native of Jericho, New York. In 1836 the Posts moved to Rochester, where they became involved with Garrisonian abolitionism. The Posts often hid fugitive slaves, and Amy acted as vice president of the American Anti-Slavery Society in the 1850s and 1860s. In addition to abolitionism, Amy was active in the women's movement, including the seminal 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, a meeting that she helped to organize. In 1848 the Posts also numbered among the first converts to spiritualism in Rochester, and Isaac soon attracted fame as a writing medium. Douglass first met the couple in 1842 when he stayed at their home during a lecture tour, and their friendship influenced his choice of Rochester as the base for his newspaper, the North Star. Hewitt, Women's Activism and Social Change, 61, 93, 107, 118, 131-34, 142-43, 169; Blake McKelvey, "Civic Medal Awarded Posthumously," RH, 22:10-11 (April 1960); DAB, 15:117. & ISAACPost, Isaac

The Posts, Isaac (1798-1872) and Amy Kirby (1802-89), were prominent abolitionists who spent their most active years in Rochester, New York. Isaac was born on Long Island but moved to Scipio, New York, in 1823 with his first wife Hannah Kirby. After Hannah's death in 1827, he married her younger sister, Amy, a native of Jericho, New York. In 1836 the Posts moved to Rochester, where they became involved with Garrisonian abolitionism. The Posts often hid fugitive slaves, and Amy acted as vice president of the American Anti-Slavery Society in the 1850s and 1860s. In addition to abolitionism, Amy was active in the women's movement, including the seminal 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, a meeting that she helped to organize. In 1848 the Posts also numbered among the first converts to spiritualism in Rochester, and Isaac soon attracted fame as a writing medium. Douglass first met the couple in 1842 when he stayed at their home during a lecture tour, and their friendship influenced his choice of Rochester as the base for his newspaper, the North Star. Hewitt, Women's Activism and Social Change, 61, 93, 107, 118, 131-34, 142-43, 169; Blake McKelvey, "Civic Medal Awarded Posthumously," RH, 22:10-11 (April 1960); DAB, 15:117. ,

Here I am in the family of your BrotherPost, Joseph

and sisterPost, Mary Robbins

²Douglass visited the home of Joseph Post (1803-88) in Westbury, Long Island, New York. The brother of Isaac, Joseph Post inherited the family farm and remained there his entire life with his wife, Mary Robbins Post, and their daughter, Elizabeth. Joseph, a Hicksite Quaker and friend of Lucretia and James Mott, was an officer of the Garrisonian-controlled American Anti-Slavery Society in the 1840s and 1850s. Philadelphia Friend’s Intelligencer, 45:89 (11 February 1888); Merrill and Ruchames, Garrison Letters, 4:440n.—seated in the quiet—so pleasant after ten days of confusion in the city of New York.³On 13 April 1849 Douglass arrived in New York City to attend meetings and deliver lectures on African American improvement. He also hoped to boost subscriptions to the North Star. Between 16 and 24 April he delivered several addresses in the city and surrounding area, including two anti-colonization speeches at a convention held at the Shiloh Presbyterian Church on 23 and 24 April. NS, 27 April, 4 May 1849; Douglass Papers, ser. 1, 2: 148-67. This is a beautiful place. The little lake lies sleeping lovingly at the right of the window—and all looks sweet quiet and quakerly around. I have two meetings appointed for this good Sabbath day⁴Douglass spoke at Westbury, New York, on 22 April 1849 and then returned to New York City to attend an anticolonization meeting on 23 April. NS, 27 April 1849.—One at the colored meeting house, and the other in this room. Your Brother Joseph tried to get Friends’ meeting house and asked for it— but friends were unwilling. They are too godly to favor goodness.

I came here on the cars yesterday from Brooklyn— and on reaching

the westbury station—I found that I had come the whole distance with E. P. WillisWillis, Edmund P.

