Sarah Hopper Palmer (1796-1885) was the eldest child of Isaac T. Hopper (1771-1852), noted Hicksite Quaker abolitionist and social reformer. In 1795 Isaac T. Hopper married Sarah Tatum, daughter of Quakers John and Sarah (Ward) Tatum) of Woodbury, NJ. Hopper was involved with the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and became widely known as a friend and advisor to fugitives. While in Philadelphia, he developed a strong interest in prison reform. He helped found a society for the employment of the poor, was an overseer of the Benezet school for colored children, taught in a free school for colored adults, and was an unsalaried inspector of the prison. After the Separation of 1827, he was offered a job running a Hicksite bookstore in New York City. He became active in the New York Anti-Slavery Society and the New York Prison Association. In 1841 Lydia Maria Child came to New York to edit the National Anti-Slavery Standard and lived with the Hopper family for some years. In 1841 Isaac T. Hopper and his son-in-law, James Sloan Gibbons, were disowned by the New York Monthly Meeting (Hicksite). His labors on behalf of released prisoners were aided by his daughter, Abby Gibbons. With the help of other women she established an asylum for these women. This institution still exists, and is called the Women's Prison Association and Isaac T. Hopper Home, on Second Avenue in New York City.
From the description of Family Papers, 1705-1883. (Swarthmore College). WorldCat record id: 48860193
