{"id":110020,"date":"2026-08-12T10:12:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/?p=110020"},"modified":"2026-08-12T10:20:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:20:32","slug":"the-remonds-of-salem-african-american-abolitionists-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/the-remonds-of-salem-african-american-abolitionists-part-1.html","title":{"rendered":"The Remonds of Salem: African American Abolitionists (part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry begins telling the history and genealogy of the Remonds family, African American abolitionists in Salem, Massachusetts. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pioneer abolitionist and journalist William Lloyd Garrison (1804\u20131879) of Newburyport, Massachusetts, inspired a generation of reformers committed to ending slavery.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: (from left to right) abolitionists Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, and George Thompson. Credit: Digital Commonwealth. (AI enhanced)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Garrison\u2019s weekly newspaper, Liberator<\/em>, became a platform for many abolitionists for over a century.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: masthead of William Lloyd Garrison\u2019s newspaper \u201cLiberator.\u201d Credit: Digital Commonwealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As Garrisonian satellite groups spread in the fight for social equality, opponents filled editorial pages with attacks, dismissing Garrisonians as \u201ca farce\u201d and calling them followers of the \u201chot-headed ravings of an insane man.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opposition soon turned violent. Here is an illustration entitled \u201cDownfall of Abolition Depicting the Anti-Garrison Riot Which Occurred in Boston on October 21, 1835.\u201d It shows the rioters removing the sign from the Anti-Slavery Office and condemning the abolitionists. Read more from the National Park Service article \u201cThe Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: \u201cDownfall of Abolition.\u201d Credit: Digital Commonwealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That day, an angry mob attacked William Lloyd Garrison \u2013 but rather than extinguish the anti-slavery movement, the violence only fueled its fire and resolve.<\/p>\n

Among the justice warriors who answered the call was the Remond family of Salem, Massachusetts, starting with John Remond (1786-1874) and his wife Nancy (Lenox) Remond (1787-1867). Following in their footsteps as abolitionists were two of their children, Charles Lenox Remond (1810-1873) and Dr. Sarah Parker Remond (1826-1894), both born at Hamilton Hall in Salem.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:
Photos: Nancy and John Remond. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. (AI enhanced)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a little background on the early history of the Remond family in Salem.<\/p>\n

According to the Massachusetts Historical Society, John Remond arrived in Salem in 1798 as an unaccompanied ten-year-old immigrant from Curacao in the West Indies.<\/p>\n

In Salem he had a long and successful career as a caterer, \u201crestaurateur,\u201d and business entrepreneur, which included dealing in fine wines and liqueurs. When he died his cellar was stocked with some of the finest rare wines around.<\/p>\n

Much of his business was operated from Hamilton Hall, located on Chestnut Street in Salem. It was designed by Samuel McIntire, built in 1805, and named in honor of Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury, who had visited Salem.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Hamilton Hall, Salem, Massachusetts. Credit: Digital Commonwealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Remonds catered dinners, balls, cotillions, and special town events for Salem\u2019s leading families, dignitaries, and military guests.<\/p>\n

Here is a news clip from 1825 about the Salem Light Infantry\u2019s anniversary celebration which John Remond hosted at Hamilton Hall.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Salem Gazette (Salem, Massachusetts), 11 November 1825, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reports:<\/p>\n

In the evening, the corps, with a large number of gentlemen, formerly members of it, and other invited guests, sat down to a supper in Hamilton Hall, served in the first style of elegance and good taste by Mr. Remond, who has really become illustrious in the art, and who richly deserves the encouragement of the public for his enterprise and unwearied exertions to please.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 1852 an upgrade to Hamilton Hall was announced in the Salem Observer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Salem Observer (Salem, Massachusetts), 4 September 1852, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reports:<\/p>\n

Hamilton Hall. Mr. Remond has been putting the extra \u201cfixings\u201d upon this long-established favorite, until nothing seems left to be desired. What with gas-apparatus, curtains, new carpets, &c., the noble main hall, with its various ante-rooms, and the minor hall for smaller parties, the establishment is now in a condition to accommodate parties, either public or private, in the most elegant style.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The following advertisement promotes John Remond\u2019s Oyster Saloon in Higginson Square in Salem, operated by his business partner and son-in-law James Lyna Shearman (1810-1866), son of Charles Shearman and Elizabeth (Lyna) Shearman. James married another of John\u2019s daughters, Nancy Remond (1809-1878). Church records on the family can be found at the Newport Historical Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Essex County Freeman (Salem, Massachusetts), 11 January 1851, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

John\u2019s wife, Nancy (Lenox) Remond, an accomplished pastry cook and baker, is the daughter of Revolutionary War veteran Cornelius Lenox and his wife Susannah (Toney) Lenox.<\/p>\n

Below is an advertisement for Mrs. Nancy Remond\u2019s bakery goods, published in the Salem Register<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Salem Register (Salem, Massachusetts), 3 April 1851, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To learn more on the Remonds\u2019 business enterprises, you can view several records, receipts, letters, and advertisements from the collection housed at PEM Remond Family Papers, Peabody Essex Library<\/a>. Some were preserved and gifted by descendant Cecilia R. Babcock on 22 June 1915.<\/p>\n

Cecilia, another daughter of John Remond and Nancy (Lenox) Remond, married Charles Babcock.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Cecilia (Remond) Babcock. Credit: Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Below is clip from Garrison\u2019s newspaper Liberator<\/em>, announcing John Remond\u2019s membership to the New England Anti-Slavery Society.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Liberator (Boston, Massachusetts), 23 November 1833, page 187<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reports:<\/p>\n

More Life Members. Samuel E. Sewall, Esq., of this city, Dr. Ingalls Kittredge of Beverly, and Mr. John Remond of Salem, have constituted themselves Life Members of the New-England Ant-Slavery Society by the payment of $15 (about $495 today); and through the kindness and liberality of the \u201cGarrison Society\u201d of Boston, (composed entirely of colored females), the names of the publishers of the Liberator have been enrolled upon the list of Life Members of this Society.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

John and Nancy\u2019s son Charles Lenox Raymond was an agent and writer for Garrison\u2019s newspaper.<\/p>\n

For more history on the family, see: \u201cThe Remonds of Salem, Massachusetts: A Nineteenth-Century Family Revisited<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be continued\u2026<\/p>\n

Explore your family history by creating your free account<\/a> at GenealogyBank for 7 days, because every life deserves to be remembered, recorded, and rediscovered.<\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> masthead of William Lloyd Garrison\u2019s newspaper \u201cLiberator.\u201d Credit: Digital Commonwealth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melissa Davenport Berry begins telling the history and genealogy of the Remond family, African American abolitionists in Salem, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":110055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12323],"tags":[6454,20527,59344,59343,33],"class_list":["post-110020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-african-american-history-genealogy","tag-abolitionists","tag-african-american-history-and-genealogy","tag-john-remond","tag-remond","tag-slavery"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/photo-0812-2026-featured-graphic-liberator-masthead.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110020"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110059,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110020\/revisions\/110059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}