People, Locations, Episodes

Sarah Moore Grimke, Abolitionist born

Sarah Moore Grimke was born on this date in 1792. She was a White American abolitionist and advocate of women’s rights.

From Charleston, S.C., she came from a distinguished Southern family. On a visit to Philadelphia, Grimke joined the Society of Friends. She converted her younger sister Angelina to the Quaker faith, and the two moved to the North permanently in January 1832. Angelina became an abolitionist in 1835, and in turn converted Sarah.

Lucretia Mott, Abolitionist, and Quaker born

Lucretia Coffin Mott was born on this date in 1793. She was a White American abolitionist and educator.

She was born in the seaport town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and at the age of 13, she was sent to a coeducational Quaker school, Nine Partners, in Duchess County, New York. It was here that Lucretia met James Mott. From 1808-10, she served as an assistant teacher at Nine Partners, and during that time the Coffin family moved from Boston to Philadelphia.

John Rankin, Abolitionist born

*John Rankin was born on this date in 1793. He was a White American minister and abolitionist with the Underground Railroad.

Anna Kingsley, Abolitionist, and Plantation owner born

This date in 1793 celebrates the birth of Anna Kingsley. She was a African plantation owner, abolitionist, and former slave in America.

James N. Glover, Abolitionist and Soldier born

*James Nettle Glover was born on this date in 1793.  He was a Black abolitionist and soldier. Born into slavery on a plantation in Port Tobacco, Maryland, he was one of three known War of 1812 veterans buried in Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery. He was the grandson of John Glover, one of four brothers who […]

Thomas Dalton, Abolitionist and Education Advocate, born

*Thomas Dalton was born on this date in 1794. He was a free Black abolitionist and education advocate. Thomas Dalton was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. His father was Thomas Dalton. Thomas Dalton married Patience Young in 1818. She died in 1832. In his second marriage, Dalton married Lucy Lew Francis in 1834. Dalton worked as […]

Beriah Green, Professor, and Abolitionist born

*Beriah Green was born on this date 1795.  He was a white-American reformer, abolitionist, temperance advocate, college professor, minister, He was “consumed totally by his abolitionist views”. He was described as “cantankerous”.   Beriah Green Jr. was born in Preston, Connecticut, son of Beriah Green and Elizabeth Smith. His father was a cabinet and chair maker.  The family moved to Pawlet, Vermont in 1810, where he attended the Pawlet […]

Johns Hopkins, Abolitionist, and Philanthropist born

*Johns Hopkins was born on this date in 1795. He was a white-American 19th-century entrepreneur, investor, abolitionist, and philanthropist.  Johns Hopkins was one of eleven children born to Samuel Hopkins (1759–1814) of Crofton, Maryland, and Hannah Janney (1774–1864) of Loudoun County, Virginia. His home was Whitehall, a 500-acre (200-ha) tobacco plantation in Anne Arundel County. His first name was inherited from his grandfather, Johns Hopkins, who received […]

Stephen Smith, Abolitionist born

*The birth of Stephen Smith is celebrated on this date, c 1795.  He was a Black businessman and abolitionist.    Stephen Smith was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, to a slave woman. At five, he became the indentured servant to the Pennsylvanian businessman Thomas Boude. At age 21, Smith had gathered enough money to purchase his […]

James Barbadoes, Abolitionist born

*The birth of James Barbadoes in 1796 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black barber, abolitionist, and free man of color.

David Walker, Abolitionist born

One this date, the Registry remembers the birth of David Walker in 1785. He was a Black abolitionist and publisher.

Gerrit Smith, Abolitionist born

*Gerrit Smith was born on this date in 1797. He was a White American abolitionist. From Utica, New York, in 1806 he came with his parents to Peterboro, New York, in Madison County.

Sojourner Truth, Abolitionist, and Women’s Rights Advocate born

On this date we recall the birth of Sojourner Truth in 1797. She was a Black abolitionist and advocate of women’s rights.

She was born into slavery in Hurley, Ulster County, New York, and was originally named Isabella. She arrived in New York City in 1829, a year after New York state emancipated slaves.

Thomas Peters; Canadian Soldier, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of Thomas Peters is celebrated on this date in 1738. He was a Black abolitionist and soldier fighting for the British in the American Revolutionary War. He was born in West Africa to the Yoruba tribe, the Egba clan. In 1760, at twenty-two years old, he was captured by slave traders, sold as a slave, […]

Levi Coffin, Underground Railroad Ambassador born

This date marks the birth of Levi Coffin in 1798. He was a White American abolitionist and unoffical president of the Underground Railroad.

Levi Coffin, from New Garden, N.C., was the only son among seven children. The young Levi received the bulk of his education at home, which proved to be good enough for Coffin to find work as a teacher for several years. In 1821, with his cousin Vestal, Levi Coffin ran a Sunday school for Blacks. Alarmed slave owners, however, soon forced the school to close.