Frederick W. G. May

Quick Facts

Significance:

Boston Vigilance Committee member, merchant

Place of Birth:

Boston, Massachusetts

Date of Birth:

December 4, 1821

Place of Death:

Dorchester, Massachusetts

Date of Death:

May 28, 1904

Place of Burial:

Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

Cemetery Name:

Forest Hills Cemetery

Merchant Frederick W. G. May served as a member of the 1850 Boston Vigilance Committee.

Born on December 4, 1821, Frederick Warren Goddard May came of age in Boston as the youngest son of Samuel and Mary (Goddard) May. As a boy, May dreamed of becoming a doctor. However, financial hardships required him to join his father and brother in the family’s business in 1844.¹ 

In Boston, May grew active in the local anti-slavery movement, following in his mother’s footsteps.² Alongside his brothers Samuel and John, Frederick joined the Boston Vigilance Committee in 1850. The Vigilance Committee provided assistance to freedom seekers escaping slavery in the wake of the new Fugitive Slave Law. In 1851, May donated twice to the organization’s efforts, totaling eight dollars. He also donated a substantial sum of fifty dollars with his brother John in 1855.³

May also served as a member of the Independent Corps of Cadets, a Massachusetts volunteer militia. In 1854, the Cadets joined federal troops to facilitate the return of freedom seeker Anthony Burns to slavery. However, as a staunch opponent of the Fugitive Slave Law, May refused to participate in the rendition of Burns—for this, the Cadets expelled May from their ranks.⁴

After retiring from the family business in 1857, May dedicated his time to various trusts and institutions. While he ultimately never attended medical school, his interests focused particularly on public health.⁵ 

For instance, in 1862, May provided instrumental support to Marie Zakrzewska and the founding of the New England Hospital for Women and Children, the first institution of its kind where only women physicians worked in the hospital. The hospital also educated and trained women in medicine and nursing. May supported the hospital as its treasurer for fifteen years and served on the board of directors up until his death.⁶ 

May died in Dorchester on May 28, 1904, and is buried in the Forest Hills Cemetery. May’s obituary, printed in The Woman’s Journal, remembered him and his family: 

This cultured, energetic, high-minded family will be widely missed, and the departure of Mr. F. W. G. May marks a rapid transition to conditions far removed from the old New England which was so worthily preeminent.⁷

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Footnotes

1. The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847), xlvii-xlviii, The New England historical & genealogical register : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. 
2. Ibid.
3. Austin Bearse, Reminiscences of Fugitive Slave Law Days in Boston, (Boston: Warren Richardson, 1880), 4; Francis Jackson, Account Book of Francis Jackson, Treasurer The Vigilance Committee of Boston, Dr. Irving H. Bartlett collection, 1830-1880, W. B. Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives, https://archive.org/details/drirvinghbartlet19bart/page/n3/mode/2up, 45, 75, 85. 
4. The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847), xlvii-xlviii.
5. Ibid.
6. The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847), xlvii-xlviii; Boston Evening Transcript, November 11, 1869, 4.