People/Characters Delia Webster

People/Characters by cover

Works (1)

Titles	Order
Lewis Hayden and the War Against Slavery by Joel Strangis

Character description

Description

Delia Ann Webster (December 17, 1817 – January 18, 1904) was an American teacher, author, businesswoman and abolitionist in Kentucky who, with Calvin Fairbank, aided many slaves, including Lewis Hayden, his wife Harriet, and their son Joseph to escape to Ohio (and then to Canada). She was convicted and sentenced to two years in the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Frankfort for aiding the Haydens' escape, but pardoned after two months.

In 1854, Webster bought a farm along the Ohio River in Trimble County, Kentucky with the financial help of Boston abolitionists, and operated it as a station on the Underground Railroad. She was arrested a second time for her efforts to aid fugitive slaves, but the trial was discharged. Soon after, her home and farm were vandalized and subject to arson. Unable to pay for its expenses and her loan, she lost it to creditors. She then moved to Indiana.

In 1996, she was honored as one of the Kentucky Women Remembered. A watercolor hangs in her honor in the Kentucky Capitol Building in their exhibit.

Related places

Kentucky, USA

Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Related events

Abolitionist Movement

Underground Railroad

Helpers

PuddinTame (8)

Verdana Standard Verdana Small The Lorax System Standard System Large Georgia Large Text Atkinson

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