FREDERICK DOUGLASS TO RICHARD D. WEBB

Rochester, [N.Y.] 12 Sept[ember] 1850.

MY DEAR FRIENDWebb, Richard Davis

Richard D. Webb was a Garrisonian abolitionist from Dublin, Ireland, whom Douglass met on his first trip to the British Isles in 1845. Originally a Quaker, he turned toward Unitarianism as his antislavery passions became more radical. A successful printer, Webb guided the small, but intensely active, Hibernian Anti-Slavery Society in Dublin, of which James Haughton and his family were also members. Webb printed the organ of the British Garrisonian abolitionist movement, the Anti-Slavery Advocate, out of his Dublin-based office. The British Garrisonians were active pamphleteers, and Webb's own The National AntiSlavery Societies of England and the United States (1852) was one of the most confident and able statements of the Garrisonian cause to appear on either side of the Atlantic. Temperley, British Antislavery, 210, 212-13, 227, 237, 239, 244, 252-54, 256, 259; Taylor, British and American Abolitionists, 241-44, 248, 258-59, 293-94. ,

I am obliged by your kind letter.¹Richard Webb’s letter to Douglass has not been located. The names of our mutual friends Deborah and SusannaFisher, Susanna

Susanna Fisher worked on antislavery bazaars in Limerick, Ireland, with Hannah Webb and Maria Waring. Fisher, the wife of R. C. Fisher, had discontinued her subscription to the Liberator in 1848. Deborah Gough was the other recipient of the North Star in Limerick. Richard D. Webb to Anne Warren Weston, 14 November 1848, Anti-Slavery Collection, MB; 1848 Mail Book of the North Star, 204, FD Papers Project, InIU. ²Susanna Fisher worked on antislavery bazaars in Limerick, Ireland, with Hannah Webb and Maria Waring. Fisher, the wife of R. C. Fisher, had discontinued her subscription to the Liberator in 1848. Deborah Gough was the other recipient of the North Star in Limerick. Richard D. Webb to Anne Warren Weston, 14 November 1848, Anti-Slavery Collection, MB; 1848 Mail Book of the North Star, 204, FD Papers Project, InIU. Shall be struck from the list of the “Star.” I regret that these circumstances do not longer permit them to take it in. I never expected them to pay for it, but sent it merely to keep up communication with friends who cheered me when a stranger in your land. Do remember me kindly to them and assure them of my sincere sympathy.

My Dear Friend Richard, I have for somtime felt that I have wronged you somwhat, in my mind—that is I have not thought so highly of you as I ought. I scarce need at this late day go into the reasons for the cool feeling with which I thought of you. Once circumstance—got the notion into my head that you distrusted me it was that unfortunate letter of Mrs. ChapmanChapman, Maria Weston

