WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 07/05/1857 - HFSID 46452

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON
The prominent abolitionist leader wrote, signed and dated this letter in 1857 to invite a Mrs. Gibbons and her daughters to hear a sermon from abolitionist preacher Theodore Parker
Autograph letter signed "Wm. Lloyd Garrison". 1 page, 5x6½. "14 Dix Place", July 5, 1857. In full: "My dear Mrs. Gibbons: Should it be agreeable to you and your daughters, and you are not other-wise engaged, we (wife and I) should be happy to have you come to our house this morning, and go with us to hear Theodore Par-ker preach, as no doubt it will be a sermon for the times. We should like to have you come as early as half past 9, in order that we may be able to secure a good seat. We also wish you all to dine with us, and spend the afternoon and evening with us, as i shall be at leisure to-day. Yours, with greet esteem,". Theodore Parker (1810-1860, born in Lexington, Massachusetts) was a liberal preacher and an abolitionist who supported prison reform, temperance, and the education of women. He also helped fugitive slaves to escape captivity and secretly supported anti-slavery guerilla John Brown. Parker held quite liberal views of religion, and he was forced to resign as pastor of the Unitarian Church in West Roxbury, Massachusetts because of increasing opposition to his brand of Christianity. After his resignation, he was made minister of 28th Congregational Society of Boston. William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) was the founder and publisher (1831-1865) of the antislavery journal "The Liberator". In 1833, he founded the American Anti-Slavery Society, serving as its President from 1843-1865. Formerly a pacifist, Garrison supported the Union cause in the Civil War while urging that emancipation, not merely restoration of the Union, be its primary goal. After the Civil War, he campaigned against liquor, prostitution, and injustice in the treatment of Indians, and in favor of woman suffrage. Garrison was a complete social reformer who sought equal rights for all people, no matter their race, religion, or gender. Garrison did not always agree with his contemporary social reformers (particularly Frederick Douglass and Wendell Phillips, both of whom were close friends), by the time of his death he could look back at their friendships fondly. Lightly toned, creased and rippled. Scattered ink stains, which touch handwriting but not signature. Adhesive residue on verso, which shows through and touches handwriting but not signature. Folded once horizontally and vertically.