John J. May

May, before a bust of his father Samuel

New England Historical and Genealogical Register

Quick Facts

Significance:

Boston Vigilance Committee Member, Merchant

Place of Birth:

Boston, Massachusetts

Date of Birth:

October 15, 1813

Place of Death:

Boston, Massachusetts

Date of Death:

May 25, 1903

Place of Burial:

Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

Cemetery Name:

Forest Hills Cemetery

“[E]minent for his public spirit and personal worth,”¹ John Joseph May supported the abolitionist movement in Boston and served as a member of the 1850 Boston Vigilance Committee.

Born in 1813 to parents Samuel and Mary (Goddard) May, John Joseph May grew up in Boston. Instead of pursuing a college education, May became a partner in his father’s hardware business. May married Caroline Danforth in 1837.²

May’s mother Mary, a staunch abolitionist and friend of Lydia Maria Child, William Lloyd Garrison, and Maria Weston Chapman, fostered a significant antislavery sentiment in her family. Alongside his siblings Samuel, Frederick, Mary, and Abby, John May committed himself to the abolitionist cause while living and working in Boston.³

Following the passage of a new Fugitive Slave Law, May joined the 1850 Boston Vigilance Committee. The organization aided those seeking freedom from slavery as they came to Boston on the Underground Railroad. May donated funds to the committee on multiple occasions to support its efforts.⁴

In 1854, after the arrest of freedom seeker Anthony Burns in Boston, May turned out to protest Burns’ return to slavery at the hands of federal authorities. He watched as authorities marched Burns down to Long Wharf from outside his family business:

His greatest activity was during the days of the anti-slavery conflict, for like the other members of his family he was a firm and uncompromising Abolitionist. It is related of him that when the fugitive slave Burns was marched down State street on his way back to captivity he hung a United States flag, union down, from the window of his office, and stood with weapon in hand ready to defend it against the mob.⁵

Additionally, May aided the Union cause during the Civil War. For instance, he personally contributed the funds to equip the Dorchester company of the Massachusetts 42^nd Regiment.⁶

John J. May passed away on May 25, 1903, in Boston, Massachusetts. He is buried in a family plot in the Forest Hills Cemetery.⁷
 

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Footnotes

1. “In Memoriam,” The Woman’s Journal, June 11, 1904, 189.
2. “Death of John J. May,” Boston Evening Transcript, May 26, 1903, 9.
3. “Mary Goddard May,” Find a Grave, Mary Goddard May (1787-1882) - Find a Grave Memorial; “In Memoriam,” The Woman’s Journal, June 11, 1904, 189.
4. May is mapped at the location of his family's business, the corner of State and Broad Streets, given by the Vigilance Committee. "Members of the Committee of Vigilance," broadside printed by John Wilson, 1850, Massachusetts Historical Society; 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, 63, 87.
5. “Death of John J. May,” Boston Evening Transcript, May 26, 1903, 9.
6. New England Genealogical Register, (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1904), 110-115, The New England historical and genealogical register : Waters, Henry F. (Henry Fitz-Gilbert), 1833-1913 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.
7. “Death of John J. May,” Boston Evening Transcript, May 26, 1903, 9; “John Joseph May,” Find A Grave, John Joseph May (1813-1903) - Find a Grave Memorial.