Abigail Hopper Gibbons - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Abigail Hopper was born in Philadelphia in 1801, the third of ten children. She was informally called Abby. Her father, Isaac Tatem Hopper, was of the Hicksite branch of Quakers.

He became an active and leading member of The Pennsylvania Abolition Society. He often directly confronted slave kidnappers, who frequented Philadelphia and sometimes kidnapped free blacks for sale into slavery, as well as capturing fugitive slaves to gain bounties. Called upon to protect the rights of African Americans, the Hoppers garnered a reputation as friends and advisers of the "oppressed race" in all emergencies.

The Hoppers also sheltered many poor Quakers in their house, despite their own family's large size and the father's unstable financial status. The children early on were called to aid others.

Hopper served as an overseer of the Negro School at Philadelphia, founded by Anthony Benezet, a Quaker educator and abolitionist who supported education of African-American children. He also was a volunteer teacher in a free school for African-American adults.

Abigail grew up to share her parents' abolitionist sentiments. As a young woman, she taught school for several years in Philadelphia before her marriage and move to New York. She directed Quaker schools both before and after her marriage.