81-83 Phillips Street

This historic building was owned by John Taylor, William Manix, and John Rock.

NPS Photo/Pollock

Quick Facts

Location:

81-83 Phillips Street

Significance:

Site of a former boardinghouse with ties to the Underground Railroad.

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

MANAGED BY:

Private Residence

Though not the original structure, this is the site of a former boardinghouse with significant ties to the Underground Railroad.¹

John R. Taylor, a mariner, operated the boardinghouse at 81 Southac (now Phillips) Street between 1849 and 1855. Account Book of Francis Jackson, Treasurer The Vigilance Committee of Boston indicate that Taylor housed fugitives Henry Long and a man simply known as Jones here in 1850.

By 1855, William Manix, likely a fugitive himself, had begun running a boardinghouse at 83 Southac Street. Between August 1855 and December 1856, the Boston Vigilance Committee reimbursed him for boarding twelve fugitives. Jane Johnson, famous for her brazen escape from John Hill Wheeler, the U.S. Minister to Nicaragua, and her two sons boarded at Manix’s house.

Another prominent community leader, Dr. John S. Rock later lived at 83 Southac Street and provided medical services to freedom seekers in Boston.²

The Account Book lists William Manix on the top line. (Dr. Irving H. Bartlett collection)

Footnotes

1. Kathryn Grover and Janine V. Da Silva, "Historic Resource Study: Boston African American National Historic Site," Boston African American National Historic Site, (2002), 101-104.
2. Grover and Da Silva, "Historic Resource Study: Boston African American National Historic Site," 101-104.