Wayne County, NC - Letters File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Paula Krimsky __________________________________________________________________________ USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. __________________________________________________________________________ I am attaching the transcriptions and a brief narrative of Frederick Gunn's involvement with the abolitionists. Although he was homesick and suffering from the heat in July, I think his descriptions of the area and the people he met may be interesting to North Carolinians. Washington, by the way, is a small town in Northwestern CT which had a larger population during the Revolution than it does now. I would be appreciative if there is a way of indicating on the website that the transcriptions and original letters are part of The Gunnery archives in Washington, CT. Febraury 14, 2002 A Brief Narrative of Frederick Gunn’s Involvement with the Abolitionists Frederick Gunn graduated from Yale in 1837 and returned to Washington to begin his career. He began teaching in a room of the town meeting hall (where the Judea Parish House now is) while he lived in a room at his sister, May Canfield’s, a two story farmhouse nearby (which he later purchased to start The Gunnery in 1850). Fred Gunn’s oldest brother, John, who had paid his way to Yale, was an active abolitionist together with Daniel Platt (Orville Platt’s father), William Leavitt and Lewis Canfield. At this time the abolitionists were a small minority and the Congregational Church in New England was insisting on the biblical justifications of slavery. Since the church was the social and political arbiter at that period, John Gunn’s activities prompted polemics from the pulpit and social ostracism. In 1839 the abolitionists invited Abby Kelly, a prominent abolitionist lecturer, to speak at the meeting house. The congregation was in an uproar and the minister Reverend Hayes delivered a stinging sermon on “Jezebel”. John Gunn spoke out against the church behavior in the service. Subsequently, John Gunn was excommunicated from the church. Fred was not a member of the church by choice. He did, however, fear that his livelihood as a teacher would be compromised by his brother’s abolitionist activities. He urged moderation. He read abolitionist tracts and in 1843 visited his sisters, who were living in Goldsboro, NC, in order to confirm the abolitionist arguments to which he was beginning to subscribe. In the process he was converted completely and assumed a leadership role in the abolitionist and underground railroad movement in Washington. Primarily because of church opposition to the abolitionist cause, the number of students in Mr. Gunn’s school in Washington declined until his “living” was no longer assured. He moved to New Preston in 1845 where the climate was less condemnatory. However, he was isolated from his friends, family and his girlfriend, Abigail Brinsmade. Soon only abolitionists’ children would attend his school. In 1847 he moved to Towanda, PA to take over a school there. Her parents, prominent members of the Judea community and church, were sympathetic to the abolitionist movement and Gunn’s part in it but unwilling to sanction the marriage and actively denounce the church’s position. The school in Towanda was successful but both he and Abigail, who became his wife, were homesick especially after the birth of their son Danny in 1849. Meanwhile, in New England the tide of public opinion was changing. The Congregational Church was moderating its position on abolition. It was not this change, however, which paved the way for Gunn’s return to Judea (Washington). Abigail’s sister, Mary, ran a school for girls (Judea Seminary) which was attended by 70 – 80 girls from all over the country. The same Reverend Hayes, gave a sermon attacking Mary Brinsmade when the Seminary students began doing daily calisthenics on the Washington Green. Daniel Brinsmade, Mary’s father, called for his immediate replacement. When Frederick Gunn returned to Washington and opened The Gunnery in 1850 (the year the Fugitive Slave Law was passed condemning those who harbored escaped slaves), he provided leadership to the local Underground Railroad movement. His students who wrote a biography at his death in 1881 allude to “negroes” hiding in the back rooms of the schoolhouse. An interesting commentary by Carl Westmoreland, External Affairs Director of The Underground Railroad Freedom Society in Cincinnati, Ohio, during a visit in February, 2000 was, “When the tide of public opinion changes, it is rare for the community to welcome back to its midst the ostracized party who reminds them of their prior errors. It is even rarer for that party to be offered a leadership position in the “new” movement. The fact that Washington did those things speaks well for the community and also for Mr. Gunn.”