Laura Smith Haviland (December 20, 1808 – April 20, 1898) was an American abolitionist, suffragette, and social reformer. She was a Quaker and an important figure in the history of the Underground Railroad.
Early years and family Laura Smith Haviland was born on December 20, 1808, in Kitley Township, Ontario, Canada, to American parents Daniel Smith and Asenath "Sene" Blancher,Hinshaw, William Wade. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. Vol. IV. Transcribed records from the Adrian Monthly Meeting, Michigan Territory. Note: Her first name is recorded as both "Asenath" and "Sene" in the Quaker Records. Sene was a short form of the name Asenath, not her full given name. She was born in Jamaica, VT. who had immigrated shortly before her birth. Haviland wrote that Daniel was "a man of ability and influence, of clear perceptions, and strong reasoning powers," while her mother Sene was "of a gentler turn, ...a quiet spirit, benevolent and kind to all, and much beloved by all who knew her." The Smiths, farmers of modest means, were devout members of the Religious Society of Friends, better known as Quakers. Haviland's father was a minister in the Society and her mother was an Elder.
Though the Quakers dressed plainly, and strictly forbade dancing, singing, and other pursuits they deemed frivolous, many of their views were progressive by the standards of the day.Eisenmann, Linda. Historical Dictionary of Women's Education in the United States, pages 332-333. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998. The Quakers encouraged the equal education of men and women, an extraordinarily forward-thinking position in an age when most individuals were illiterate, and providing a woman with a thorough education was largely viewed as unnecessary.Lorber, Judith Gender Inequality: Feminist Theories and Politics, Pages 1-3. Roxbury, MA: Roxbury Pub., 2001Smith, R. Drew Freedom's Distant Shores: American Protestants and Post-colonial Alliances, Page 111. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2006 Quaker women as well as men acted as ministers.Cahn, Susan. Industry of Devotion: The Transformation of Women's Work in England, Page 115. New York: Columbia University Press, 1987 While most Quakers did not agitate vocally for abolition, the majority condemned slavery as brutal and unjust. It was in this atmosphere that Haviland was raised.
In 1815, her family left Canada and returned to the United States, settling in the remote and sparsely populated town of Cambria, in western New York. At the time there was no school near their home, and for the next six years Haviland's education consisted of little more than "a spelling lesson" given to her daily by her mother. Haviland described herself as an inquisitive child, deeply interested in the workings of the world around her, who at a young age began questioning her parents about everything from scripture to Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation. Once she had mastered spelling, Haviland supplemented her meager education by devouring every book she could borrow from friends, relatives, and neighbors, reading everything from religious material to serious historical studies.
At sixteen, Laura met Charles Haviland, Jr., a devout young Quaker, whose parents were both respected ministers. They were married on November 11, 1825, at Lockport, New York. According to Laura, Charles was a devoted husband and theirs was a happy marriage. They were the parents of eight children.
The Havilands spent the first four years of their marriage in Royalton Township, near Lockport, New York, before moving in September 1829, to Raisin, Lenawee County, in the Michigan Territory. They settled three miles (5 km) from the homestead her parents acquired four years earlier. Michigan was then a largely unsettled wilderness, but land was cheap, and there were a number of other Quakers in the vicinity.
Anti-slavery work and the Raisin Institute Haviland vividly recalled seeing African Americans verbally abused, and even physically assaulted, in Lockport, New York, when she was a child. These experiences, combined with the horrific descriptions in John Woolman's history of the slave-trade, made an indelible impression.
The pictures of these crowded slave-ships, with the cruelties of the slave system after they were brought to our country, often affected me to tears ... My sympathies became too deeply enlisted for the poor negroes who were thus enslaved for time to efface.
Haviland and other members of the Raisin community helped Elizabeth Margaret Chandler organize the Logan Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1832. It was the first anti-slavery organization in Michigan.Laura Smith Haviland. Michigan Historical Center, Department of History, Arts and Libraries. The Official State of Michigan Website. http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-15481_19271_19357-163242--,00.html Five years later, in 1837, Haviland and her husband founded a "manual labor school ... designed for indigent children," which was later known as the Raisin Institute. Haviland instructed the girls in household chores, while her husband and one of her brothers, Harvey Smith, taught the boys to perform farm work. At the Havilands' insistence, the school was open to all children, "regardless of race, creed, or sex." It was the first racially integrated school in Michigan.Berson, Robin Kadison. Marching to a Different Drummer: Unrecognized Heroes of American History, pages 114-120. Greenwood Press, 1994 Some of Haviland's white students, upon learning they were to study with African Americans, threatened to leave. Most were persuaded to remain, however, and Laura wrote that once the students were together in the classroom their prejudices "soon melted away."
In 1838, Harvey Smith sold his farm, and the proceeds were used to erect accommodations for fifty students. The Havilands expanded the school's curriculum, operating it more closely along the lines of traditional elementary and secondary schools. They then hired a graduate of Oberlin College to serve as the school's principal. Due to their diligence, the Raisin Institute was soon recognized as one of the best schools in the Territory.
