Wilson Armistead was a Quaker, businessman, abolitionist, and writer from Leeds. He was born on August 30, 1819, and died on February 18, 1868. He was in charge of the Leeds Anti-Slavery Association and wrote and edited books that were against slavery. His most famous work, A Tribute for the Negro, came out in 1848. In it, he calls slavery "the most extensive and extraordinary system of crime the world has ever witnessed." In 1851, he took in Ellen and William Craft and listed them on the census as "fugitive slaves." This has been called "guerrilla inscription." Abolitionist William Wells Brown, an important African American, said, "Few English gentlemen have done more to hasten the day of the slave's liberation than Wilson Armistead." Wilson Armistead was born on August 30, 1819, in Leeds to Joseph and Hannah Armistead. He grew up in Holbeck, where his family ran a flax and mustard business at Water Hall. The Quaker meeting house was close by on Water Lane. Wilfred Allott said that the Armistead family had been "faithful Friends" for a long time. Armistead married Mary Bragg in 1844, and in 1846, their son Joseph John was born.
