Passionate Abolitionist and
Witness to the American Civil War
Passionate Abolitionist and
Witness to the American Civil War
Although the writer of the following two letters used a pseudonym “One who has been an English Tenant” instead of his full name, there is every reason to think that it was “our” Thomas Jackson. The census of the city showed there were very few residents from England at that time and It is clear TJ that by then, had established himself as an active editorial letter writer on the side of abolition.
TJ’s communication is in type, and will appear next week.
This is a fascinating and most important document. First it gives the initials of the local Reading author who in his letter as published later signs himself only as a pseudonym “ONE WHO HAS BEEN AN ENGLISH TENANT”.
Second, it may suggest that TJ was already known to the local Reading citizens as a writer of strongly worded letters to the editor favpring abolition. If that were the case, we might hope to find other earlier letters from TJ in the pages of the Reading Gazette.
This item is from the collections of the Berks History Center, Reading, PA.