Mar 21, 2024 - Sale 2663

Sale 2663 - Lot 162

Price Realized: $ 9,375
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 12,000 - $ 18,000
FREDERICK DOUGLASS. Letter discussing the role of Quakers in the abolitionist movement. Autograph Letter Signed as "Fred'k Douglass" to "Dear sir" [Alf Jameson?]. One page, 9¼ x 5¾ inches; partial separations along folds, tack hole, minor wear and soiling; later pencil note on verso. Washington, 9 February 1885
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Additional Details

In this letter, Douglass acknowledges the great work in the abolitionist movement done by individual Quakers, while criticizing their leadership.

"Dear sir: The Society of Friends was opposed to cooperating with the abolition movement, and to that extent made themselves liable to be called pro-slavery. Individual members of the Society, however, were among the most devoted and self-sacrificing members of outside anti-slavery societies. The Yearly Meeting of Friends at Richmond, Ind. invited Henry Clay, a noted slaveholder of his time, to occupy its high seats, an act which brought high scandal on the Society as giving aid and comfort to slavery. Pardon brevity, yours respectfully, Fred'k Douglass."

Douglass is referencing an 1842 incident. Presidential candidate Henry Clay of Kentucky was addressing a large crowd in Richmond, IN when he was interrupted by local Quakers bearing a petition demanding that he manumit his slaves. The head of the Indiana Yearly Meeting assured Clay that the troublemakers did not represent Quaker thinking, and removed them from positions of influence.

Provenance: the letter is marked on verso in a modern hand "Alf Jameson, Nora's father." An accompanying manuscript historical note on Douglass from circa the 1960s states "Have letter written by him to Nora Wilhelm's father," and adds that "Salem, O often heard him in its town hall." This all suggests that the letter may have been loaned for a local history exhibit by Eleanor "Nora" Jameson Wilhelm (1866-1964) of Salem, OH. Her father was not named Alfred, but the letter may have been addressed to her father Cornelius Jameson (1843-1898), her grandfather Archibald Jameson (1801-1889), or her uncle William Alfred Jameson (1847-1905).