Read Part One HERE
In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Anna Murray Douglass. She lived from 1813 - 1882. After Anna's future husband, Frederick, reached New York City and found a safe place to hide, he sent word to Anna, who joined him there. The two were married on September 15, 1838. Fortified with household items purchased by Anna, the couple moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts. From that time until Frederick's freedom was purchased in 1846, Anna was technically harbouring a fugitive slave, making her an accomplice in his flight to freedom.
While at first Frederick worked as a common labourer, he soon became a successful author and public figure of increasing renown. His rise to fame included certain risks and hardships for his family. He was still a fugitive when he published his first autobiography. His book's publishing success necessitated his taking an extended tour to the UK from 1845 to 1847 to avoid being recaptured by his former owner. Anna managed the household in his absence, and supplemented the family's income by mending shoes.
Anna took an active role in the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. She, futhermore, donated to abolitionist societies. After the family moved to Rochester, New York, she established a headquarters for the Underground Railroad from her home, providing food, board and clean linen for fugitive slaves on their way to Canada. She and her husband moved to Washington, D.D. in 1872.
Anna suffered a series of strokes in 1882 and died that year.
Read Part One Hundred And Twenty-Four HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment