Resolve and Rescue: The True Story of Frances Drake and the Antislavery Movement

By Mark C. Bodanza

Where Frances Drake saw injustice, she tried to right it, and where freedom was denied, she fought to secure it. In Resolve and Rescue, author and historian Mark C. Bodanza explores the life of this Massachusetts woman who took up the cause of the slave early in the antislavery movement. He shows how, in an age dominated by men, Drake never allowed the disadvantages suffered by her gender to impede the great object of her work, the end of slavery in America.

Resolve and Rescue narrates the story of this woman, born in 1814, who had an uncommon energy. She toiled for more than two decades to end slavery in ways great and small, including the promotion of some of the greatest speakers of the abolition movement. Her efforts were not limited to speeches or theory, but she publicly participated in the rescue of many fugitive slaves, including the first test case in New England under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850; Bodanza also demonstrates that her fight wasnt limited to ending slavery, as she worked tirelessly for racial equality and womens rights.

Resolve and Rescue shares the life story of Frances Drake, her conviction and courage displaying a timeless example of promoting justice and equality.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: May 8, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491728932

Mark C. Bodanza

Mark C. Bodanza is a historian and trial lawyer who has written numerous historical newspaper columns, guest commentated on radio and television programs nationwide, and lectured at schools and colleges throughout the country. Bodanza lives in Leominster, Massachusetts, with his family. Ten Times a Champion is his fifth book.

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Copyright © 2014 Mark C. Bodanza.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-2895-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-2894-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-2893-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014905054

iUniverse rev. date: 5/7/2014

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1.   The Gauntlet Is Thrown

2.   Leominster At The Dawn Of The Industrial Revolution

3.   Family Life And Loss

4.   The Flame Is Fanned—The Boston Years

5.   Joining The Abolition Movement In Leominster

6.   Ladies Of The True Stamp

7.   The Clergy And Abolition

8.   America’s Expansion And Party Politics

9.   The Union Is Threatened

10.   The New Fugitive Slave Law

11.   A Great Test

12.   The Rescue

13.   Everything Is Changed

14.   Abolition Gains New Allies

15.   The Rise Of The Republican Party

16.   Compassion And Change

Epilogue

Bibliography

Endnotes

To my wife, Adele

and

To the inhabitants of Leominster who opposed the injustice of slavery.

Dear Mrs Chapman

Your very kind & instructive letter under date June 19th was duly received for which you have our most hearty thanks. I read it before our little society which was formed June 20th & consists of 7 members & some six or eight who occasionally meet us who are not members. I assure you madam the letter was very kindly and gratefully received. It has been a great aid to us in our efforts to convince people that we could do something for the poor slave. It is perfectly astonishing to hear really intelligent people ever saying I wonder what those few woman think they can do to abolish slavery. I don’t think it is a womans sphere to be making such efforts to accomplish that which belongs not to them, but to men high in office and everything of this kind we have to reply to almost daily.

From a letter by Frances Drake to Maria Weston Chapman dated August 6, 1843.

Author’s Note

This quote and all quotations have been rendered exactly as they appeared in the original, without regard to spelling, punctuation, or grammatical correctness.

PREFACE

A decade ago, a history professor I was acquainted with mentioned the name Shadrach Minkins. He went on to say that Minkins was a fugitive slave who passed through Leominster on his way to freedom in the mid-nineteenth century. I have been a Leominster resident nearly all my life and have had an interest in local history since it was a part of the fourth-grade curriculum. I can still remember the stories of the town’s early proprietors that I learned in Mrs. Geary’s class nearly a half century ago, but until the good professor uttered the name Minkins, I had never heard about the man before. I can say with some authority that most, if not all, of Leominster’s contemporary residents had never heard of Shadrach Minkins either. When I discovered the connection between Shadrach Minkins and Leominster, it was immediately apparent to me that the story of his stop on the Underground Railroad at the home of Leominster abolitionist Frances Drake was one of great significance to both Leominster and the wider story of the antislavery movement.

Compared to another Leominster historical figure, Drake and Minkins may seem obscure. Leominster is John Chapman’s birthplace. In 1939, Leominster librarian Florence Wheeler discovered that John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed—an enduring personage in American folklore as popularized by Walt Disney in a 1948 short film—was born in Leominster on September 26, 1774. Since then, the itinerant planter has been a veritable patron saint for the city of his birth.

But the legend of Johnny Appleseed, while wonderful Americana, pales in comparison to the substantial history represented by Frances Drake’s struggle to end slavery, which commenced more than a generation before Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

At the time I was discovering the story of Frances Drake, a local developer was planning to raze Frances’s old homestead to make way for a small condominium complex. To his great credit, the developer put his demolition plans on hold long enough to listen. He learned the special history of the house and even attended the production of a play I wrote, The Coming Crucible, which chronicled Frances Drake’s antislavery work and Leominster’s abolition movement. When the curtain closed, it was not on the Drake homestead. Not only did the developer agree not to raze the structure, but he had the home placed on the National Historic Register. In 2007, the Leominster Historical Society placed a marker in the front yard of the Drake home, memorializing the historic importance of the small, unassuming structure. Since that time, the house has been acquired by the City of Leominster in cooperation with the Leominster Historical Society. Plans are underway to preserve and restore the home so that future generations will have the opportunity to learn about the moral courage displayed by its occupants so long ago in the fight against slavery.

