Gateshead-on-Tynes

February 27^th 1876

My dear friend Frederick

I found your kind & welcome letter, with the special likeness, just as I arrived from London where I only stayed ten days on business connected with the settlement of dear Aunt'sGriffiths, Mary Powis

Mary 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,” Slavery and Abolition, 33:265–74 (June 2012). affairs—& since then I have received yr kind note in reply to my intimation of my aged relative's departure for the "better land"—for all I thank you very much dear friend—for, as the years roll on I do realize that though the wide Atlantic rolls between us you are the same faithful old friend—you say truly life is a battle—Sometimes, of late, I have felt cowardly, & disposed to put off my armour & give up the fight, but the body & mind have much to do with one another staying in the house for long together never suits my nerves, & it is 4 weeks all but two days since I crossed my doorway. We have

had & still are having very wild, inclement weather—and I am trying to ward off another attack of bronchitis—to which complaint I am liable every winter more or less—If you & I could have one hour's chat together I should tell you much that I do not deem it wise to write about —there is an uncertainty about letters on your side the Atlantic—none on mine

Dear Aunt'sGriffiths, Mary Powis

Mary 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,” Slavery and Abolition, 33:265–74 (June 2012). will revealed nothing new to me—because I had long known how step by step, little by little through law suits &c & in many other ways, our family property had become diminished—4 years ago dear Aunt bought me the house I live in & made it "deed of gift" to me—no one has any control of it—& a very comfortable house it is—you remember Bickenham? it is not freehold—but passes entirely away from me at the close of 1878—Then the house at Haverstock Hill -- runs out in 1925 - so, that will not affect me—The property is ample for me by myself—but difficulties may be found every where & they exist here—The DoctorCrofts, Henry O.

cannot always go on preaching—the retiring pension of the New C. Ministers is starvation—I have a good day school—with resident governesses—one French—one German and my friends see an irreconcilable difficulty in the goodman—& the school!! as a permanency—He detests the school—would send it to the winds—& then would have us live in accordance with the limited income that w^d be left after he & his daughter had joined me—you will understand? His temper has not improved—had he not been a minister my aunt w^d have exposed that long ago—but she forbore—I have just been writing to my old f^d Mrs Gittins— & said "if I could but see my duty, I feel sure God w^d give me strength to do it"—I have scarcely any relatives living—but my friends are very kind & anxious about me, just now—especially as the Doctor says he may leave his circuit this next Conference (middle June.)

Write to me, my dear old friend, as soon as you can after receiving this & tell me what you think of it all!—I know you would wish the evening of your old friend's days to be peaceful—& would do what you could to make them so, were it possible—Sympathy is a blessed thing—Yes! I will not despair of meeting again even in this life: Do you remember how you used to quote "there's a Divinity &c"——The pleasures of Memory are to me invaluable—I sit and think of the bygone times—& amidst all the tempers & troubles, what happy times they were!—Only today, I was giving my young people the account of the "Alicia" steamboat. How well I remember that day!—I have had beautiful letters from our mutual friends, M^r & M^rs Carpenter since aunt's death—I saw the Cashes last summer—& heard from them the other day—Dear M^rs Cashes memory
is failing fast—& M^rs Cash of Leamington is not expected to live

My young folks are back from church—I must close—I have been intending for months to have a new likeness taken—& then I will send one—I, as well as you, look older but spirits never grow old!—May God bless you & preserve your my dear old friend prays, yrs faithfully

J. G. C.Crofts, 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).

My love to Mrs. Douglass & all the boys & Rose. I should like to see every
one of them again. & the little grand children also