Lewis and Harriet Hayden House was the home of African-American abolitionists who had escaped from slavery in Kentucky; it is located in Beacon Hill,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. They maintained the home as a stop on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

, and the Haydens were visited by

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (185 ...

as research for her book, ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

'' (1852). Lewis Hayden was an important leader in the African-American community of Boston; in addition, he lectured as an abolitionist and was a member of the

Boston Vigilance Committee The Boston Vigilance Committee (1841–1861) was an abolitionist organization formed in Boston, Massachusetts, to protect escaped slaves from being kidnapped and returned to slavery in the South. The Committee aided hundreds of escapees, most of ...

, which resisted the

Fugitive Slave Act A fugitive or runaway is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...

of 1850.

Lewis and Harriet Hayden

Lewis Hayden was born into slavery in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, in 1812. His first wife and their son were sold to U.S. Senator Henry Clay. They were sold again to the Deep South, and Hayden never saw them again. In 1842 Hayden married Harriet Bell, who already had a son Joseph. In 1844, with the help of abolitionists, they escaped to Ohio and then along the Underground Railroad to Canada. Abolitionist

Delia Webster Delia Ann Webster (December 17, 1817 – January 18, 1904) was an American teacher, author, businesswoman and abolitionist in Kentucky who, with Calvin Fairbank, aided many slaves, including Lewis Hayden, his wife Harriet, and their son Joseph to ...

had transported the family of 3 to freedom. She was a school teacher from Vermont who had moved to Kentucky. She was caught when she returned from the journey from Kentucky to the Ohio River crossing to Ohio. She was jailed, tried and sentenced to years in the Kentucky Penitentiary. Somehow, she obtained a pardon from the Governor and was released. Her work continued, and she was jailed several more times. She lies in an unmarked grave. In 1845, the Haydens returned to the US at Detroit, and by January 1846 they had moved to Boston. Hayden owned and ran a clothing store on Cambridge Street.Site 6 - Lewis and Harriet Hayden House - 66 Phillips Street
. African American Museum, Boston. Retrieved April 30, 2013. In 1849 or 1850, the Haydens moved into the house at 66 Phillips (then Southac) Street on Beacon Hill. The house was purchased in 1853 by Francis Jackson of the anti-slavery

Vigilance Committee A vigilance committee is a group of private citizens who take it upon themselves to administer law and order or exercise power in places where they consider the governmental structures or actions inadequate. Prominent historical examples of vigi ...

. The African American Museum hypothesized that may have been done "to assure that Hayden would not be harassed in his

activities." The Haydens routinely cared for African Americans who had escaped from slavery, including the noted

Ellen and William Craft Ellen Craft (1826–1891) and William Craft (September 25, 1824 – January 29, 1900) were American abolitionists who were born into slavery in Macon, Georgia. They escaped to the Northern United States in December 1848 by traveling by train and ...

, and their home served as a boarding house. Hayden prevented slave catchers from taking the Crafts by threatening to blow up his home with gunpowder if they tried to reclaim them. Records from the Boston Vigilance Committee, of which Lewis was a member, indicate that scores of people received aid and safe shelter at the Hayden home between 1850 and 1860. An author was escorted by an unnamed individual to their home:

When, in 1853, Mrs.
Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (185 ...
came to '' The Liberator'' Office, 21 Cornhill, to get facts for her '' Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin'', she was taken by Mr. R.F. Wallcutt and myself over to Lewis Hayden's house in Southnac Street, thirteen newly-escaped slaves of all colors and sizes were brought in into one room for her to see. Though Mrs. Stowe had written wonderful "Uncle Tom" at the request of Dr. Bailey, of Washington, for the National Era, expressly to show up the workings of the Fugitive Slave-Law, yet she had never seen such a company of 'fugitives' together before.

Hayden was one of the men who helped rescue

Shadrach Minkins Shadrach Minkins (c. 1814 – December 13, 1875) was an African-American fugitive slave from Virginia who escaped in 1850 and reached Boston. He also used the pseudonyms Frederick Wilkins and Frederick Jenkins.Collison (1998), p. 1. He is known f ...

from federal custody in 1851, and he played a significant role in the attempted rescue of

Anthony Burns Anthony Burns (May 31, 1834 – July 17, 1862) was an African-American man who escaped from slavery in Virginia in 1854. His capture and trial in Boston, and transport back to Virginia, generated wide-scale public outrage in the North and incre ...

. Hayden also contributed money to

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

, in preparation for his raid on

Harper's Ferry Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 269 at the 2020 United States census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers in the lower Shenandoah Valley, where ...

. He was a recruiter for the 54th Regiment. His son served in the Union Navy during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and was killed. In 1865, Harriet Hayden bought the house from Francis Jackson's estate. Hayden served a term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1873 and worked for the Massachusetts Secretary of State from 1859 to 1889. Lewis Hayden died on April 7, 1889. Harriet Hayden, upon her death in 1893, bequeathed her estate to provide a scholarship at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

for African American students. In his book, ''The Negro in the Civil War'', Benjamin Quarles said of the Haydens' house:

It was there that
Theodore Parker Theodore Parker (August 24, 1810 – May 10, 1860) was an American transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church. A reformer and abolitionist, his words and popular quotations would later inspire speeches by Abraham Lincol ...
, of sainted abolitionist memory, had married the fugitive slaves, William and Ellen Craft; it was there that
John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
had lodged during his last trip to Boston. Hayden had been the first to suggest to
John A. Andrew John Albion Andrew (May 31, 1818 – October 30, 1867) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. He was elected in 1860 as the 25th Governor of Massachusetts, serving between 1861 and 1866, and led the state's contributions to ...
that he run for governor; on Thanksgiving Day in 1862 Governor Andrew was to come down from Beacon Hill and have turkey dinner at the Haydens.

The Lewis and Harriet Hayden House is a site along the

Black Heritage Trail Black Heritage Trail or African American Heritage Trail may refer to one of the following, all in the United States: * African American Heritage Trail of St. Petersburg, Florida * African American Heritage Trail of Westchester County, New York * ...

. It is a private residence.Lewis and Harriet Hayden House.
National Park Service. Retrieved April 24, 2013. It is also featured on the

Boston Women's Heritage Trail The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a series of walking tours in Boston, Massachusetts, leading past sites important to Boston women's history. The tours wind through several neighborhoods, including the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, commemorating w ...

Black Heritage Trail

The house is a Boston African-American historic site located on the

in Beacon Hill.

Notes

References

External links

Boston African American National Historic Site (NPS)
{{Boston African American community pre-Civil War African-American history in Boston History of Boston Houses in Boston Beacon Hill, Boston Underground Railroad locations

Lewis and Harriet Hayden

Black Heritage Trail

See also

Notes

References

External links