Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879 to John Greenleaf Whittier
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05748 Author/Creator: Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879 Place Written: New York, New York Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 10 May 1878 Pagination: 3 p. : docket ; 20.3 x 25.3 cm. Order a Copy
Garrison replies to a letter from Whittier, the Quaker poet and abolitionist. Discusses the deaths of other abolitionists. Whittier had informed Garrison of the death of Captain Jonathan Walker, a fellow abolitionist. Laments Walker's death, describing him as "a kind-hearted, honest, unsophisticated man, who, for attempting to aid certain slaves to escape from their taskmasters, bore with martyr-like fortitude and serenity the penalty burnt into his living flesh by the decree of a court acting in accordance with the provisions of the Slave Code." Notes that the "SS" which was burnt on Walker's hand as punishment gave him lasting renown. Agrees to assist Whittier in raising a subscription to buy Walker a gravestone. Reports the death of Mrs. Chapman's mother, noting that Chapman lived in Weymouth, Massachusetts (possibly referring to abolitionist Maria Weston Chapman). Also comments on the death of British abolitionist George Thompson's wife, predicting that Thompson will soon follow (indeed, Thompson died later in 1878). Laments the death of New York abolitionist William Goodell, a signer of the "Declaration of Anti-Slavery Sentiments" issued at Philadelphia.
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