⁵Edmund Willis (1818-?), the nephew of Isaac Post, was a Rochester druggist and wool dealer and an active member of the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society. In the 1850s he became the second husband of Amy Post’s sister Sarah Kirby Hallowell. 1850 U.S. Census, New York, Monroe County, Rochester, 5th Ward, 182; 1860 U.S. Census, New York, Monroe County, Rochester, 2nd Ward, 80; Peck, History of Rochester, 2:1243; Hewitt, Women’s Activism and Social Change, 61. and had not known it. I some expect to see him here to day—when I hope to here from Sophia Street.⁶Isaac and Amy Post lived on Sophia Street in Rochester. The meeting here to day will not probably be larger than your meeting in the Antislavery office.⁷On 25 April, a meeting of the executive committee of the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society was scheduled for 4:00 P.M. in the antislavery office located at 25 Buffalo Street, Rochester. This office may have been Harriet Jacobs’s antislavery reading room, which, like the North Star office, was located in the Talman Building at this address. NS, 20 April 1849. You will have J. S. JacobsJacobs, John S.

John S. Jacobs (1815-73), a black abolitionist and antislavery lecturer, was the brother of abolitionist and author Harriet Jacobs. Born a slave in North Carolina, Jacobs escaped while visiting New York with his master. After working on a whaling ship for three years, Jacobs returned to New York, where he became active in the antislavery movement and helped his sister and her family to escape slavery. During March and April 1849, he toured western New York and lectured in numerous small towns and villages. He later sought fortune panning for gold in California and Australia in the 18505. By 1861 Jacobs was living in London, where he returned to his antislavery activities and published the narrative of his life as a slave. NS, 20 April 1849; Harriet A. Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, ed. Jean Fagan Yellin (Cambridge, Mass., 1987), 245-47; Ripley, Black Abolitionist Papers, 4:168-69n. ⁸John S. Jacobs (1815-73), a black abolitionist and antislavery lecturer, was the brother of abolitionist and author Harriet Jacobs. Born a slave in North Carolina, Jacobs escaped while visiting New York with his master. After working on a whaling ship for three years, Jacobs returned to New York, where he became active in the antislavery movement and helped his sister and her family to escape slavery. During March and April 1849, he toured western New York and lectured in numerous small towns and villages. He later sought fortune panning for gold in California and Australia in the 18505. By 1861 Jacobs was living in London, where he returned to his antislavery activities and published the narrative of his life as a slave. NS, 20 April 1849; Harriet A. Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, ed. Jean Fagan Yellin (Cambridge, Mass., 1987), 245-47; Ripley, Black Abolitionist Papers, 4:168-69n. with you I suppose. But what a time he has had on his last tour. Will it not dishearten him? I fear it. How I wish you were here with us to day.

My friends have not yet arrived from London.⁹Douglass awaited the arrival of Julia and Eliza Griffiths from England, but apparently bad weather delayed the steamer until May 1849. Halbersleben, Women's Participation, 191-92. The steamer was due five or seven days ago. The high winds from the west have opposed her passage. She will probably reach New York and I shall not, you see, be there to recieve my friends. I shall however be there early tomorrow morning. I have not been spending my time idly in New York—but have been holding meetings among the colored people mostly—and in this way increasing the circulation of the North Star. I have already obtained the names of forty or fifty in New York and have succeeded in getting a North Star committee appointed to obtain subscribers.¹⁰While in New York, Douglass hoped to increase the circulation of his newspaper. He was pleased when a meeting, held at Shiloh Presbyterian Church on 20 April 1849, led to the formation of a committee of ten to act as subscription agents for the North Star. NS, 4 May 1849. My success here has been far greater than I had any idea it would be. I shall not dispair of the North Star yet. I want to see you greatly, and shall probably do so on thursday next.

Thinking that you would not be displeased by a line from me at this place I have been moved to pen this hasty scroll.

