Mott, Lucretia Coffin. Letter to Phebe Post Willis.

Title

Mott, Lucretia Coffin. Letter to Phebe Post Willis.

Creator

Mott, Lucretia Coffin

Contributor

Phebe Post Willis

Date

1840-04-25

Description

Handwritten letter from Lucretia Coffin Mott to Phebe Post Willis. Motts writes to Willis about upcoming anti-slavery meetings.

Subject

Mott, Lucretia, 1793-1880

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

540

Location

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

Transcription

(Page 1)

                                       Philada [sic] 4 Mo. 25th. 1840
My Dear Phebe P.
                                      I have about 10 minutes to say what
is uppermost – the remainder I must leave till we
meet which I fondly hope will be on 4 th day the
6th. of next month- Our present arrangement is to
attend the monthly meeting in New York on We
had not expected to leave here till that day - but
recollecting that it would be the time of the Mo.
mg there - we incline to attend it. Our 27 mg. will
be on 3rd. day - we wish to be at that - so we cant
leave here till the [evg?] line I shall not probably
reach N.Y. till after 11 oclock- so I cant hope to
meet there that night- still I want thou should
be in N.Y. so that we may be together the next
morng. Will not cousin Henry accompany
thee Ja^s & self will both wish to see him before
we embark - And as many more of our clear cous
ins & fr^ds as we can - Thy acceptable letter rec^d a
few days since says nothing about cousins John
& Mary W’s prospect of coming to our yearly mg.
of course we should prefer being here to re-
eive them & shall not regret to hear that they
have put off their visit till next year - Still
if they are preparing to come do appear thence
there is plenty of house room here & Edw^rd & Anna

(Page 2)

have heart room enough to receive them & adminis
ter to their comfort all in their power- It
was so entirely given up - all thought of our going
to England when I wrote to thee enquiring wheth
er we were to be gratified with their company
this Spring, that I don’t remember that the pos
sibility of our not being here croped my mind
       Dear Rachel Hicks too. We would give
both James & self very much pleasure to have
her at our house as her abiding place- were we
going to be at home- my love to her with an
ardent desire, that the “wisdom” which is “full of
mercy & full of good fruits”- even that which
upbraideth not- may rest with her in her goings
forth- I feel much sympathy with her & the
most tender unity with all, but her judging
rather more than it seems to me one human
being can consistently do, how far it may be right
for her fellow members to unite with their fellow
beings in the moral reformations that are ta-
king place- For herself she has a perfect right
to come to a decision- I speak ^write^ not this from
any thing [sic] I have heard from her myself in
the gallery - but hearing from some who
were [sic] resent at one or two mgs. last fall
that she rather judged other servants- corrob-

(Page 3)

orated by a letter rec^dfrom [Nathan^l?] Barney
I thought it might be right in sisterly freedom
to say this much - wh. if thou judges best
not to [share?] her I shall be satisfied.
        We have C. C. Burleigh again with us - He
arrived travel worn on 3rd. day last & has
had scarcely time to rest before he is again
set to work in the A. S. Office - Ab^mL. Pen
work & others are very desirous he should go
to England as the best representative of the
Free Produce Socy &^ cause that could be sent
but Miller M. Kim thinks the Freeman & office
need him more - & the great difficulty of
raising funds sufficient - all together - the
prospect is nearly abandoned & he will remain
here - He is now in Bucks C^owhere he hopes to meet
g.- I did not send all the letters I thought I did
please keep them till we meet -
               Our M^o. Mg with much unity & for more en-
couragement than we looked for have given
us a certificate – Geo. Truman & John Jackson
have opened ^a^ prospect of visiting the British
West India Islands - united with as far as
they have gone – Miller M^cKim heard John at
Darby Mg last 1st day - was much pleased &
impressed - tho^t it the best exposition of

(Page 4)

“the Quaker principle” he had ever heard –^Miller^ He
attends our Mg more than any other - Sarah
Speakman is comg to the city today to stay
till after [illegible] Mg- She & her sister Rebecca
Potts will make their home with Edw^rd & Anna
[Yr?] Mg time - Abby Kimber is in town she

was here last eveg - Hast thou read Ed-
mund Quincy’s excellent letter to D^rChauncy
mark what he says of a paid [minute?]
I rejoice to hear that Sam^lP Philbrick is going to visit Long Island
         Do excuse me to John [Ketehorn?] for not an-
swering his letter- press of engage^tslately is the
reason - I wrote fully to Mr. W. Chapman about
M.L. Chap’s letter- will not he & Rebecca meet
us in N.Y. -Dear love to all- I cant answer

[Five lines of text aligned vertically along right margin Page 4]

half of thy letter now I am
glad of thy talk with Mother
Mott- ever thine L Mott
   I forgot to say we expect to sail
in the Roscoe in the 7^th-

[Four lines of text aligned vertically across center of Page 4]

      Phebe P. Willis
Care of Henry Willis
               Jericho
                       L. Island

Annotations

Lucretia Mott, an abolitionist and woman's rights activist, is writing from Philadelphia to Isaac Post's sister, Phebe Post Willis. Mott uses numerous abbreviations in her letter. "Mg." is meeting; "evg" is evening; "Ja^s" could be James; "rec^d" is received; "A.S" is anti-slavery; M^o could mean monthly.

Rachel Hicks was an abolitionist. Charles Calistus Burleigh was an abolitionist, women’s rights activist and journalist, who edited the Unionist. Miller McKim, could be James Miller McKim a Philadelphia abolitionist. George Truman was a Reverend. John Jackson could refer to a Pennsylvania Quaker minister, who served on the Joint Committee on Indian Affairs. Rebecca Potts was an abolitionist. Abby Kimber was of Philadelphia, was the daughter of Emmor Kimber, an abolitionist and educator. Edmund Quincy was a member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. Samuel Philbrick was an early anti-slavery reformer. The members of the Chapman family were abolitionists.

Tags

Abolitionism; Family

Collection

D.93 Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers

Citation

Mott, Lucretia Coffin, “Mott, Lucretia Coffin. Letter to Phebe Post Willis.,” RBSCP Exhibits, accessed November 23, 2024, https://rbscpexhibits.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/2838.

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