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The American Anti-Slavery Society held an anniversary meeting in New York City in May, 1850. Frederick Douglass braved a mob to attend the meeting on May 7 so he could address the Society. The mob was led by Isaiah Rynders, the Tammany boss of the notorious sixth ward, chief of the Five Points gangs of the city and founder of the Empire Club, which rallied the Democrats of the city. This riot and the disruption of the American Anti-Slavery Society meeting received national attention, even being reported in this Greenfield, Massachusetts, newspaper. The Gazette & Mercury was the newspaper in Greenfield, Massachusetts, from June 27, 1837 to July 13, 1841, when it changed its name to the Gazette & Courier.

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"Disgraceful" article about mob at Garrison Abolition Society's anniversary celebration from the Gazette and Courier newspaper

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