Nell, William Cooper. Letter to Amy Kirby Post.

Title

Nell, William Cooper. Letter to Amy Kirby Post.

Creator

Nell, William Cooper

Contributor

Post, Amy Kirby, 1802-1889

Date

1854-10-17

Description

Handwritten letter from William Cooper Nell to Amy Kirby Post. Nell writes to Post about recent events in the Boston anti-slavery movement.

Subject

Post, Amy Kirby, b. 1802

Is Part Of

Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers

Rights

The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/

Identifier

1042

Location

Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Transcription

[Three lines of text written upside down along top margin of Page 1]

J H Putman Sends me an Australia Paper containing an
account of (Rochester) Pattersons ejection from a Saloon at
bidding of some Americans = Patterson recieved [sic] £50 damages

Kind Friend}                        Boston October 17- 1854
Amy Post and}                        Tuesday Eve. 6. oclock
    the-Circle }
                         One week last Sunday I
commenced a letter= but a variety of
matters have interposed to the      present
hence I begin again    de novo_ as the
lawyers say
                      As You are probably aware
our party were all detained at the
Depot   in Rochester along while owing
to an accident preventing an arriving
train = I did not dare leave for
36 Sophia St = for the Cake which
Sarah Birney promised = and which
would have done good Service = but I
practiced philosophy = accepted the Will
for the deed =          as it was my own
forgetfulness tell Sarah Birney     She
need not Save it until my next
Visit to   Rochester = even though that
may be next April-
         We did not reach Albany until
about 9 oclock = Brown and myself stopped
at Lydia Motts = Remond & excellent
half = at Wm. H. Topps = by advice of Mrs. Knox
we tooK the Northern route Via Grey &
     Vermont = Remond & wife overtooK us at

(Page 2)

[One line of text aligned upside down along top margin of Page 2]

Yesterday in company with C F Hovey

Rutland = instead of saving two hours
we did    not reach Boston until
9. . P.M. = but the Green Mountain
Scenery    new to us all I. believe
amply compensated for the delay
Brown left with Remond for Salem =the
Depots =(being near nieghbers [sic]) = and they
attended the Laurence meeting Sunday
                        -
Theodore Parker= preached most grandly
next morning = Vacating his pulpit two
Succeeding   Sundays for his Cincinnati
town =       I noted in his discourse
the following = "Wisdom is Gods prime
Minister = Beauty is the Prime Ministers
wife"        -         Early deaths are
     manslaughter V=–
        Monday =   Wm Wells Brown on his
way to dine with C. F. Hovey whose
Boys he had Londonised with -
   met him (C. F. H.) in front of his
magnificent new Granite Bazaar
                         -
Brown and myself have supped several
times at Francis Jacksons once when
honored with Abby Kellys Company
(Mary Hallowell might have forwarded
    that package by me for her-

(Page 3)

[Four lines of text aligned upside down along top margin of Page 3]

The Brown reception meeting has taxed my time and
Labor considerably = owning to complicated obstacles=
impediments = and preparing it for the Liberator also
Brown has a meeting tonight in Phila = he left here

I called at Wendell Phillips last evening =
found him responding to a large pile of
Letters = from Lyceum Committees V=
in reply to W. R. Hallowells question he told
me that he was perfectly willing to
lecture on anti slavery at Rochester at—
If he had a spare evening but he thinks
that the friends at Syracuse have
pre arranged for that =^^Sunday or other evening^ -I would advise
WR. Hallowell to correspond with W. P.
and the Syracusans    at once = = perhaps
Rochester can Yet be gratified-

Mr Garrison left Yesterday morning
for Cincinnati = he had intended
Speaking at Rochester on his return home
So=       all You have to do= is to prepare
the way for it= Election will then
be over probably = better address him
at once_ if in Cincinnati he can be
easily reached

The Boston Bazaar will probably be held
in a new hall near Music Hall
   I shall hereafter send You what facts
I gain interesting or important for
your Circle-
                             I shall soon write to
                                            Jacob