I shall try to persuade JuliaCrofts, Julia Griffiths

A native of London, Julia Griffiths (1811–95) was the oldest of seven children born to Thomas Griffiths, a onetime stationer turned publisher and bookseller, and his wife Charlotte Powis. She first met Douglass during the latter half of 1846 when he lectured in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where she was visiting with friends. Her mother had been a friend of William Wilberforce, who had advocated for the abolition of slavery in England, and she herself was active in the British antislavery movement. Charmed by the American, Griffiths followed Douglass back to the United States with her younger sister, Eliza, in 1848. In 1850, Eliza married John Dick, one of Douglass’s printers for the North Star, and the couple moved to Toronto. Julia became a constant companion and partner to Douglass and a leading antislavery organizer in Rochester for the next five years. She contributed to the North Star as copy editor and journalist, and saved the paper from financial ruin by organizing its books and by aggressively pursuing subscribers and donations. She helped found the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society, acting as its secretary, and organized the Rochester Anti-Slavery Fair. Initially, she lived with the Douglass family, which led to tension in the household and to unsubstantiated rumors that Douglass and Griffiths shared more than a business relationship. In 1853, the vicious attacks upon her in abolitionist newspapers drove her from the Douglass home and finally forced her to return to England in 1855, ostensibly to raise funds for the North Star. In 1859 she married a Methodist minister from Halifax, Henry O. Crofts (1814–80), who acted as an agent for Frederick Douglass’ Paper. Through the Civil War, she continued to organize and revitalize ladies’ antislavery societies and to lecture against slavery. After the war and her husband’s death, she ran a boarding school and worked as a governess. Her friendship with Douglass continued in frequent correspondence, and she welcomed him and his second wife, Helen Pitts Douglass, when they visited England in 1886. British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Reporter, new ser., 5:82 (1 April 1857); 1871 England Census, Durham County, Gateshead, 41; London, England: Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812, Ancestry.com; Maria Diedrich, Love Across Color Lines: Ottilie Assing and Frederick Douglass (New York, 1999), 179–84; Waldo E. Martin, Jr., The Mind of Frederick Douglass (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1984), 40–41; Janet Douglas, “A Cherished Friendship: Julia Griffiths Crofts and Frederick Douglass,” Slavery and Abolition, 33:265–74 (June 2012); Erwin Palmer, “A Partnership in the Abolition Movement,” University of Rochester Library Bulletin, 26:1–17 (Autumn/Winter 1970–71). and her sister ElizaGriffiths, Eliza

¹¹Julia and Eliza Griffiths. to remain in New York to attend the annual meeting¹²Both the American Anti-Slavery Society and the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society held their annual meetings in New York City on 8 May 1849. The American Anti-Slavery Society, which also celebrated its fifteenth anniversary that day, convened in the Tabernacle on Broadway. The American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society met the same afternoon, immediately following the adjournment of the first meeting. NS, 4, 18 May 1849.—and not come home with me at this time. With best Love to your Dear family and family circle William and Mary¹³WilliamHallowell, William R.

Arriving in Rochester in 1841, William R. Hallowell (1816-82) ran a woolen mill and leather business. The husband of Mary Hallowell, he was a member of the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society, and of the board of education in Rochester. William F. Peck, History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York, New York, 2 vols., 2:1243-44; Hewitt, Women’s Activism and Social Change, 61. and Mary HallowellHallowell, Mary

Mary Hallowell (1823-1913) was the daughter of Isaac Post and his first wife, Hannah. Mary and her husband, William, were numbered among Douglass’s circle of friends in Rochester and actively participated in the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society. She was also a member of local temperance and women’s rights organizations, and she acted as an agent for the National Anti-Slavery Standard in 1865. Hewitt, Women’s Activism and Social Change, 61, 131, 163, 209-10. . one and inseparable.

Yours Always

FREDERICK DOUGLASS

ALS: Post Family Papers, NRU.