Elias Hicks was one of the early Quaker abolitionists. Everywhere in public and private he lifted up his voice against the sin of slavery. He would eat no sugar that was made by slaves, and wear no garment which he supposed to have been produced by unpaid labor. In a remarkable manner he showed the “ruling passion strong in death.”

A few hours before he departed from this world his friends, seeing him shiver, placed a comforter over him. He felt of it with his feeble hands, and made a strong effort to push it away. When they again drew it up over his shoulders he manifested the same symptoms of abhorrence. One of them, who began to conjecture the cause inquired, “Dost thou dislike it because it is cotton?” He was too far gone to speak, but he moved his head in token of assent. When they removed the article of slave produce, and substituted a woolen blanket, he remained quiet and passed away in peace. Life of Isaac  T. Hopper.