From the earliest settlement at Germantown, and especially in the period following the Revolutionary War, there were many thoughtful people in all walks of life who considered slavery to be an evil which should be stopped. But the question of actually freeing the slaves was first seriously brought forward in 1831, by William Lloyd Garrison, in his excellent paper, “The Liberator,” published in Boston. Seventy-five delegates met in Philadelphia in 1833 to form a National Anti-Slavery Society. It was unpopular in those stirring days to be an abolitionist. John Greenleaf Whittier acted as one of the secretaries, and four women, all Quakers, attended the convention. When the platform of this new society was being discussed, one of the four women rose to speak. A gentleman present afterward said: “I had never before heard a woman speak at a public meeting. She said only a few words, but these were spoken so modestly, in such sweet tones and yet so decisively, that no one could fail to be pleased.” The woman who spoke was Lucretia Mott. Lucretia Coffin was born in Nantucket January 3, 1793. In 1804 her parents, who were Quakers, removed to Boston. She was soon afterward sent to the Nine Partners’ Boarding School in Duchess County, N. Y., where her teacher (Deborah Willetts) lived until 1879. Thence she went to Philadelphia, where her parents were residing. At the age of eighteen years she married James Mott. In 1818 she became a preacher among Friends, and all her long life she labored for the good of her fellow creatures, especially for those who were in bonds of any kind. She was ever a most earnest advocate of temperance, pleaded for the freedom of the slaves, and was one of the active founders of the “American Anti-Slavery Society” in Philadelphia in 1833. She was appointed a delegate to the World’s Anti-Slavery convention, held in London in 1840, but was denied a seat in it on account of her sex. She also was a very prominent advocate of the emancipation of her sex from the disabilities to which law and custom subjected them. When the Female Anti-Slavery Society was organized Lucretia Mott was its first president and served in that office for many years. The anti-slavery enthusiasts dedicated a building, Pennsylvania Hall, in Philadelphia, May 14, 1838, which excited the rage of their enemies and the mob burned the building three days later. The excited crowd marched through the streets, threatening also to burn the houses of the abolitionists. The home of Mr. and Mrs. James Mott stood on Ninth Street above Race. Lucretia Mott and her husband were warned of their danger, but refused to leave their home. Their son ran in from the street, crying, “They’re coming!” The mob intended to burn the house, but a young man friendly to the family assumed leadership and with the cry “On to Motts!” led them past the place and the mob satisfied its thirst by burning a home for colored orphans, and did not return.