Angelina J. Knox

Angelina J. Knox (née Angelina J. Berry; July 17, 1819 – January 24, 1896) was an American inventor, abolitionist, writer, and philanthropist. She aided fugitive slaves and escaped slaves during the American Civil War. Her former home at 29 Myrtle Street in Boston is an Underground Railroad site.

Early life, and family Angelina J. Berry was born on July 17, 1819, in Belfast, Maine, to parents Elizabeth Betsey (née Nickerson) and Col. Watson Berry.

In 1852 in Boston, she married Thomas Parker Knox from Warwick, Rhode Island. Together they had two children, however her first born son died in infancy c. 1852. In their early marriage they lived in Hyannis, Massachusetts, and after their son's death they moved to Boston to begin work as abolitionists.

She worked for three years as an assistant to Judge James G. Birney, the first abolitionist candidate for President under the Liberty Party. This home is now an Underground Railroad historical site, noted by the National Park Service. On October 30, 1866, she filed a patent with the United States Patent Office for a wash bowl and water closet combined. Knox made considerable funds from her inventions, and donated 40% of her income to support American Civil War veterans,

Late life and death In 1877, she moved to East Oakland, California, followed by a move to San Francisco, and later Sacramento.

In July 1969, the Berkeley Gazette newspaper published a short column about her life, in her honor.