The purpose of this book is to unearth the details of Mrs. Drake’s exploits made in the name of equality so many decades ago. She is not a figure that history has shined a bright light on, but that does not dull the glare of her contribution to the betterment of the human condition. I am confident that once you get to know her story a little better, you will agree her accomplishments should be remembered and recognized.

When Thomas Jefferson wrote America’s Declaration of Independence in 1776, he became the scribe of our country’s birth certificate. Ever since, Jefferson’s words have idealized the relevance of the American experience. No part of that immortal document is more important than Jefferson’s celebrated assertion that all men are created equal. But those are merely words. Left to others is the task of giving that phrase a full realization over succeeding decades of American history. If Frances Drake’s lifework can be simply summarized, it was to breathe life into the notion of equality in America in ways not even the founding fathers envisioned. Where she saw injustice, she tried to right it, and where freedom was denied, she fought to secure it. It is my hope that the following pages capture her story with the all the dignity it deserves.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The story of Frances Drake’s tireless efforts to end slavery in America and advance the cause of women’s rights has been a privilege to write. Uncovering her exploits, obscured by the passing of decades, has been an enriching experience made all the more rewarding by the generous assistance of many who shared the same goal.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Nancy Bell, a friend who lent her considerable skills to editing and critiquing the early drafts. Dr. Thomas Conroy introduced the subject a decade ago, and I appreciate his willingness to share the special story of Shadrach Minkins. I am grateful to my friend Adriane Nicole Leblanc for inspiring me to chronicle the life of Frances Drake as an example of courage and conviction.

To the Leominster Historical Society, a special thank-you for supporting both the research of this book and the preservation of the Drake home, and for providing access to some important artifacts connected to the Drakes. Linda Pinder, a trustee at the Society, provided invaluable assistance in collecting images for the book. She is a wonderful friend who lends her talent generously. Another trustee at the Society, David Wilson, is always a fount of wisdom regarding Leominster’s past. I also appreciate the fine genealogical work of Sandra Balboni and the research of Jane Fischer.

Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella and the Leominster City Council had the wisdom to acquire the Drake homestead for the benefit of future generations who will surely learn much by the example of Mrs. Drake. The mayor’s assistant, Wendy Wiiks, worked tirelessly and successfully to secure grant resources to help in the purchasing and restoration of the Drake home.

I truly appreciate the support of so many at the Leominster Library, including Director Susan Shelton, Edward Bergman, Diane Sanabria, and Jeannine Levesque, the library’s historian and genealogical collection coordinator, as well as my fellow members of the board of trustees.

My law office staff contributes to the effort of preparing manuscript drafts. They always respond as the dedicated professionals they are, for which I give many thanks to Kathleen Welch, Gabriella Goodale, and my associate attorney, Amanda Mastalerz. My brother and law partner, David Bodanza, is always my most valuable sounding board, and I’m beyond blessed to be able to work with him each day.

To my wife, Adele; children Melissa, Kathryn, and Nicholas; and my grandson, Brody, too: thank you for always being there, understanding, and most of all, for your unending love and support.

INTRODUCTION

Frances Drake’s life can be aptly summed up by an old African proverb: Pray, but keep your feet moving. Mrs. Drake was a devout Christian woman, but she was never content to rely on hope alone. She spent her lifetime in motion. Born in 1814, her life spanned all the remaining years of the nineteenth century. For more than a generation, she labored to end the detestable practice of American slavery.

While many abolitionists were satisfied merely to register their dissent in regard to the practice of bondage in the United States, Mrs. Drake worked. When most abolitionists were afraid or unwilling to question conservative institutions that withheld their support of abolition or urged a slower path to emancipation, Mrs. Drake heaped criticism their way. She had no fear of being a solitary voice. In the early years of the abolition movement, she was often criticized for her radical thoughts and actions.

Mrs. Drake took the philosophy of William Lloyd Garrison to heart. Garrison, a newspaper editor from Newburyport, Massachusetts, threw down the gauntlet in his inaugural edition of the Liberator on January 1, 1831, and Mrs. Drake took up the challenge. Garrison’s challenge to end slavery in America was bold and unapologetic. It was his goal to shake the country’s complacency in a dramatic way.

There was nothing moderate or quiet about Frances Drake either. She embraced the cause of abolition with her whole heart and for the single reason that it was the right thing to do. She never wavered from that. When her methods were questioned, she persisted. When she became a pariah in her own community, she redoubled her efforts; her voice grew louder.

For us today, it is hard to conceive that the end of slavery could be met