John Woolman and his accomplishments on the abolishment of slavery

John Woolman was born in 1720 on the family farm on Rancocas Creek in New Jersey. 'He went to school with the other Quaker children and with Indian children in a schoolhouse twenty feet square.' ( Pamphlet printed several decades ago by the religious Education Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting} 'John Woolman had finished his schooling and had worked for several years on the family farm, found a place clerking in a little store in Mount Holly. He also learned the tailor's craft. He did think of studying law but decided to remain a clerk and a tailor. Since he was a good and careful writer, he was often asked to draw up important documents for his employer and others.' ( Pamphlet ' ' Philadelphia Yearly Meeting)

John Woolman , soon found that his religious beliefs, would not allow him to write a bill of sale for a slave.

English: The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers...

Woolmans Garden Centre, Solihull Road, Shirley - E...

Woolman Rink

'On the first occasion this happened, John did write the bill of sale, since the slave was going to an elderly Friend who would treat her kindly. He told the seller and Friend that he felt they were following a practice 'inconsistent with the Christian religion.' ( Pamphlet ' ' Philadelphia Yearly Meeting) . Woolman wrote in his _Journal_, 'a neighbor received a bad bruise on his body and sent for me to bleed him, which having done he desired me to write his will. I took notes, and among other things he told me to which of his children he gave his young Negro. I considered the pain and distress he was in and knew not how it would end, so I wrote his will save only that part concerning his slave, and, carrying it to his bedside, read it to him. I then told him...