Benezet family

Claude Benezet and his father, James, were descendants of Huguenot refugees who had made a considerable fortune as merchants in London. During the mid-18th century, they remained active in mercantile pursuits, establishing trading connections with British colonial possessions in south Asia and the Far East. Today, however, the family is best remembered through a first cousin of Claude's, Anthony Benezet, who converted to the Society of Friends, emigrated to America, and became one of the earliest and most successful antislavery and antiwar activists.

From the guide to the Benezet family papers, Benezet family, 1729-1839, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)