Helen Corson Hovenden

The [[Fugitive Slave Act of 1850]] increased the penalties for giving assistance to someone escaping enslavement to six months in federal prison and a $1,000 fine. George and Martha Maulsby Corson were involved in hiding [[Jane Johnson (slave)|Jane Johnson]], whose 1855 escape to freedom exposed a [[loophole]] in the federal law.Phil Lapsansky, [http://www.librarycompany.org/JaneJohnson/ "The Liberation of Jane Johnson,"] The Library Company of Philadelphia, 2003. Following a nationally-publicized victory in federal court in Philadelphia, Johnson was hidden at the Corsons' house in Plymouth Meeting to prevent pro-slavery activists from abducting her and returning her to bondage.{{efn|"The following night, in a close carriage, she [Johnson] was brought to the house of George Corson, at Plymouth Meeting, where for a few days in privacy, she received the kind ministrations of Martha Maulsby Corson, wife of George, and one of the earliest and most devoted of the abolitionists of the region."Hiram Corson, M.D. "The case of Jane Johnson and her boys of seven and eleven years," ''The Abolitionists of Montgomery County'', (Norristown, PA: Historical Society of Montgomery County, 1900), p. 26.[https://books.google.com/books?id=6RkVAAAAYAAJ&q=jane+johnson&pg=PA29] }}

The [[Fugitive Slave Act of 1850]] increased the penalties for giving assistance to someone escaping enslavement to six months in federal prison and a $1,000 fine. George and Martha Maulsby Corson were involved in hiding [[Jane Johnson (slave)|Jane Johnson]], whose 1855 escape to freedom exposed a [[loophole]] in the federal law.Phil Lapsansky, [http://www.librarycompany.org/JaneJohnson/ "The Liberation of Jane Johnson,"] The Library Company of Philadelphia, 2003. Following a nationally-publicized victory in federal court in Philadelphia, Johnson was hidden at the Corsons' house in Plymouth Meeting to prevent pro-slavery activists from abducting her and returning her to bondage.{{efn|"The following night, in a close carriage, she [Johnson] was brought to the house of George Corson, at Plymouth Meeting, where for a few days in privacy, she received the kind ministrations of Martha Maulsby Corson, wife of George, and one of the earliest and most devoted of the abolitionists of the region."Hiram Corson, M.D. "The case of Jane Johnson and her boys of seven and eleven years," ''The Abolitionists of Montgomery County'', (Norristown, PA: Historical Society of Montgomery County, 1900), p. 26.[https://books.google.com/books?id=6RkVAAAAYAAJ&q=jane+johnson&pg=PA29] }}

The meetinghouse had allowed the Anti-Slavery Society to use its building for lectures for twenty-five years, but that permission was denied in 1856.{{efn|“Permission was revoked after the burning of an area church that had hosted abolitionist speakers.”Kimberly Haas, [https://hiddencityphila.org/2021/05/underground-railroad-site-saved-from-development/ "Underground Railroad Site Saved from Development,"] ''Hidden City: Exploring Philadelphia’s Urban Landscape'', May 3, 2021.}} George Corson responded by building [[Hovenden House, Barn and Abolition Hall|Abolition Hall]] above his coach house and stable, his own lecture hall and meeting place.{{efn|George Corson determined to build a hall, over which he could have control. He made quite a large one and furnished it well with seats, warmed and lighted at his own expense. And now we can see how convenient it was for the lecturers to make his house their temporary home. As time wore on more and more neighbors and friends were attracted to the meetings to hear the eloquent and earnest men and women who pictured the atrocities of slavery.Theodore Weber Bean, [https://books.google.com/books?id=3U88AAAAIAAJ&dq=helen+corson+artist&pg=PA1037 "The Corson Family,"] ''History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Volume 2'', (Everts & Peck, 1884), pp. 1036-37.}}

The meetinghouse had allowed the Anti-Slavery Society to use its building for lectures for twenty-five years, but that permission was denied in 1856.{{efn|“Permission was revoked after the burning of an area church that had hosted abolitionist speakers.”Kimberly Haas, [https://hiddencityphila.org/2021/05/underground-railroad-site-saved-from-development/ "Underground Railroad Site Saved from Development,"] ''Hidden City: Exploring Philadelphia’s Urban Landscape'', May 3, 2021.}} George Corson responded by building [[Hovenden House, Barn and Abolition Hall|Abolition Hall]] above his coach house and stable, creating his own lecture hall and meeting place.{{efn|George Corson determined to build a hall, over which he could have control. He made quite a large one and furnished it well with seats, warmed and lighted at his own expense. And now we can see how convenient it was for the lecturers to make his house their temporary home. As time wore on more and more neighbors and friends were attracted to the meetings to hear the eloquent and earnest men and women who pictured the atrocities of slavery.Theodore Weber Bean, [https://books.google.com/books?id=3U88AAAAIAAJ&dq=helen+corson+artist&pg=PA1037 "The Corson Family,"] ''History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Volume 2'', (Everts & Peck, 1884), pp. 1036-37.}}

Twenty-five years later, Thomas Hovenden turned Abolition Hall into his studio, and found inspiration in the righteous anti-slavery arguments that had been made there.{{efn|"When Thomas Hovenden, the historic painter, was commissioned to paint a picture of [the radical abolitionist] [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]], he came to the house of George Corson, and the hall at this station of the 'Underground Railroad' became most appropriately the studio in which Mr. Hovenden painted his great picture, ''John Brown Being Led to Execution.''"Clifton S. Hunsicker, ''Montgomery County, Pennsylvania: A History, Volume 2.'' New York and Chicago: (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1923), p. 124.}}

Twenty-five years later, Thomas Hovenden turned Abolition Hall into his studio, and found inspiration in the righteous anti-slavery arguments that had been made there.{{efn|"When Thomas Hovenden, the historic painter, was commissioned to paint a picture of [the radical abolitionist] [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]], he came to the house of George Corson, and the hall at this station of the 'Underground Railroad' became most appropriately the studio in which Mr. Hovenden painted his great picture, ''John Brown Being Led to Execution.''"Clifton S. Hunsicker, ''Montgomery County, Pennsylvania: A History, Volume 2.'' New York and Chicago: (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1923), p. 124.}}