(Page 4)

Mr Garrison has lately had Some rare
Spiritual experience = communications
from N. P. Rogers as he told me similar to
those in Isaac Posts Book-
T . W. Higginson officiated for Theodore
Parker last Sunday = of course there
were many golden thoughts= aside
from his Sermon I had a pleasant
time with him in the ante room
one of the prerequisites of my position
Dr Knox tells me Hiram Wilson has 5 dollr per week
board from Mrs. Knox = The Dr has lately had
Some house difficulty with Mr Willis -the father
of N. P. W. = the old man is an Orthodox Deacon = but=
with him = contract unless written and witnessed
are not very binding == I presume the Doctor
who until this hour will come out right
Harriet Jacobs tells me today She expects to
leave here on Saturday She is improved in
health = and Sends Kind remembrances to her
Rochester friends.
                           For a weeK past I have had
on hand a Slave case = and with the aid of
Louisa = her son Ira = Lewis Hayden and J. K. Hayes
of Burns rendition notoriety have been attempting
to put  as ^the^ girl en route for liberty (being brought
here by her master and of course free
She is a remarKably intelligent Girl but
relies so much on some slaveholding promises as to
hesitate = what the result will be I cannot
     now tell =        Write me Soon = Faithfully Yours W. C. Nell

Annotations

William Cooper Nell, an abolitionist and former slave, is writing from Boston to fellow activist, Amy Post. Joseph Putnam was an abolitionist and married to Caroline- the sister of Charles Lenox Remond, an abolitionist leader. "de novo" comes the Latin "from the beginning". Nell refers to the Post family home at 36 Sophia Street. Sarah Birney was a mutual friend and abolitionist. William Wells Brown was a slave, who once he became free, worked as an anti-slavery lecturer, novelist, playwright and historian. After escaping to the North, Brown wrote the first novel by an African American, Clotel, as well as, Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave. Lucretia Mott was an abolitionist and a woman's rights activist. William H. Topps was a free black abolitionist and a tailor from Albany, New York. Charles Fox Hovey was a businessman and abolitionist from Boston, who established the department store C.F. Hovey and Co. A.S. Knox was a trance speaker in the Spiritualist movement. Followers of Spiritualism believed that through mediums they could communicate with the dead. Theodore Parker was an Unitarian Minister, who supported Church reforms and the abolition of slavery. Francis Jackson was an abolitionist from Boston, who was affiliated with several abolitionist groups, including the Boston Vigilance Committee. Abby Kelley Foster was also an abolitionist leader. Mary Hallowell was Post's step- daughter. William Lloyd Garrison edited the abolitionist newspaper, the Liberator.

Wendell Phillips was an abolitionist, Native American advocate and lawyer. William R. Hallowell was Post's son-in-law. Jacob was one of Post's sons. Nathaniel Peabody Rogers was an abolitionist writer and the editor of the New England anti-slavery newspaper Herald of Freedom. Nell refers to Isaac Post's book Voices From The Spirit World, Being Communications From Many Spirits. Thomas Wentworth Higginson was a Unitarian minister, author, and activist. Hiram Wilson was an abolitionist from Canada and opened his home in Ontario as a final stop on the Underground Railroad. Nathaniel Parker Willis, was a abolitionist, who helped to free and later employed author and former slave, Harriet Brent Jacobs, who wrote Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Louisa was Nell's sister and Ira was her son. Lewis Hayden Grimes was an abolitionist leader and former slave. Nell refers to Anthony Burns, who was a fugitive slave. Boston abolitionists worked to hide Burns, once he escaped from slavery to prevent his capture, thus challenging the legality of the Fugitive Slave Act. The case was eventually brought to trial, and Burns was returned to his master.

Tags

Abolitionism; Enslaved people; Personal

Collection

D.93 Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers

Citation

Nell, William Cooper, “Nell, William Cooper. Letter to Amy Kirby Post.,” RBSCP Exhibits, accessed November 24, 2024, https://rclomeka2.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/3332.

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