Seth Hinshaw was born the 11th or 14th of 2d mo 1787, a son of John and Ruth (Pike) Weisner Hinshaw. There is a discrepancy in his birthdate in different Friends meeting Records. Marlboro (NC) records 2mo 14, while Duck Creek (IN) records 4m 14. He married first 21st of 6th mo 1809 at Centre Friends Meeting in Guilford County, North Carolina, Hannah Beeson who died in 1822. They had five children: Armelia, Malinda, Jabez, Dianna, and Ascenath. His second wife was Abigail Rich.
In 1831 Seth Hinshaw moved his family to Henry County, Indiana. He settled in the village of Greensboro, becoming a member of the Duck Creek Monthly Meeting of Friends and opening a store. In the late 1830s he was converted to the abolitionist cause and became one of the most active and open opponents of slavery in Indiana in the 1840s. He converted his store to a "free produce" store that carried nothing produced with slave labor. He was was a member of the Henry County Anti-Slavery Society, a director of the Western Free Produce Association, and a fixture at conventions of the Liberty Party. He aided fugitive slaves, sheltered the great black abolitionist Frederick Douglass after he was attacked by a mob in nearby Pendleton, and led a campaign to desegregate the school in Greensboro. A contemporary, Addison Coffin, who visited him in 1843, later wrote that: "his house was the meeting place of all grades of reformers, or setters forth of new doctrines--Mesmerism, Grahamism, Spiritualism, Socialism, Fourierism, etc., besides being headquarters for all abolition speakers and lecturers." He helped build Liberty Hall in Greensboro to be used for reform meetings. When customers complained that his "free labor" goods were more expensive than those other merchants offered, he responded: "This will test thy conscience, whether it is worth anything or not."
In 1851 Hinshaw became a convert to Spiritualism, and died in that faith. Seances were held at his home, and in Greensboro he helped construct Progress Hall for meetings of the group he had joined, the Progressive Spiritualists. He lived to see the end of slavery, although he mourned that it had required a war to end it.
In 1831 Seth Hinshaw moved his family to Henry County, Indiana. He settled in the village of Greensboro, becoming a member of the Duck Creek Monthly Meeting of Friends and opening a store. In the late 1830s he was converted to the abolitionist cause and became one of the most active and open opponents of slavery in Indiana in the 1840s. He converted his store to a "free produce" store that carried nothing produced with slave labor. He was was a member of the Henry County Anti-Slavery Society, a director of the Western Free Produce Association, and a fixture at conventions of the Liberty Party. He aided fugitive slaves, sheltered the great black abolitionist Frederick Douglass after he was attacked by a mob in nearby Pendleton, and led a campaign to desegregate the school in Greensboro. A contemporary, Addison Coffin, who visited him in 1843, later wrote that: "his house was the meeting place of all grades of reformers, or setters forth of new doctrines--Mesmerism, Grahamism, Spiritualism, Socialism, Fourierism, etc., besides being headquarters for all abolition speakers and lecturers." He helped build Liberty Hall in Greensboro to be used for reform meetings. When customers complained that his "free labor" goods were more expensive than those other merchants offered, he responded: "This will test thy conscience, whether it is worth anything or not."
In 1851 Hinshaw became a convert to Spiritualism, and died in that faith. Seances were held at his home, and in Greensboro he helped construct Progress Hall for meetings of the group he had joined, the Progressive Spiritualists. He lived to see the end of slavery, although he mourned that it had required a war to end it.
Seth Hinshaw was born the 11th or 14th of 2d mo 1787, a son of John and Ruth (Pike) Weisner Hinshaw. There is a discrepancy in his birthdate in different Friends meeting Records. Marlboro (NC) records 2mo 14, while Duck Creek (IN) records 4m 14. He married first 21st of 6th mo 1809 at Centre Friends Meeting in Guilford County, North Carolina, Hannah Beeson who died in 1822. They had five children: Armelia, Malinda, Jabez, Dianna, and Ascenath. His second wife was Abigail Rich.
In 1831 Seth Hinshaw moved his family to Henry County, Indiana. He settled in the village of Greensboro, becoming a member of the Duck Creek Monthly Meeting of Friends and opening a store. In the late 1830s he was converted to the abolitionist cause and became one of the most active and open opponents of slavery in Indiana in the 1840s. He converted his store to a "free produce" store that carried nothing produced with slave labor. He was was a member of the Henry County Anti-Slavery Society, a director of the Western Free Produce Association, and a fixture at conventions of the Liberty Party. He aided fugitive slaves, sheltered the great black abolitionist Frederick Douglass after he was attacked by a mob in nearby Pendleton, and led a campaign to desegregate the school in Greensboro. A contemporary, Addison Coffin, who visited him in 1843, later wrote that: "his house was the meeting place of all grades of reformers, or setters forth of new doctrines--Mesmerism, Grahamism, Spiritualism, Socialism, Fourierism, etc., besides being headquarters for all abolition speakers and lecturers." He helped build Liberty Hall in Greensboro to be used for reform meetings. When customers complained that his "free labor" goods were more expensive than those other merchants offered, he responded: "This will test thy conscience, whether it is worth anything or not."
In 1851 Hinshaw became a convert to Spiritualism, and died in that faith. Seances were held at his home, and in Greensboro he helped construct Progress Hall for meetings of the group he had joined, the Progressive Spiritualists. He lived to see the end of slavery, although he mourned that it had required a war to end it.
In 1831 Seth Hinshaw moved his family to Henry County, Indiana. He settled in the village of Greensboro, becoming a member of the Duck Creek Monthly Meeting of Friends and opening a store. In the late 1830s he was converted to the abolitionist cause and became one of the most active and open opponents of slavery in Indiana in the 1840s. He converted his store to a "free produce" store that carried nothing produced with slave labor. He was was a member of the Henry County Anti-Slavery Society, a director of the Western Free Produce Association, and a fixture at conventions of the Liberty Party. He aided fugitive slaves, sheltered the great black abolitionist Frederick Douglass after he was attacked by a mob in nearby Pendleton, and led a campaign to desegregate the school in Greensboro. A contemporary, Addison Coffin, who visited him in 1843, later wrote that: "his house was the meeting place of all grades of reformers, or setters forth of new doctrines--Mesmerism, Grahamism, Spiritualism, Socialism, Fourierism, etc., besides being headquarters for all abolition speakers and lecturers." He helped build Liberty Hall in Greensboro to be used for reform meetings. When customers complained that his "free labor" goods were more expensive than those other merchants offered, he responded: "This will test thy conscience, whether it is worth anything or not."
In 1851 Hinshaw became a convert to Spiritualism, and died in that faith. Seances were held at his home, and in Greensboro he helped construct Progress Hall for meetings of the group he had joined, the Progressive Spiritualists. He lived to see the end of slavery, although he mourned that it had required a war to end it.
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