Significant 1835 Boston Mob Broadside with 1877 W.L. Garrison ALS with Description of the Events and His “Ruffianly Seizure”, Plus

[James L. Homer, editor of the Boston Gazette]. Thompson, The Abolitionist. Boston: [Offices of the Boston Gazette], [1835]. 12 x 10 in. letterpress broadside. Contemporary ink inscription to the verso reads: “Return to C.C. Mason of the Me Cong. the M.E. Ch.”

With: Autograph letter signed by William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) to William E. Gould (1837-1919). Boston, 8 December 1877. 2 pages, with original cover addressed to Gould with 3 cent stamp and Boston postmark. Written in response to previous owner Gould in response to his letter requesting information on the broadside (see below).

With: Autograph letter signed by Emma [Maynard Dow Gould] (1836-1918), William Gould’s wife, to John, likely John Mead Gould (1839-1930), William’s brother. [Boston], 2 May 1892. 1 page.

Also with: Half plate daguerreotype of the Gould family. Maine, 1853. Housed in a half leatherette case. Edward Gould (1805-1894) and his wife Althea Chase Guold (1808-1894) are seated at center surrounded by 6 children. Oldest son William E. Gould stands at the center, his hand resting on his father’s shoulder.

Provenance: William E. Gould (1837-1919), to his brother John Mead Gould (1839-1930).

Rare broadside from the early abolitionist struggles further enhanced by an ALS by William Lloyd Garrison detailing the dramatic events.

In 1835, one of the most important abolitionists George Thompson (1804-1878) traveled from the United Kingdom to give a lecture tour around the United States upon the invitation of William Lloyd Garrison, whom he had met in 1832 in Scotland where the two became lifelong friends.

In the 1877 ALS included here, Garrison recalls the events surrounding the broadside: “On the 21st of October, 1835, the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society attempted to hold its annual meeting. At that time George Thompson, the eloquent and successful advocate of British West India Emancipation, was laboring here with the Abolitionists, and by their invitation, to effect a similar deliverance for the Southern slave population. To intensify the popular pro-slavery spirit against him, he was falsely and maliciously branded by the press as a British emissary who had been sent here by the British Government with his pockets lined with British gold “for the purpose of overthrowing our Glorious Union” etc. etc.”

The fiery broadside explicitly calls for the pro-slavery supporters to tar Thompson and enact violence upon him, even offering a reward. The text reads in full: “That infamous foreign scoundrel THOMPSON, will hold forth this afternoon, at the Liberator Office, No. 48, Washington Street. The present is a fair opportunity for the friends of the Union to snake Thompson out! It will be a contest between the Abolitionists and the friends of the Union. A purse of $100 has been raised by a number of patriotic citizens to reward the individual who shall first lay violent hands on Thompson, so that he may be brought to the tar kettle before dark. Friends of the Union, be vigilant!” The references to the pro-slavery forces of 1835 are likely in response to Garrison’s radical idea of the North seceding from the Union to break the immoral Constitutional connection with slavery. Even using the motto “No Union with Slaveholders” for the masthead of The Liberator.

Aware of the inciting mobs, Thompson did not attend the meeting as scheduled, and Garrison instead went to speak to the Society. Garrison continues with his description of the events unfolding, including fascinating details of the author and publisher of the inciting broadside: “It was deemed prudent by ladies, for his own personal safety, that he should not attend the meeting aforesaid; nevertheless, it was rumored that he was to be present, and this led to the issuing of the mob-exciting placard which you have copied in your letter, and about which you express a wish to be further informed. That placard was written by James L. Homer, editor of the Boston Gazette, and printed in his office, and distributed throughout the city.”

Garrison concludes with his own experience on the day: “The result was the gathering of a mob of five thousand persons, the breaking up of the ladies meeting, my ruffianly seizure, and being dragged through the streets, finally rescued by the city constabulary, and incarceration in Leverett Street jail to save my life.” Garrison was indeed seized by the pro-slavery mob, dragging him through the streets at the end of a rope. Boston Mayor Theodore Lyman II intervened and confined Garrison for his own safety.

Gould’s initial letter to Garrison penned from Portland, Maine on 14 November 1877, is held in the Boston Public Library Rare Books Department’s Anti-Slavery Collection (MS A.1.2 v.39, p.154A). Though not included in this lot, Gould’s letter reveals further details of the provenance of the broadside and the specific request he made of Garrison. Gould opens: “I have copied upon the page annexed a sheet sent me by an old minister. It is so very different from the state of things today that I want to frame it for my Library + I would be very glad to frame also, any reply you may be pleased to make to me, when I now ask you if you will. Kindly tell me what year this was. What was the result of the appeal, and (if it is known) who was the author of the document.”

Also included here is an 1892 letter from Gould’s wife Emma to his brother John offering the collection of items to him: “Edw. has, framed, a relic which he thinks you may like. It is a placard, printed in Boston in Feb. 1835, intended [to] incite a pro-slavery mob at the time of an anti-slavery meeting with it is an autographed letter from Wm. Loyd [sic] Garrison explaining it, which he wrote Edw. in reply to one from him asking information about the affair. If you would like it, perhaps Theo will come for it. I am breaking up, and packing, and it will be one thing out of my way. If you do not come for it he will give it to the Historical Society.”

Lastly, a half plate daguerreotype of William E. Gould as a young man with his family is included.

VERY RARE. Though often referenced in the history of the abolitionist movement, only 1 copy is held at the Library of Congress, the date attributed as 1851. This copy is further enhanced by the vivid recollections penned by William Lloyd Garrison.







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