Maria Weston Chapman (1806-85), known as "Garrison's Lieutenant," was a forceful writer and editor of several antistavery periodicals. From a family of wealthy Bostonians who educated their daughters in Europe, she briefly supervised one of the nation's first female high schools. After marrying merchant [Henry Grafton Chapman]] in 1830, she became active in the abolitionist movement. When her husband died in 1842, abolition became the consuming work of her life. Chapman was a driving force in both the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and the American Anti-Slavery Society. Although she shunned public speaking, she served on committees and organized bazaars and other fundraising events for the Garrisonians. She also edited the annual report of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, and she assisted in editing both the Liberator and the National Anti-Slavery Standard. Clare Taylor, Women of the Anti-Slavery Movement: The Weston Sisters (New York, 1995); Catherine Clinton, "Maria Weston Chapman," in Portraits of American Women, comp. G. J. Barker-Benfield and Catherine Clinton, 2, vols. (New York, 1991), 1:147-67; Jane H. Pease and William H. Pease, Bound with Them in Chains: A Biographical History of the Antislavery Movement (Westport, Conn., 1972), 28–59; Edward T. James et al., eds., Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary, 3 vols. (Cambridge, Mass., 1971), 1:324-25; DAB, 4:19. ’s to you³While Douglass visited Britain from 1845 to 1847, Chapman wrote a series of letters to Webb warning Webb not to trust Douglass with financial matters. Webb read these letters to other antislavery activists, including Douglass, thus infuriating Douglass. Douglass’s 29 March 1846 letter to Chapman regarding this incident appears in this volume. in which She commended me to your watchful care, in a manner which struck me at the time as wholly uncalled for implying as it did that I was peculiarly open to money temptations and would be likely to be bought up by the Broad Street people.⁴The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. This stuck in my crop.⁵Crop is a synonym for craw. Thus to “stick in (one’s) crop” is to cause a feeling of abiding discontent and resentment. I could not get it “down” no how you could “fix it”—and to this hour I don’t know what to think of your Dear Friend M. W. C.⁶Maria Weston Chapman. Now I thought at that time that both you and She distrusted me, and I think—indeed I have reason to know that She does not regard me with a friendly eye. Well let all pass. I’ve been to England and am now in America and was not seduced by British gold—nor have I backsliden (as the Methodist’s say)⁷To backslide means to fall away from a particular belief, usually religious, and is not strictly a Methodist term. since my return home, and I now have the high satisfaction of being as intensely hated by the proslavery multitude here in church and state as any of my noble companions in the glorious struggle. If this be any sign of faithfulness—(I admit that that it is not always such) I think I present the evidence for I am most cordially hated by all that is proslavery and proscriptive in this Land.

I have just enjoyed a very pleasant visit from Fredrika BremerBremer, Fredrika

Frederika Bremer (1801–65), a Swedish novelist, is best known for Hertha, or the Story of a Soul (1856), in which she explores the relationship between an overbearing father and an independent-minded daughter and examines the need for women’s liberation. Bremer spent 1849 to 1851 traveling North America, stopping in Rochester to visit Douglass in October 1850. During her American tour, she wrote extensive letters to her sister Agathe, commenting on various issues from everyday life to slavery. Her letters were published as The Homes of the New World: Impressions of America (1853). NS, 3 October 1850; Bruce Murphy, ed., Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, 4th ed. (New York, 1996), 33. ⁸Frederika Bremer (1801–65), a Swedish novelist, is best known for Hertha, or the Story of a Soul (1856), in which she explores the relationship between an overbearing father and an independent-minded daughter and examines the need for women’s liberation. Bremer spent 1849 to 1851 traveling North America, stopping in Rochester to visit Douglass in October 1850. During her American tour, she wrote extensive letters to her sister Agathe, commenting on various issues from everyday life to slavery. Her letters were published as The Homes of the New World: Impressions of America (1853). NS, 3 October 1850; Bruce Murphy, ed., Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, 4th ed. (New York, 1996), 33.—the Swedish athoress with whose works you are doubtless familiar. She was

acompanied here by our gifted Poit LowellLowell, James Russell

James Russell Lowell (1819–91) converted to abolitionism after his marriage to Maria White in 1844. By early 1845 he had become an editorial writer for the Pennsylvania Freeman and contributed articles to the National Anti-Slavery Standard. In 1848 he became corresponding editor for the Standard, a duty that he shared with Edmund Quincy. Lowell also served on the executive committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society and as vice president of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. The death of his wife in 1853, however, curtailed much of his abolitionist activism. Martin Duberman, James Russell Lowell (Boston, 1966); Merrill and Ruchames, Garrison Letters, 3:343n. —of the Standard.⁹James Russell Lowell (1819–91) converted to abolitionism after his marriage to Maria White in 1844. By early 1845 he had become an editorial writer for the Pennsylvania Freeman and contributed articles to the National Anti-Slavery Standard. In 1848 he became corresponding editor for the Standard, a duty that he shared with Edmund Quincy. Lowell also served on the executive committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society and as vice president of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. The death of his wife in 1853, however, curtailed much of his abolitionist activism. Martin Duberman, James Russell Lowell (Boston, 1966); Merrill and Ruchames, Garrison Letters, 3:343n. A visit from such distingished person you may easily guess made our proslavery nieghbors Stare and doubtless taught them a wholesome lesson.

