Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823 - 1911)

Born 22 Dec 1823 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Elizabeth (Channing) Higginson — married 20 Sep 1847 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Husband of Mary Potter (Thacher) Higginson — married 6 Feb 1879 in West Newton, Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Died 9 May 1911 at age 87 in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States

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Thomas Higginson was a part of the Abolitionist Movement.

Biography

Thomas Wentworth Higginson was born in 1823 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was the child of Louisa Wentworth Storrow and Stephen Higginson, and a descendant of Magna Carta Surety Baron Saher de Quincy through his ancestor Edward Bulkeley.

He held very progressive views for his time. After the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850, he joined the Boston Vigilance Committee to help escaping slaves. During the American Civil War, he served as a white commissioned officer with the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry, one of the first regiments in the US Army made up entirely of black men.

Together with George Luther Stearns, Higginson was one of John Brown's "secret six" benefactors. He had also been in the forefront of those who tried to batter their way into the Boston courthouse in an unsuccessful attempt to liberate captured runaway^[1] Anthony Burns, and he still carried a saber scar on his chin for the effort.^[2]

He is known for having discovered and encouraged the poet Emily Dickinson with whom he corresponded for 25 years. He was an author himself, and published Army Life in a Black Regiment in 1869.

Occupations

• 1880: Author
• 1850: Congregational Clergyman

Residences

• 1880: 20 Ware, Cambridge, Massachusetts with his wife Mary Potter Thacher and 28-year-old English immigrant servant Mary A. Davis
• 1850: Newbury, Massachusetts with his wife Mary Elizabeth Channing, 63-year-old Margaret Curson, 16-year-old Bridget Lynch, 31-year-old George L. Curson, 25 year-old Mary R. Curson, and 22-year-old Margaret S. Curson

Military Service

During the Civil War, he served as a white commissioned officer - Colonel - of the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry which later became the 33rd United States Colored Troops (USCT.)

He was the uncle of Lieutenant Francis Lee Higginson of the famous 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and their regiments fought together for a time in the Department of the South.

Race

• 1880: White
• 1850: Unspecified

Research Notes

EDITOR, WRITER, CRITIC, REFORMER

PASTOR OF THE FIRST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF NEWBURYPORT, MA

ADVOCATE FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Thomas Wentworth Higginson was the minister at the wedding of Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell.

Marriage 1 Mary Elizabeth Channing b: 4 JUL 1820 in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA Married: 20 SEP 1847 in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA

Marriage 2 Mary Potter Thacher b: 26 NOV 1844 in Machias, Washington Co., ME Married: 6 FEB 1879 in West Newton, Middlesex Co., MA

Sources

1. ↑ using "freedom seeker" instead of "runaway" is a great way to center the experience of enslaved black people over white enslavers
2. ↑ #Egerton, p. 99

• 1850 United States Federal Census Year: 1850; Census Place: Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts; Roll: M432_313; Page: 332A; Image: 176
• 1880 United States Federal Census Year: 1880; Census Place: Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts; Roll: 543; Page: 240A; Enumeration District: 428
• Egerton, Douglas R. Thunder at the Gates: The Black Civil War Regiments That Redeemed America. New York: Basic Books, 2016. pp. 90; 99-101; 111; 113; 169; 202; 337; 340.
• Higginson, Thomas Wentworth. Army Life in a Black Regiment. Digitized by Project Gutenberg in 2009. 1869 (1st ed.), 1900 (2nd ed.)
• Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. "Col. T. W. Higginson, commander of the 1st SC Volunteers (the first African American regiment)", Photograph by William Notman.
• Rootsweb: The Ancestry of Overmire Tifft Richardson Bradford Reed
• * Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
  Find A Grave: Memorial #4841 (accessed 29 January 2024)
  Memorial page for COL Thomas Wentworth Storrow Higginson (22 Dec 1823-9 May 1911), citing Cambridge Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA (plot: Prospect Avenue, Lot 1207D); Maintained by Find a Grave.