Isaac T. Hopper
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Isaac Tatem Hopper (December 3, 1771 – May 7, 1852) was an American abolitionist who was active in Philadelphia in the anti-slavery movement and protecting fugitive slaves and free blacks from slave kidnappers. He was also co-founder of
Children's Village The Children's Village, formerly the New York Juvenile Asylum, is a private, non-profit residential treatment facility and school for troubled children. It was founded in 1851 by 24 citizens of New York who were concerned about growing numbers o ...
with 23 others. He moved to New York City in 1829 to run a Quaker bookstore. From 1841 to 1845 he served as treasurer and book agent for the
American Anti-Slavery Society The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS; 1833–1870) was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, had become a prominent abolitionist and was a key leader of this society ...
. In 1845 he became active in prison reform and devoted the rest of his life to the Prison Association of New York.


Life and career

Isaac Tatem Hopper was born into a Quaker family in
Deptford Township, New Jersey Deptford Township (pronounced DEP-ford) is a township in Gloucester County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 30,561, reflecting an increase of 3,798 (+14.2%) from the 26,763 counted in t ...
in 1771. He married Sarah Tatum Hopper in 1795 and together they had ten children, including notable abolitionist
Abigail Hopper Gibbons Abigail Hopper Gibbons, née Abigail Hopper (December 7, 1801 – January 16, 1893) was an American abolitionist, schoolteacher, and social welfare activist. She assisted in founding and led several nationally known societies for social reform ...
, and a notable grandson DeWolf Hopper. He became a Hicksite
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
– a follower of Elias Hicks – although he lived in Philadelphia, while many Hicksites lived in rural areas. On June 26 1827, he and his family transferred their membership to the Darby Friends Meeting. (Vol III 1827 - Darby Friends Meeting Minutes 26th of 6th Month 1827) Following the American Revolutionary War, Pennsylvania had abolished slavery before the end of the eighteenth century. The state, and especially the major port city of Philadelphia, became a destination and byway for fugitive slaves escaping the South. In the years before the American Civil War, Philadelphia was frequented by slave kidnappers, who often would capture free black children to sell into slavery, as well as hunt fugitive slaves to return to their owners for reward. Hopper became an active and leading member of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, whose members frequently worked to protect the rights of African Americans, as well as to seek the end of slavery in the United States. In time, Hopper became known in Philadelphia as a friend and adviser to blacks in all emergencies. Hopper was an overseer of the Negro School for Children in Philadelphia, which was founded by the early abolitionist Anthony Benezet before the Revolutionary War, and operated through the nineteenth century. Hopper also served as a volunteer teacher in a free school for African-American adults. He was one of the founders and the secretary of a society for the employment of the poor; a volunteer prison inspector; member of a fire company, and guardian of abused apprentices. Married and with a large family, he and his wife often extended their limited resources to take in more impoverished Quakers. Their children learned early to care for others. He also transacted much business for the
Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
. In 1829 Hopper moved his family to New York in order to run a bookstore established by the Hicksite Quakers. In the autumn of 1830, being called to Ireland on business connected with his wife's estate, he visited England. In both countries he was at first treated somewhat cavalierly by the orthodox Quakers, and was pointed out as the one "who has given Friends so much trouble in America." His amiable personality changed their unfavorable impressions. By the spring of 1841, the demand for Hicksite books had greatly diminished. Hopper became the treasurer and book agent for the
American Anti-Slavery Society The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS; 1833–1870) was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, had become a prominent abolitionist and was a key leader of this society ...
in New York.


Prison reform advocacy

In 1845 he gave up his offices with the Anti-Slavery Society, and devoted the rest of his life to the Prison Association of New York, which sought reform in prisons and the justice system. His married daughter,
Abigail Hopper Gibbons Abigail Hopper Gibbons, née Abigail Hopper (December 7, 1801 – January 16, 1893) was an American abolitionist, schoolteacher, and social welfare activist. She assisted in founding and led several nationally known societies for social reform ...
, by then also in New York, founded the
Women's Prison Association The Women's Prison Association (WPA), founded 1845, is the oldest advocacy group for women in the United States.Lawney Reyes, ''B Street: The Notorious Playground of Coulee Dam'', University of Washington Press, 2008, . The organization has historic ...
, to work for prison reform. She also founded an asylum for women prisoners who had been released, to help with their re-entry to society, which she named for her father as the "Isaac T. Hopper Home". Hopper frequently visited the state capital of Albany, New York, to represent the association and to address the legislature. Judge Edmonds says of one of these occasions: "His eloquence was simple and direct, but most effective. If he was humorous, his audience were full of laughter; if solemn, a death-like stillness reigned; if pathetic, tears flowed all around him." He often pleaded for the pardon of prisoners. Governor John Young of New York, once said to him: "Friend Hopper, I will pardon any convict whom you say you conscientiously believe I ought to pardon." Isaac Hopper died in New York on May 7, 1852.


Notes


References

* *


Further reading

* Bacon, Margaret Hope, ''Lamb's Warrior: The Life of Isaac T. Hopper,'' 1970 * Child, Lydia Maria
''Isaac T. Hopper: A True Life''
1859, Project Gutenberg


External links



' New York: Published by Isaak T. Hopper, 1832.
Celia Caust-Ellenbogen, "Isaac T. Hopper"
''Quakers and Slavery'' project, Bryn Mawr College
GraveSarah Hopper Palmer papers
from th
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore CollegeNew-York Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves, and Protecting Such of Them as Have Been, or May Be Liberated, list of members
from th
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore CollegeNathaniel Peabody Rogers collection
from th
Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections
  {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopper, Isaac 1771 births 1852 deaths American abolitionists American tax resisters People disowned by the Quakers People from Deptford Township, New Jersey People of colonial New Jersey