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

1853-12-22

Description

Handwritten letter from William Cooper Nell to Amy Kirby Post. Nell writes to Post about the reactions of their mutual friends to the growing rift between Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison.

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

1004

Location

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

Transcription

(Page 1)

                        Thursday Evening 11.oclcock
I. have been busy to day [sic] at the Fair
and Mailing the Liberator = also circulatory
notices for Elihu Burritts Ocean Postage
Meeting in Faneuil Hall to night [sic]=
    Wendell Phillips purchased 2 BasKets
of Presents =most of which I tooK to his house
He tendered Mr Chas Lenox Remond a
handsome Frame Picture of Mrs Stowe -
My little Nephew has made some Bead
Book MarKs [sic]== one = “Uncle Tom and Little Eva
    They have taKen to day [sic] $ 586..65-
                                                1134
-                                               $ 17.00 65
How I would have enjoyed the Blind Mans
Buff = with Jacob & Joseph = at the Wedding
Party = I am much obliged to Edmund P. Willis
for his prescription = and will test it when I
have another attacK = You did not mention
to me How my good friend Sarah Hallowell
Willis is = Please to the two also William &
Mary present my Kindest regards = I saw
a Young Lady at the Fair this Evening =
tending the Roxbury Table) = who always
reminds me of Mary Fish – before she was
Mrs Curtis = Remember me to the Family all.
    Rev Antoinette Brown and Dr H_ K Hunt
Called at 21 Cornhill the other day as I have
never met Miss Brown I was very sorry to have been
                            absent.

(Page 2)

Glad You gave me Leahs address = I shall
secure an interview if I visit New YorK in a
few weeks.                 -of this more anon-

Wm G. Allen = Edward B. Lauton from
California and Jeremiah B. Sanderson
each have a word of correspondence about
Fredk Douglass - - Jerry Says
       My Dear William ,-,-,-,- Wm after
reading Douglass’ article I couldn’t help
"saying “Whom the Gods would destroy, they first
"maKe mad” his anger, violence, bitterness,
“towards Garrison in particular = oh tis a pity -
“the low expressions respecting Remond – Shameful
“as to what he Says of Yourself maKes it plain
“You have nothing to expect from him in the
“way of Concession, Conciliation V= In whatever
“You say or do preserve Your temper and dignity
“Your letter touching his reference to You
“is neat, dignified, manly, and enough,
“ I am extremely Sorry for him = that
“Douglass pursues such a course but tis done
“   His last communication to me was most
“friendly, and therefore I would avoid a
“personal rupture, but of course if called upon
“to decide upon the point = who’s right in the
“Controversy I at once reply Garrison = If obligations
“due for services rendered in our cause

(Page 3)

“are to influence the favor of Colored men
“& women or briefly = if we are to taKe sides
“with one unhesitatingly we stand with
“Garrison – the longer the discussion is continued
“the worse for Douglass.._
                                          Professor Allen
     Writes as follows from London
                                                Sept 1853
“I see by the papers that You and Douglass are at it
“[Such?] treatment, that of not publishing Your
communication. Douglass is now fairly loosed from
the old organizationists [sic] = I am sorry he has given the
enemies of Garrison So much aid and comfort
I go in for freedom of thought talk . but I thinK
no Colored man will do himself good in the
end who will expose Wm Lloyd Garrison to the
enemy.   I regret all that has occurred

                  Lawton = from California
                                          Nov. 1853
,-,-,   F. Douglass could not hold to his first
   love oh no. but suffered the Delilah of
   Self Esteem to rob him of his strength . and he
fell from that noble position he once occupied
and Posterity will only remember him as one
who basely traduced his best and dearest friends
in the noble cause of unconditional emancipation
He seems to be governed by that false axiom in

(Page 4)

Politics = “That times = change and Men
change with them” -
                       Wm W. Brown has
sent me his new BooK Clotel-
quite handsome-
     In this weeKs Liberator = H.C. Wrights
article = Gospel of Infidelity = is in reply to
Mrs Stowe =   Mr Garrisons letter is also a
Copy of one sent to her= -
                                         Friday Morning
   Parker Pillsbury is at my right hand reading
the Liberator = He sends to You Greeting -
and all the other friends there
      Had I time I would transfer from the other

thin and Clotted sheet = cut You must do the
best You can = be indulgent = I am hard
pressed for time.
                                 2= P M _
Mrs Colman was not at the Fair Yesterday nor
has She been there this forenoon = She said Wednesday
She was going out of town =I did not Yield to
my first impulse of asking some particulars as
to whether she told her She would be in Yesterday
V= intending to my part towards rendering her
Visit agreeable by way of special introductions V=
      Mr & Mrs Garrison and Mary Willey are
continually asKing of me about her = as they had
buried       themselves in arranging for her accommodations
they regret not having completed it before She went out
of town = perhaps She has gone on a short visit proposing
soon to return = at least I hope so = Faithfully yours
                                                         Wm C. Nell.

Annotations

William Cooper Nell, an abolitionist and former slave, is writing from Boston to fellow activist, Amy Post. Nell refers to a recent anti-slavery fair and the anti-slavery newspaper, the Liberator published by radical abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison. Elihu Burritts was an abolitionist, and supported the Temperance movement. Wendell Phillips was an abolitionist and lecturer, as was Charles Lenox Remond. Harriet Beecher Stowe was an abolitionist and the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Nell refers to his nephew, Ira. Uncle Tom and Little Eva were two characters from Stowe's book.

Jacob and Joseph were two of Post's sons. Edmund P. Willis was Post's brother-in-law. His wife, Sarah helped to plan the 1848 woman's rights convention held in Rochester. William and Mary Hallowell were Post's son-in-law and step- daughter. Mary Fish Curtis was a woman's rights activist, who lived in Rochester. Reverend Antoinette Brown was a woman's rights activist and the first female minister in the United States. Harriett K. Hunt became a physician and fought against the government's right to tax women without allowing them to vote for those who represent them. Leah Fox Fish was the older sister of Margaret and Catherine Fox. The Fox sisters started the Spiritualist movement in Rochester. The Posts and others believed that through mediums they could communicate with the dead. William G. Allen was editor of the National Watchman, a Temperance and abolitionist newspaper for African Americans. Edward B. Lawton advocated for a colored anti-slavery society in Boston. Jeremiah B. Sanderson was a free black man and an abolitionist, who advocated that colored schools should receive public funding.

Nell refers to the recent split in the anti-slavery movement between Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. Douglass no longer believed that the United States Constitution was pro-slavery- unlike Garrison- he believed it was anti-slavery. William W. Brown was an African American abolitionist, writer and lecturer. H.C. Wright was a Reverend and a member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. Parker Pillsbury was an abolitionist and woman's rights advocate, as was Lucy Coleman. Mary Willey was an abolitionist.

Tags

Abolitionism; 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 23, 2024, https://rbscpexhibits.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/3294.

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