Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/526

 MOTT

MOTT

1816, and in January, 1817, returned to Philadel- phia where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1827 he defended the course of Elias Hicks in dividing the Society of Friends, and in 1830 retired from the cotton business, being unwilling to deal in anything produced by slave labor. He engaged in the wool business, and at one time was interested in tlie Penn factory near Philadel- phia. In 1850 he retired from active business, and in 1857 removed to a small farm near the city. He was among the first to join the Abolition movement, and in 1833 aided in organizing in Philadelphia the National Anti-Slavery society. He was a delegate from Pennsylvania to the World's Antislavery convention in London, Eng- ■ land, in 1840, where among others he urged the admission of the female dele- gates, his wife being a dele- gate from Pennsylvania. He presided over the first Wo- man's Rights national con- vention held at Seneca Falls N.Y., in 1848, and in 1865-69 helped to organize the plans of government and instruction for Swarthmore college, named in memory of the home of George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends. He died in Brooklyn, N. Y., Jan. 26, 1868.

MOTT, Lucretia, reformer, was born on Nan- tucket Island, Mass., Jan. 3, 1793; daughter of Capt. Thomas and Anna (Folger) Coffin ; grand- daughter of Benjamin Coffin and of William Folger, and a descendant of Tristram (1642) and

Dionis (Stevens) Cof- fin. She removed to Boston, Mass., with her parents in 1804, attended and taught in the Friends school at Nine Partners, N.Y., 1806-10, and there met James Mott (q.v.), to whom she was married at the home of her parents in Philadelphia, April 10, 1811. She con- ducted a school in Philadelphia with Re- becca Bunker, 1817- 18, and in 1818 became a minister in the Society of Friends. She eventually joined her husband, a supporter of Elias Hicks, and as a minister of the Liberal Quakers, journeyed through New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and Indiana, preaching her faith and advocating the abolition of slavery. She was influential in organizing the American Anti- slavery society at Philadelphia in 1833, but

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being a woman could not sign the declaration adopted. She also aided in forming female anti- slavery societies, and in 1840 accompanied her husband to London, England, as a delegate from the American Antislavery society to the World's Antislavery convention to which they found, on their arrival, no women were to be admitted. She however made several addresses, and the fact that she was not recognized as a delegate led to the woman's rights movement in England, France and the United States. In 1848, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martha C. Wright and Mary A. McClintock, she called the first conven- tion at Seneca Falls, N.Y., for the discussion and improvement of the social, civil and religious con- ditions and rights of women. She thereafter de- voted herself to this cause and made her last public appearance at the Suffrage convention held in New York city in 1878. She held meet- ings with the colored people ; was a member of the Pennsylvania Peace society, and an active worker in the Free Religious associations formed in Boston, Mass., in 1868. She also aided in establishing the Woman's Medical college in Phil- adelphia. See *' Life and Letters of James and Lucretia Mott" by Ann Davis Hallowell (1884). She died near Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 11, 1880.

MOTT, Richard, representative, was born in Mamaroneck, Westchester county, N.Y., July 21, 1804; son of Adam and Anne (Mott) Mott, and brother of James Mott, the reformer (q.v.). He was educated in the Friends school. Nine Part- ners, N.Y., and in New York city ; taught school for a year ; became a clerk in 1818, and later en- gaged in the lumber and ship chandlery business, and as clerk and teller in various banks in New York city. He was married, Nov. 12, 1828, to Elizabeth Mitchell, daughter of Elihu and Mary (Slocum) Smith. In 1836 he removed to Toledo, Ohio, where he engaged in real estate and other business enterprises. He lost his property in the financial panic of 1837, but afterward made a success in mercantile pursuits. He was mayor of Toledo, 1845-46 ; a founder of the Republican party, and a representative in the 34th and 35th congresses, 1855-59. He was opposed to slavery, but while in congress, true to his Quaker faith, voted against every appropriation for the sup- port of the army and navy. He served as chair- man of the Citizen's Military committee during the civil war, and in 1868 organized and was elected president of the Toledo Savings institu- tion. He died in Toledo,Ohio, Jan. 22, 1888.

MOTT, Valentine, surgeon, was born at Glen Cove, L.I., N.Y., Aug. 20, 1785 ; son of Dr. Henry and Jane (Wall) Mott ; grandson of William and EHzabeth (Valentine) Mott and of Samuel Wall, and a descendant of Adam and Elizabeth (Rich- bell) Mott. He was prepared for college at a