I have heard nothing from our James N. BuffumBuffum, James Needham

James Needham Buffum (1802—82), born of Quaker parents in North Berwick, Maine, spent most of his life in Lynn, Massachusetts, where he amassed considerable wealth as a carpenter, house contractor, real estate speculator, and financier. Dissatisfied with Quaker passivity on reform issues, Buffum was an early convert to Garrisonianism and participated in the campaign to desegregate New England’s public transportation during the early 1840s. From 1845 through 1847 Buffum accompanied Douglass on a lecture tour of Great Britain. He served as treasurer of the Essex County Anti-Slavery Society and vice-president of a Fourierist organization called the Friends of Social Reform. During Reconstruction he was director of Charles Steams’s Laborers’ Homestead and Southern Emigration Society, which bought land in Virginia for resale to freedmen. Chosen a presidential elector in 1868, Buffum served as mayor of Lynn from 1869 to 1825 and was elected to the Massachusetts legislature in 1.873. Garrison and Garrison, Garrison Life, 3 : 324 45. 4: 358; Mabee, Black Freedom, 114, 119—21, 125, 210—11, 221, 225, 250, 342; Merrill and Ruchames, Garrison Letters, 3 : 138n.; Douglass, Life and Times, 251, 259; James M. McPherson, The Struggle for Equality: Abolitionists and the Negro in the Civil War and Reconstruction Princeton, N.J., 1964), 415; Clarence W. Hobbs, Lynn and Surroundings (Lynn, 1886), 141—42; James R. Newhall, Lynn: Her First 250 Years (Lynn, 1880), 133—34; James R. Newhall, History of Lynn, 1864-1893 (Lynn, 1897), 337; Renfrewshire (Scot.) Advertiser, 11 April 1846; Concord (N.H.) Herald of Freedom, 28 November 1845.James Needham Buffum (1807- 87), born of Quaker parents in North Berwick, Maine, spent most of his life in Lynn, Massachusetts, where he amassed considerable wealth as a carpenter, house contractor, real estate speculator, and financier. Dissatisfied with Quaker passivity on reform issues, Buffum was an early convert to Garrisonianism and participated in the campaign to desegregate New England's public transportation during the early 1840s. From 1845 through 1847 Buffum accompanied Douglass on a lecture tour of Great Britain. He served as treasurer of the Essex County Anti-Slavery Society and vice president of a Fourierist organization called Friends of Social Reform. During Reconstruction he was director of Charles Stearns's Laborers' Homestead and Southern Emigration Society, which bought land in Virginia for resale to freedmen. Chosen a presidential elector in 1868, Buffum served as mayor of Lynn from 1869 to 1875 and was elected to the Massachusetts legislature in 1873. Clarence W. Hobbs, Lynn and Surroundings (Lynn, Mass., 1886), 141-42; Garrison and Garrison, William Lloyd Garrison, 3:324- 25, 4:358; Merrill and Ruchames, Garrison Letters, 3:138n; Mabee, Black Freedom, 114, 119- 21, 125, 210-11, 221, 225, 250, 342. lately[.] He is doubtless well—and warm as ever in the cause. Charles L. RemondRemond, Charles Lenox

