Abolitionist, Civil War Union soldier. In 1836, he married Mary Virginia Woods, who died in 1840. They had one child, Charlotte Louise Forten Grimké. He was a key member of the Philadelphia Vigilant Committee, an antislavery, slave-assistance network. In 1845, he married Mary Hanscome, with whom he moved to a farm in western Pennsylvania. In 1854, they sold their property, planning to move to western Canada. As they traveled north, they stopped in Boston as controversy erupted over the arrest of fugitive slave Anthony Burns. Several years later Forten moved with his family to London, England, where he joined the London Emancipation Committee. He returned in 1864 to Philadelphia, where, on March 2, 1864, he joined the United States Colored Troops, mustering in as a Private in Company A of the 43rd Regiment USCT. On April 8, he was promoted Sergeant-Major. However, he died of typhus only a few weeks later. At his funeral, he was given full military honors, the first African-American to be so honored in Philadelphia. Abolitionists Lucretia Mott and James Miller McKim spoke at his funeral.
Abolitionist, Civil War Union soldier. In 1836, he married Mary Virginia Woods, who died in 1840. They had one child, Charlotte Louise Forten Grimké. He was a key member of the Philadelphia Vigilant Committee, an antislavery, slave-assistance network. In 1845, he married Mary Hanscome, with whom he moved to a farm in western Pennsylvania. In 1854, they sold their property, planning to move to western Canada. As they traveled north, they stopped in Boston as controversy erupted over the arrest of fugitive slave Anthony Burns. Several years later Forten moved with his family to London, England, where he joined the London Emancipation Committee. He returned in 1864 to Philadelphia, where, on March 2, 1864, he joined the United States Colored Troops, mustering in as a Private in Company A of the 43rd Regiment USCT. On April 8, he was promoted Sergeant-Major. However, he died of typhus only a few weeks later. At his funeral, he was given full military honors, the first African-American to be so honored in Philadelphia. Abolitionists Lucretia Mott and James Miller McKim spoke at his funeral.
Gravesite Details
Originally buried in Saint Thomas Protestant Episcopal Churchyard, Fifth and Adelphia Sts., Philadelphia.
Family Members
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Records on Ancestry
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