Mrs. Lydia Neal Dennett was born at Eliot in 1798. She was educated in a Quaker home; married Oliver Dennett [1822] and afterward lived in Portland. Mr. and Mrs. Dennett were among the pioneers of the antislavery movement in Portland.
They were personal friends of Garrison, Parker, Phillips, Douglass, the Pillsburys, and many other abolitionists to whom their home was always open.
On the [1842] occasion of a lecture by the antislavery apostle, as he was termed, Stephen S. Foster, when excitement ran high and mob violence forced him through the window of the church in which he attempted to speak, Mrs. Dennett walked on one side of him and Mrs. Elias Thomas on the other, and succeeded in escorting him to a place of safety, though his coat was badly torn from him. He was taken to the Chase House next door to the First Parish church. So violent had been the assault upon him he was prostrated, but afterward taken to the home of Mrs. Dennett, where he was carefully nursed by his wife, Abbey Kelley Foster.
Ellen Crafts, the mulatto woman, who with her colored husband was rescued from slavery, was sent from Boston to Mrs. Dennett [Dec 1848]. Mrs. Crafts found her way from the South, having her right hand bandaged so that she might not be obliged to register at the hotels. She passed off her husband as her servant. Mrs. Dennett secured their passage on the first steamer that ever sailed from Portland to England. Mrs. Crafts became the protege of some of the nobility of England, was finely educated and after the war returned to her native land.
Mrs. Dennett's home was on [55] Spring Street not far from Park. It was a well-known station in the underground railway system that became so effective in assisting slaves to freedom. They were sure of rest and protection here. If search was instituted for them they were kept concealed until the excitement was over, and on some dark and stormy night started on their way with ample provision for their journey. A closed carriage with a fine pair of horses was kept by the antislavery society for this purpose.
Mrs. Dennett was left a widow in 1852 [sic]. She continued her interest in philanthropy and all forms of advance for women. She died in 1881.
In appearance Mrs. Dennett was a stately woman. She was remarkable as a conversationalist; expressed herself clearly; argued eloquently; was the equal of men and women of mark. She was a fine story-teller, and possessed an unconscious power of personation that made her a rare entertainer. Whittier was among her personal friends.
-Mothers of Maine (1895).
They were personal friends of Garrison, Parker, Phillips, Douglass, the Pillsburys, and many other abolitionists to whom their home was always open.
On the [1842] occasion of a lecture by the antislavery apostle, as he was termed, Stephen S. Foster, when excitement ran high and mob violence forced him through the window of the church in which he attempted to speak, Mrs. Dennett walked on one side of him and Mrs. Elias Thomas on the other, and succeeded in escorting him to a place of safety, though his coat was badly torn from him. He was taken to the Chase House next door to the First Parish church. So violent had been the assault upon him he was prostrated, but afterward taken to the home of Mrs. Dennett, where he was carefully nursed by his wife, Abbey Kelley Foster.
Ellen Crafts, the mulatto woman, who with her colored husband was rescued from slavery, was sent from Boston to Mrs. Dennett [Dec 1848]. Mrs. Crafts found her way from the South, having her right hand bandaged so that she might not be obliged to register at the hotels. She passed off her husband as her servant. Mrs. Dennett secured their passage on the first steamer that ever sailed from Portland to England. Mrs. Crafts became the protege of some of the nobility of England, was finely educated and after the war returned to her native land.
Mrs. Dennett's home was on [55] Spring Street not far from Park. It was a well-known station in the underground railway system that became so effective in assisting slaves to freedom. They were sure of rest and protection here. If search was instituted for them they were kept concealed until the excitement was over, and on some dark and stormy night started on their way with ample provision for their journey. A closed carriage with a fine pair of horses was kept by the antislavery society for this purpose.
Mrs. Dennett was left a widow in 1852 [sic]. She continued her interest in philanthropy and all forms of advance for women. She died in 1881.
In appearance Mrs. Dennett was a stately woman. She was remarkable as a conversationalist; expressed herself clearly; argued eloquently; was the equal of men and women of mark. She was a fine story-teller, and possessed an unconscious power of personation that made her a rare entertainer. Whittier was among her personal friends.
-Mothers of Maine (1895).