As the Havilands became more actively involved in anti-slavery work, tensions grew within the Quaker community. There was a split between the so-called "radical abolitionists," like the Havilands, who wanted immediate emancipation, and the majority of Orthodox Quakers. Although the Quakers condemned slavery, most did not approve of active participation in abolitionist societies.Grover, Kathryn. The Fugitive's Gibraltar: Escaping Slaves and Abolitionism in New Bedford, Massachusetts, page 32. Boston: Univ of Massachusetts Press, 2001 By 1839, in order to continue with their abolitionist work, the Havilands, her parents, and fourteen other like-minded Quakers, felt compelled to resign their membership.Hinshaw, William Wade. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. Vol. IV, Page 1366. Transcribed records from the Adrian Monthly Meeting, Michigan Territory. They then joined a group of Methodists known as the Wesleyans, who were equally devoted to the abolitionist cause.
In the spring of 1845, an epidemic of erysipelas killed six members of Haviland's family, including both her parents, her husband, and her youngest child. Haviland also fell ill, but survived. At thirty-six, Haviland was a widow with seven children to support, a farm to run, the Raisin Institute to manage, and substantial debts to repay. Two years later tragedy struck again when her eldest son died. A lack of funds forced the closing the Raisin Institute in 1849.
In spite of these personal losses, she continued work as an abolitionist; and, in 1851, she helped organize the Refugee Home Society in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, which assisted in settling fugitive slaves. A church and school were erected for them and each family was given twenty-five acres to farm.Foner, Philip S. History of Black Americans: From the Compromise of 1850 to the End of the Civil War, page 151. Greenwood Press, 1983. Laura remained on for several months as the settlement's teacher.Foner, Philip S. History of Black Americans: From the Compromise of 1850 to the End of the Civil War, pages 151-152. Greenwood Press, 1983. She then traveled to Ohio, where, with her daughter Anna, she taught in a school founded for African-American children in Cincinnati and Toledo, Ohio.
By 1856, she returned to Michigan, having raised sufficient funds to reopen the Raisin Institute. The new curriculum included lectures by former slaves about life on a slave plantation. In 1864, the Institute closed again after many in the staff and some students enlisted to fight in the Civil War.
Work for the Underground Railroad During the 1830s, the Haviland family began hiding runaway enslaved people on their farm. Their home became the first Underground Railroad station established in Michigan. After her husband's death, Haviland continued to shelter fugitive enslaved human beings in her home, in some cases personally escorting them to Canada. She played an important role in the Detroit branch of the group, where she was considered railroad "superintendent", with George DeBaptiste the "president" and William Lambert the "vice president" or "secretary".Tobin, Jacqueline L. From Midnight to Dawn: The Last Tracks of the Underground Railroad. Anchor, 2008. Pp200-209
She also traveled to the South on multiple occasions to aid escaped enslaved people. Her first trip was made in 1846, in an effort to free the children of fugitive enslaved humans Willis and Elsie Hamilton. The children were still in the possession of their mother's former enslaver, John P. Chester, a tavern-keeper in Washington County, Tennessee.1850 United States Census. The 4th Subdivision, Washington Co., TN, Page 113A.
Chester had learned of the Hamilton's whereabouts and sent slave-catchers after them. When that failed, Chester attempted to lure the Hamiltons to his plantation with the promise that they would be treated as freedmen and reunited with their children. Suspecting a trap, Haviland went to Tennessee in their place, accompanied by her son Daniel and a student from the Raisin Institute, James Martin, who posed as Willis Hamilton. Mr. Chester became irate once he realized Willis Hamilton was not with Mrs. Haviland. He held the trio at gunpoint, threatening to murder them, kidnap James Martin, and enslave him in Willis Hamilton's stead. They managed to escape, but Mr. Chester did not forget Laura Haviland. His family would continue to haunt her for fifteen years, pursuing her legally in court and privately with slave catchers, while barraging her with derogatory letters. The following letter was sent by Chester's son, Thomas K. Chester, in February 1847. It provides a good example of the tone which permeated the Chester family's correspondence with Haviland:
Haviland responded, sarcastically thanking him for naming the child after her family and stating that she hoped "like Moses, may he become instrumental in leading his people away from a worse bondage than that of Egypt." Enraged by what he deemed her insolence, Thomas Chester placed a bounty on Haviland's head. All throughout the South he circulated "hand-bills" (fliers) describing Mrs. Haviland, detailing her abolitionist work, naming her place of residence and offering $3,000, a considerable sum at the time, to anyone willing to kidnap or murder her on his behalf.
Three years later, after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, the Chester family attempted to have Haviland tried under the new statute for "stealing" their slaves. Haviland not only ran the risk of being physically harmed by angry slave-owners, like the Chesters, or their slave-catchers, if found guilty of violating the Fugitive Slave Law she would also be subject to hefty fines and imprisonment. Still, Haviland was determined to continue with her work, no matter what the personal cost: