Site of Henry L. W. Thacker House

The site of Henry Thacker's house at 5 Phillips Street (formerly Southac Street).

NPS Photo/Pollock

Quick Facts

Location:

5 Phillips Street (formerly Southac Street)

Significance:

Underground Railroad Site

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

MANAGED BY:

Private Residence

Though not the original structure, 5 Southac Street (now Phillips Street) served as the home of Henry L. W. Thacker for nearly four decades.¹

In 1847, Thacker aided freedom seekers George and Lizzie Lewis. While escaping enslavement, George and Lizzie had to separate in Baltimore, Maryland. Lizzie came to Boston and stayed at Thacker's home, while George went to New York. Abolitionists in Boston and New York shared information that led their reunion on Southac Street. According to Austin Bearse in his memoir Reminisces of the Fugitive Slave Law Days, "When we reached Boston, Mr. Wallcutt took us to Southac Street, and while we were looking for the number of the house, I heard someone say, 'Well, there’s father!' We turned to look, and it was indeed Lizzie calling 'Father!'"²

This selection sheds light on how Mr. Thacker assisted and boarded freedom seekers. (Credit: Austin Bearse, "Reminiscences of Fugitive-slave Law Days in Boston," 1880)

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), 92.
2. Austin Bearse, Reminisces of the Fugitive Slave Law Days (Warren Richardson, 1880), 12. Archive.org