Charles Lenox Remond (1810-73), the first black lecturer hired by any antislavery society, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, to the daughter of a black hero of the American Revolution and a former slave from Curaçao. In his youth, he learned about the horrors of slavery from his father and experienced the segregation and discrimination practiced by Northern whites. In the late 1820s and early 1830s, Remond read David Walker’s Appeal and became acquainted with William Lloyd Garrison, which led him to dedicate his life to abolitionism. Remond became active in reform movements at an early age. A member of the Colored Association of Massachusetts when it merged with the New England Anti-Slavery Society in 1833, he became an officer in the latter organization. He became an agent for the Liberator and joined the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society shortly thereafter. In 1838 he began lecturing for the American Anti-Slavery Society. Both his color and his ability made him a very popular speaker in both the United States and Great Britain, where he attended the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention as a delegate in 1840 in London. Remond was the sole black lecturer for antislavery societies until Frederick Douglass began speaking in 1842. For a time, Remond and Douglass worked the lecture circuit together. Douglass admired Remond, the more experienced speaker, and named a son for him. Remond traveled and lectured in the British Isles for some sixteen months. Upon his return, Remond was employed as a lecture agent by the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. Through the 1840s, however, Remond remained a steadfast Garrisonian while Douglass began to favor political action to end slavery, and their friendship suffered. Their close association was troubled as a rift between Douglass and Garrison threatened, and in 1852 Remond announced his intention to cancel his subscription to Frederick Douglass' Paper in protest against Douglass's adoption of non-Garrisonian views of the U.S. Constitution. Their goals, however, remained the same, and like Douglass, Remond recruited black soldiers for the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. After the war, just before his death, Remond urged abolitionists to continue their fight by combatting the racial prejudice that persisted in both the North and South after the end of slavery. Illness curtailed his reform activities after the war. Les Wallace, "Charles Lenox Remond: The Lost Prince of Abolitionism," NHB, 40:696-701 (May-June 1977); William E. Ward, "Charles Lenox Remond: Black Abolitionist, 1838-1873" (Ph.D. diss., Clark University, 1977); FDP, 20 May 1852; New York Daily Times, 26 December 1873; NNE, 8 January 1874; Pease and Pease, They Who Would Be Free, 46; NCAB, 2:303; DAB, 15:499-500. is but little heard of now. He is arranging to be married to excellent woman in Philadelphia.¹⁰Remond’s wife was Amy Matilda Williams (?–1856), daughter of Peter Williams, the minister of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in New York City. Ward, “Charles Lenox Remond,” 188, 308; ANB, 18:337. That is done, and I expect but little from him in further aid of the antislavery cause—unless his temper is improved by his new relation.

Of Boston you are I am sure as well informed as myself—for in addition to the Standard and Liberator—you doubtless enj oy the keenist private out pourings of E QQuincy, Edmund

Son of Josiah Quincy, a Boston Federalist leader and president of Harvard University, Edmund Quincy (1807-77) joined the abolitionists in reaction to the murder of Elijah Lovejoy in 1837. A close associate of William Lloyd Garrison, Quincy was the corresponding secretary of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society from 1844 to 1853. He served on many other abolitionist committees, contributed frequently to Garrisonian publications, and often edited the Liberator during Garrison's absences. NS, 21 January 1848; Tribute of the Massachusetts Historical Society to the Memory of Edmund Quincy and John Lothrop Motley (Boston, 1877), 6; NCAB, 6:93-94; DAB, 15:306-07. ’s pen.¹¹Edmund Quincy. Do remember me kindly to your Dear family—and you kind Brothers JamesWebb, James H.

James Henry Webb (c. 1810–68), a Quaker resident of Dublin, Ireland, actively pursued antislavery and temperance causes in conjunction with his more famous brother, Richard D. Webb. John R. McKivigan, “Irish Anti–Slavery Society,” in Macmillan Encyclopedia of World Slavery, ed. Paul Finkelman and Joseph C. Miller, 2 vols. (New York, 1998), 1:433–34. & ThomasWebb, Thomas

Thomas Webb (1806-84), a Dublin bookseller and printer, was the brother of Richard and James Webb and active in the abolition and temperance movements. I. Slater, I. Slater's National commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, Eng., 1846), 156; Harrison, Richard Davis Webb, 23; Merrill and Ruchames, Garrison Letters, 3:398n. ¹²James and Thomas Webb.—and accept my regards for yourself.

I remain yours Truly

FRED. DOUGLASS

ALS: Anti-Slavery Collection, MB.