Mrs. Lydia Neal Dennett was born at Eliot in 1798. She was educated in a Quaker home; married Oliver Dennett [1822] and afterward lived in Portland. Mr. and Mrs. Dennett were among the pioneers of the antislavery movement in Portland.
They were personal friends of Garrison, Parker, Phillips, Douglass, the Pillsburys, and many other abolitionists to whom their home was always open.
On the [1842] occasion of a lecture by the antislavery apostle, as he was termed, Stephen S. Foster, when excitement ran high and mob violence forced him through the window of the church in which he attempted to speak, Mrs. Dennett walked on one side of him and Mrs. Elias Thomas on the other, and succeeded in escorting him to a place of safety, though his coat was badly torn from him. He was taken to the Chase House next door to the First Parish church. So violent had been the assault upon him he was prostrated, but afterward taken to the home of Mrs. Dennett, where he was carefully nursed by his wife, Abbey Kelley Foster.
Ellen Crafts, the mulatto woman, who with her colored husband was rescued from slavery, was sent from Boston to Mrs. Dennett [Dec 1848]. Mrs. Crafts found her way from the South, having her right hand bandaged so that she might not be obliged to register at the hotels. She passed off her husband as her servant. Mrs. Dennett secured their passage on the first steamer that ever sailed from Portland to England. Mrs. Crafts became the protege of some of the nobility of England, was finely educated and after the war returned to her native land.
Mrs. Dennett's home was on [55] Spring Street not far from Park. It was a well-known station in the underground railway system that became so effective in assisting slaves to freedom. They were sure of rest and protection here. If search was instituted for them they were kept concealed until the excitement was over, and on some dark and stormy night started on their way with ample provision for their journey. A closed carriage with a fine pair of horses was kept by the antislavery society for this purpose.
Mrs. Dennett was left a widow in 1852 [sic]. She continued her interest in philanthropy and all forms of advance for women. She died in 1881.
In appearance Mrs. Dennett was a stately woman. She was remarkable as a conversationalist; expressed herself clearly; argued eloquently; was the equal of men and women of mark. She was a fine story-teller, and possessed an unconscious power of personation that made her a rare entertainer. Whittier was among her personal friends.
-Mothers of Maine (1895).
They were personal friends of Garrison, Parker, Phillips, Douglass, the Pillsburys, and many other abolitionists to whom their home was always open.
On the [1842] occasion of a lecture by the antislavery apostle, as he was termed, Stephen S. Foster, when excitement ran high and mob violence forced him through the window of the church in which he attempted to speak, Mrs. Dennett walked on one side of him and Mrs. Elias Thomas on the other, and succeeded in escorting him to a place of safety, though his coat was badly torn from him. He was taken to the Chase House next door to the First Parish church. So violent had been the assault upon him he was prostrated, but afterward taken to the home of Mrs. Dennett, where he was carefully nursed by his wife, Abbey Kelley Foster.
Ellen Crafts, the mulatto woman, who with her colored husband was rescued from slavery, was sent from Boston to Mrs. Dennett [Dec 1848]. Mrs. Crafts found her way from the South, having her right hand bandaged so that she might not be obliged to register at the hotels. She passed off her husband as her servant. Mrs. Dennett secured their passage on the first steamer that ever sailed from Portland to England. Mrs. Crafts became the protege of some of the nobility of England, was finely educated and after the war returned to her native land.
Mrs. Dennett's home was on [55] Spring Street not far from Park. It was a well-known station in the underground railway system that became so effective in assisting slaves to freedom. They were sure of rest and protection here. If search was instituted for them they were kept concealed until the excitement was over, and on some dark and stormy night started on their way with ample provision for their journey. A closed carriage with a fine pair of horses was kept by the antislavery society for this purpose.
Mrs. Dennett was left a widow in 1852 [sic]. She continued her interest in philanthropy and all forms of advance for women. She died in 1881.
In appearance Mrs. Dennett was a stately woman. She was remarkable as a conversationalist; expressed herself clearly; argued eloquently; was the equal of men and women of mark. She was a fine story-teller, and possessed an unconscious power of personation that made her a rare entertainer. Whittier was among her personal friends.
-Mothers of Maine (1895).
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