Last updated: November 19, 2025
Person
George Minot
Quick Facts
Significance:
Boston Vigilance Committee member, Lawyer
Place of Birth:
Haverhill, Massachusetts
Date of Birth:
January 5, 1817
Place of Death:
Reading, Massachusetts
Date of Death:
April 15, 1858
Place of Burial:
Reading, Massachusetts
Cemetery Name:
Laurel Hill Cemetery
“[A]lways an earnest abolitionist,”1 George Minot served as a member of the 1850 Boston Vigilance Committee.
Born in Haverhill, Massachusetts to parents Stephen and Rebecca (Trask) Minot in 1817, George Minot attended Harvard College and later, its law school. Upon graduation, Minot worked in Boston in the office of Rufus Choate, a prominent Massachusetts lawyer and politician.2
Like both his father and sister Harriet, Minot advocated for the antislavery cause in Massachusetts. Following the passage of a new Fugitive Slave Law in 1850, Minot joined the Boston Vigilance Committee. The organization assisted freedom seekers coming to Boston after escaping slavery, providing them with shelter, clothing, transportation, and other aid.3
Minot provided legal and monetary support for the organization. In 1850, Minot, along with Charles Sumner, Samuel Sewall, Richard Henry Dana Jr., and John C. Park, served on a legal committee to provide any assistance that may be needed for freedom seekers Ellen and William Craft in the face of the new Fugitive Slave Law. Additionally, in 1855, he donated five dollars to the Vigilance Committee’s efforts.4
Dedicated to the legal profession, Minot also contributed to and edited various judicial digests and publications. Additionally, he served as the solicitor of the Boston and Maine Railroad. However, on April 16, 1858, Minot passed away at only 41 years old. His remains are interred in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Reading, Massachusetts.5
Footnotes
- “George Minot,” in Memorial Biographies of New England Historic Genealogical Society, Volume 3, (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1883 ) 214-216, Memorial Biographies of New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1853-1855 - New England Historic Genealogical Society - Google Books.
- History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, (Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1888), 2069, History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men : Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive; Boston Recorder, April 8, 1847, 55.
- "Members of the Committee of Vigilance," broadside printed by John Wilson, 1850, Massachusetts Historical Society; “George Minot,” in Memorial Biographies of New England Historic Genealogical Society, Volume 3, (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1883 ) 214-216; “New-England A.S. Convention,” The Liberator, June 23, 1843, 3.
- "Counsel For Fugitives,” Boston Evening Transcript, Wednesday October 30, 1850, 2; 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, 43.
- History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, (Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1888), 2069; “George Minot,” in Memorial Biographies of New England Historic Genealogical Society, Volume 3, (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1883) 214-216.