Esther Fussell Lewis (née Fussell; March 18, 1782 – February 8, 1848) was an American Quaker abolitionist, Underground Railroad conductor and station master, farmer, school founder, teacher, and nurse.
Lewis managed her family farm near Kimberton, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
She was a conductor of the north-south line of the Underground Railroad through Pennsylvania.
Early life and education
Esther Fussell was born on March 18, 1782, in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, to Quaker minister Reverend Bartholomew Fussell and Rebekah or Rebecca Bond. She had seven siblings: Bartholomew, Solomon, Rebecca, Joseph, Jacob, Sarah, and William.
Lewis wanted to be a doctor, but found difficulty attaining a professional education due to being a woman.
Lewis would record observations of solar and lunar eclipses and the appearance of comets and meteors, and kept a weather and plant-blooming diary.
Personal life and family
On September 10, 1818, Esther Fussell married John Lewis. They had four children: Elizabeth R. (1824–1863), Graceanna Lewis (1821-1912), Mariann (1819–1866), and Rebecca (1820–1893).
Participation in the Underground Railroad
Lewis taught her children to be abolitionists, as their home was a “station” on the Underground Railroad.
Their home functioned as “a rehabilitation center for fugitives,” and they burned the clothes worn by people who were enslaved on southern plantations. Lewis’s children continued this work after her death.
References
- ^ Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2008). The Underground Railroad : an encyclopedia of people, places, and operations. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. pp. 323–324. ISBN 978-0-7656-8093-8.
- ^ "Collection: Lewis-Fussell Family Papers | Archives & Manuscripts". archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu.
- "Esther Fussell". www.myheritage.com.
- Stroud, Patricia Tyson (February 2013). ""At What do you Think the Ladies will Stop?" Women at the Academy". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 162 (1): 195–206. doi:10.1635/053.162.0116. ISSN 0097-3157. S2CID 191701294.
- Lukens, Rob. "HISTORY'S PEOPLE: GRACEANNA LEWIS - ABOLITIONIST TO NATURAL SCIENTIST". www.chestercohistorical.org. Archived from the original on 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
External links
- Finding Aid for the Lewis-Fussell Family Papers held at Swathmore College Friends Historical Library.
- Memoir of Esther Fussell Lewis, likely written by her daughter, Graceanna Lewis. (A00185757) From the Lewis-Fussell Family Papers SFHL-RG5-087
- Graceanna Lewis letter to Esther Fussell Lewis. (A00179477) From the Lewis-Fussell Family Papers SFHL-RG5-087
- Esther Fussell Lewis writings and letters from the Lewis-Fussell Family papers