The George and Susan Hillard lived here from the early 1840s until the 1870s. George Hillard was a law partner of Charles Sumner.

George Hillard was a federal commissioner and in 1850 this meant that he had to uphold the new Fugitive Slave Law by issuing arrest warrants to slave catchers. This law, which did not allow the accused to speak in their own defense, put all African Americans in Boston in jeopardy. Anyone, it seemed, could be kidnapped and taken down into southern slavery. However, Susan Hillard was hiding known fugitive slaves in their home during these very same years, and in full knowledge and plain view of her husband. Whatever his position on national politics, George Hillard was sympathetic to self-emancipated slaves and was a proponent of racial equality, especially in education. - NPS