Chapman, Maria Weston

Chapman, Maria Weston, 1806–85, American abolitionist, b. Weymouth, Mass. In 1834 she became a close associate of William Lloyd Garrison, helped organize the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, and for several years was treasurer of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. She edited (1877) the autobiography of her friend Harriet Martineau.

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Chapman, Maria Weston

 orig. Maria Weston

(born July 25, 1806, Weymouth, Mass., U.S.—died July 12, 1885, Weymouth) U.S. abolitionist. She was principal of the Young Ladies' High School in Boston from 1828 to 1830, when she married Henry Chapman, a Boston merchant. In 1832, with 12 other women, she founded the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. Later she became chief assistant to William Lloyd Garrison, helping him to run the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and to edit The Liberator, a widely circulated abolitionist publication. In 1839 she published a pamphlet arguing that the divisions among abolitionists stemmed from their disagreements over women's rights.