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New Brighton was a temporary home or an important destination for many of the prominent Abolitionists of the time. Some of these are discussed below.
Grace Greenwood and White Cottage--Sara Clarke Lippincott (1823-1904), under the pseudonym of Grace Greenwood, was a popular poet, essayist and journalist of the 1800s. She became an ardent writer and lecturer for the Abolitionists. She wrote many of her books at White Cottage in New Brighton. She so helped the Northern cause that Lincoln called her "the little patriot." Her home in New Brighton still stands.
Abby Kelley Foster (1810-1887) was a Quaker abolitionist and woman's rights lecturer. For more than 15 years she traveled the lecture circuit. A friend of Milo and Elizabeth Townsend, she often visited New Brighton where she was married to Stephen Symonds Foster in Milo's home on December 21, 1845.
Stephen Collins Foster (1826-1864) was a
frequent visitor to New Brighton, staying months at a time. A
composer of many African American spirituals, he spoke on antislavery
issues at the Schuster building, now the First National Bank on
Third Avenue.