Florence Garrettson Spooner

Florence Garrettson Spooner (1840s – May 7, 1935) was an American social reformer actively engaged in humane and reformatory lines. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, she made her home in Boston, Massachusetts, where she served as President of the Massachusetts Prison Reform League. Spooner was known throughout the House of Correction as the "women's missionary friend". She was the founder of the Anti-Death Penalty League. In her day, Spooner's name became as famous as Elizabeth Fry and Dorothea Dix. Her parents were J. Aquila and Eleanor (Dorsey) Garrettson. On her mother's side, she was descended from one of the most noted families of colonial history in Maryland. Her ancestors were of the Dorsey, Worthington, Howard, and Hammond connection. One of her great-grandfathers was William Ball, closely related to Mary Ball Washington, the mother of George Washington. The Garrettsons, on her father's side, were among the earliest settlers of Maryland and New York. In the year 1752, the Rev. Freeborn Garrettson gave up his grants of land, and freed his slaves through religious convictions. He became a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, travelling from the Carolinas to Nova Scotia on horseback. His wife, Katherine Livingston, was a daughter of Judge Livingston and sister to Robert R. Livingston, the first Chancellor of New York. Their son, Henry Garrettson Spooner (1871-1911),

Florence Garrettson Spooner died at her home in Boston, May 7, 1935. Her papers are held at the Boston Public Library Archives & Special Collections Repository.