Nell, William Cooper. Letter to Amy and Isaac Post.

Title

Nell, William Cooper. Letter to Amy and Isaac Post.

Creator

Nell, William Cooper

Contributor

Amy and Isaac Post

Date

1855-10-28

Description

Handwritten letter from William Cooper Nell to Amy and Isaac Post. Nell writes to the Posts about his recent travels through New England and New York State.

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

1093

Location

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

Transcription

(Page 1)
                                         Monday Morning -                 Sunday,      }    Mr Phillips will write Soon to
3 oclock PM             } Mr Hallowell –But tell me that He
                                  can lecture for him on Sunday Nov 18^thpreceding
                                                               the Lyceum Lecture
at antislavery [sic] office Boston October 28^th1855

   Kind Friends Isaac and Amy
        One week ago this hour I was
basking in the sunlight of Your conversation
at my Rochester Home 136 Sophia Street -
   Let me give a brief SKetch of my happenings
Since Thursday 10.40 A.M. when I left
You in a Snow Storm [sic]. =      This continued
until we reached the Mohawk Valley
where no snow was Visible except upon
the CatsKill Mountains- I met in the
Cars Mr Baker Editor of a Free Soil Paper in
Detroit = who with his wife were interesting
themselves over Mr Douglass.’ Bondge [sic] and
Freedom = also Geo W. [Bungay?] greeted me
en route to Little Falls = another Springfield
Gentleman readily availed himself of my BooK
to read and complimented the author
     Dined at Syracuse Globe Hotel
in honor of itsproprietor Ira G
                        Garrison

(Page 2)

arrived at Albany about 7= walKing on
Broadway met W.H. Topp to whose
House I was despatched [sic] meeting a
cordial welcome= and where I remain
until daylight = ^Lydia Mott & Phebe Jones had gone to New York^
when after Some mistakes
all ending right side up I pushed on
my way = Saw Snow on the Hills of
Berkshire = met Gerrit Smith in the
Depot at Springfield =who told me
he left Boston before the closing
meeting of the Radical Political
Abolition meeting = Dr Smith did
not fulfil [sic] his promise made to me
in Philadelphia of coming to Boston
to give us fits = = The Convention
was thinly attended and despite
F=D. bitter speech has left no
very tangible impression = and I found
Faneuil Hall and the State House in the
Same Spot where I left them and
   William Lloyd Garrison Still lives
Some of the reliable Colored Citizens
told me they hope Gerrit Smith will

(Page 3)

influence Mr Douglass to modify
his speeches or they will injure him
and his cause more than he is aware
his trying to winK out of sight the
Old Society is ’‘ [too big a bow for?]
too much of an undertaKing in
fact impossible -
   Sallie Holley laments much his
State of mind= She heard his Speech.
Last evening I accompanied her and
Miss Putnam to the Salem Depot and
introduced her to Ellis Gray Loring Esq
Wendell Phillips delivers the first of
the Salem antislavery [sic] lectures this Eve.
Garrison has gone to New Bedford.
         John P. Hale was at Music Hall to
hear Theodore ParKer this morning
who elaborated a very interesting
and radical discourse      =suggested
by the events of the past weeK    The
Farmers        and the Mechanics Fair
= Military V=            Sims Brigade
and Burrs Regiment were
    appropriately remembered

(Page 4)

on approaching the ten mile
Suburbs of Boston unsurpassed
in romantic beauty = the weather was
lovely indeed =I did not reach
home any too soon = The office has
been under repairs = a new floor
Vc and my BooKs which taKe well
required my immediate presence.
     Some to whom I Showed my
Spiritual Communication were
SKeptical because coming from my
Parents I was addressed as Brother
            I rely upon Your expressing
to the Rochester friends whom I
Could not see my sincere regret
and the causes why –

To all at 36 Sophia St (including
William and Mary) please tender my
grateful remembrance of Kindnesses
shown by them during my brief sojourn
I did not mean to leave the Postage
Unpaid for Henry Collins letter –
I remain ever Fraternally Yours Wm C. Nell

Annotations

William Cooper Nell, an abolitionist and former slave, is writing from Boston to fellow activists, Amy and Isaac Post. Wendell Phillips was an abolitionist, Native American advocate and lawyer. William R. Hallowell was the Posts' son-in-law. Nell refers to the Post family home at 36 Sophia Street. Members of the Free Soil Party opposed the expansion of slavery into the Western territories. Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist and former slave, who had published an autobiography, titled My Bondage, My Freedom. William H. Topp was a tailor and a black abolitionist from Albany, New York. Lydia Mott was woman's rights activist, Lucretia Mott's sister-in-law. Nell describes his time in Western Massachusetts. Gerrit Smith was an abolitionist. William Lloyd Garrison was a radical abolitionist and the editor of the newspaper, the Liberator. Sallie Holley was an abolitionist, who spoke on the anti-slavery lecture circuit with Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone and Sarah Remond. The members of the Putnam family as well as Ellis Gray Loring were abolitionists. John P. Hale was a leader of the Free Soil Party and an abolitionist. Theodore Parker was a Transcendentalist and a reform minister of the Unitarian Church. The Sim’s Brigade and Burr's Regiment were companies that fought during the American Revolutionary War. Nell refers to the Spiritualist movement, whose followers believed that through mediums they could communicate with the dead. Mary was the Posts' daughter.

Tags

Abolitionism; Personal

Collection

D.93 Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers

Citation

Nell, William Cooper, “Nell, William Cooper. Letter to Amy and Isaac Post.,” RBSCP Exhibits, accessed November 23, 2024, https://rbscpexhibits.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/3383.

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