Last updated: February 28, 2022
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Harriet Tubman's Boston: 1862
The following article is part of a series exploring Harriet Tubman's deep connections to Boston, highlighting several key moments, people, and places that illustrate her long relationship with the city and its community. To learn more, visit Harriet Tubman's Boston.
"Church of the Fugitive Slaves in Boston," from Anthony Burns: A History by Charles E. Stevens, 1856.
"The Fugitive Slave's Church."
Twelfth Baptist Church, Southac (Phillips) Street
In the early 1860s, Tubman again visited Boston seeking financial support for her variety of causes and needs. For example, in 1861, the Pine and Palm reported that:
Mother Moses has been in Boston for a week for the purpose of devising methods for protecting the interests of the fugitives in Canada. She wishes to raise $25.00 for the purpose of incorporating the St. Catharine's Fugitive Aid Society.
Imposters often collected money and clothing for freedom seekers and instead kept it for themselves. Tubman intended for this aid society to combat this threat and make sure the funds and supplies went to those in need.1
In 1862, Tubman attended a meeting in her honor at the Twelfth Baptist Church. Known as "The Fugitive Slave's Church," Twelfth Baptist on Beacon Hill had deep ties to the Underground Railroad under the leadership of its minister, Reverend Leonard Grimes. According to the Liberator:
addresses were delivered by several gentlemen, and also by the Beneficiary herself. A donation festival took place immediately after in the vestry, the pecuniary result of which was not large... It is, however, hoped that on some future occasion a testimonial will be tendered, more in keeping with their appreciation of her services in the cause of emancipation.2