James Mott
Encyclopedia
James Mott was a Quaker leader, teacher, and merchant as well as an activist for anti-slavery and women's rights. He was born in Cowneck in North Hempstead on Long Island, to a Quaker family. James taught for two years at the Nine Partners Boarding School
Nine Partners Meeting House and Cemetery
The Nine Partners Meeting House and Cemetery is located at the junction of NY state highway 343 and Church Street, in the village of Millbrook, New York, United States...

 in Millbrook, New York
Millbrook, New York
Millbrook is a village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is often said to be a "low-key version of the Hamptons" and one of the wealthiest towns in New York State. Millbrook's estimated town population was 1,551 in 2008. Millbrook is located in the Hudson Valley, an hour and thirty...

 where his father was the superintendent.

He married Lucretia Coffin
Lucretia Mott
Lucretia Coffin Mott was an American Quaker, abolitionist, social reformer, and proponent of women's rights.- Early life and education:...

 on 10 April 1811 where she had been a student and later a teacher's aid. They had six children, five of which lived to adulthood, four daughters and a son. James then began work as a partner in Lucretia's father's nail business in Philadelphia. In 1822 he became a textile merchant dealing in cotton. When his family became members of the Hicksite Quakers, who were against slavery, James switched his business endeavors to woolen textiles which were then free of slave labor.

James was an active abolitionist, and assisted his wife with many events and conventions to establishment of free produce stores which resulted in the Philadelphia Free Produce Society. In 1833, he co-founded the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society
Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society
The Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society was established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by James and Lucretia Mott in 1833.At the time, Pennsylvania was an openly racist state, withdrawing blacks' voting rights in 1838....

 with Lucretia.

Mott's sister, Abigail Lydia Mott, and brother-in-law, Lindley Murray Moore
Lindley Murray Moore
Lindley Murray Moore is notable for his activities as an abolitionist, and educator....

 were instrumental in founding the Rochester Anti-Slavery Society in 1838.

James chaired the first Women's Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, NY
Seneca Falls (village), New York
Seneca Falls is a village in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 6,861 at the 2000 census. The village is in the Town of Seneca Falls, east of Geneva, New York. On March 16, 2010, village residents voted to dissolve the village, a move that would take effect at the end of 2011...

 in 1848 on July 19 and 20 at which his wife was a speaker.

His brother, Richard Mott
Richard Mott
Richard Mott was mayor of Toledo, Ohio, and a U.S. Representative from Ohio.-Biography:Born to Quaker parents in Mamaroneck, New York, Mott attended a Quaker boarding school and seminary in Dutchess County, New York. In 1815, he moved with his parents to New York City, in 1818 became a clerk in a...

, was elected as an Opposition Party
Opposition Party (United States)
The Opposition Party in the United States is a label with two different applications in Congressional history, as a majority party in Congress 1854-58, and as a Third Party in the South 1858-1860....

 candidate to the Thirty-fourth
34th United States Congress
The Thirty-fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1855 to March 4, 1857, during the last two years...

 and reelected as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 to the Thirty-fifth
35th United States Congress
The 35th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1857 to March 3, 1859, during the first two years of James...

 Congresses (March 4, 1855 - March 3, 1859)

In 1864, James helped start Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....

in Pennsylvania. He died of pneumonia in Brooklyn, NY in 1868.

Further reading

  • "Mott, James." Dictionary of American Biography. Vol. 1, Charles Scribner's Sons. 1928.
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