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 A PIONEER 
 of FREEDOM 
 
 AN ADDRESS BEFORE THE ILLI- 
 NOIS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 
 AT SPRINGFIELD. ILLINOIS 
 
 'By 
 
 GEORGE A. LAWRENCE 
 
 '■^ M 
 
 y-'l f'f11%TIM11iliB 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE FOURTEENTH 
 ANNUAL MEETING 
 
 ILLINOIS HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 UPON THE LIFE AND SERVICES 
 OF BENJAMIN LUNDY 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE SENATE CHAMBER AT 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS 
 
 THURSDAY EVENING, MAY IS, 1913 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE A. LAWRENCE 
 
•,3 
 
 Co 
 
 
 »? 
 
 Py^ 
 
A PIONEER OF FREEDOM 
 
 An Address Delivered Before the Fourteenth 
 Annual Meeting of the Illinois Historical Society 
 Upon the Life and Services of Benjamin Lundy 
 
 By GEORGE A. LAWRENCE 
 
 "By Nebo's lonely mountain, 
 On this side Jordan's wave, 
 In a vale in the land of Moab, 
 There lies a lonely grave. 
 But no man dug that sepulcher 
 And no man saw it e'er, 
 For the angels of God upturned the sod 
 And laid the dead man there," 
 
 These beautiful lines of Mrs. Alexander's 
 were written of a prophet and pioneer of the 
 far away years; of the man divinely appointed 
 to become the leader of the chosen people; of 
 a man who left behind him all that was allurino- 
 in life— wealth, almost kingly power, and a pos''- 
 sible life of ease— to undertake the forty years' 
 wandering in the wilderness, to endure the com- 
 plaints and seditions of those he served, and to 
 meet his death without having entered the prom- 
 ised land, to the very verge of which he brouo-ht 
 his followers. * 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 I am privileged to present to you to-night the 
 story of a man which in many respects parallels 
 the career of Moses ; of a man who is sepulchered 
 to-day not upon a "lonely mountain," but upon 
 a hill-top on the banks of Clear Creek, in Putnam 
 County, Illinois. Appreciative nature has cov- 
 ered that sepulcher deep with myrtle, and upon 
 the simple stone which marks the resting place 
 are graven these words: 
 
 "BENJAMIN LUNDY, 
 
 Died August 22, 1839, 
 
 Age, 50 years, 7 months, 18 days." 
 
 Buried in that lonely spot far away from the 
 tumult, toil and struggle of life, there is nothing 
 in name or environment to suggest the character, 
 the achievements, or the deserved fame of the 
 man who lies buried there. Yet he was to his 
 generation a second Moses. Chosen to lead a 
 people out of bondage, for more than twenty- 
 five years he also wandered in the wilderness, 
 leading what seemed to be a forlorn hope. He 
 also died ere his hopes were realized, but he had 
 vitalized agencies that would soon bring those 
 for whom he had struggled into the promised 
 land. In that lowly grave to-day rests one 
 whose heroic life, loyal service, and sacri- 
 
 4 
 
Historical Address 
 
 fice almost divine, ought to be emblazoned upon 
 the pages of human history. He lived a life of 
 quietude and peace, but he set in motion forces 
 for human liberty and human fellowship that re- 
 sulted in the freedom of a race. 
 
 In obedience to j^our most kind invitation, I 
 wish to bring to you, as far as my time will allow, 
 something of this man. 
 
 Shall we not first profitably inquire into his 
 times, and the day and generation in which he 
 lived and which he served? 
 
 The period from 1800 to 1830 may well be 
 called, in discussing the question of human slav- 
 ery, a period of stagnation. Slavery, introduced 
 into Virginia in 1619, had fastened itself upon 
 the country, North and South alike. In the 
 North, however, the slaves were used only for 
 domestic purposes, and being the source of 
 neither pleasure nor profit they soon ceased to 
 be a factor in its domestic or political economy. 
 In the South, on the contrary, the milder climate, 
 contributing as it did to the lassitude of the 
 white population, became a fitting environment 
 for the negro. 
 
 Yet even there for a century and a half the 
 slave had no special economic significance, and 
 above all, was not a source of any great profit. 
 
 s 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 The Declaration of Independence, and the for- 
 mal assertion by the thirteen colonies of the rights 
 of man, affected in a great measure the status of 
 the slave, for those sturdy ancestors of ours were 
 logicians as well as patriots. In 1783 slaverj^ 
 was judicially abolished in jNIassachusetts, and 
 the ordinance of 1787 for the government of the 
 Northwest Territory was another long step for- 
 ward in the direction of its general abolition. A 
 great world movement, begun in 1794, ended 
 slavery in the French West Indies and several 
 South American Republics, terminating in a sim- 
 ilar result in ^lexico in 1829, and in the British 
 West Indies in 1833 by Act of Parliament. Slav- 
 ery had, prior to the Revolution in this country, 
 been suffered without comment, rather than en- 
 dorsed or especially contended for. In the state 
 of New York the first active opposition to it was 
 the organization of anti-slavery societies under 
 the presidency of John Jay in 1785. Two years 
 afterwards Benjamin Franklin led an abolition 
 society in Philadelphia. From that time for a 
 number of years these societies multiplied in both 
 North and South. Abolition was in the air, Slav- 
 ery in contempt and disgrace. These were the 
 days of the passage of the Ordinance of 1787, 
 the creation of the Mason and Dixon line and the 
 
Historical Address 
 
 abolishment, by other nations, of the slave trade. 
 With its destruction our forefathers hoped that 
 slavery itself would die, and were well content 
 to rest upon their laurels. Our most eminent 
 statesmen from all sections of the country, ir- 
 respective of political affiliations, were as apt to 
 be abolitionists in some form or other as to favor 
 slavery. No one was more outspoken in behalf 
 of equal rights than Thomas Jefferson, the lead- 
 ing character of the slave territory in his day. 
 In fact, many of the southern enactments con- 
 cerning the slave and slavery were decidedly hu- 
 manitarian in their tendencies, restraining man- 
 umission in a measure by an insistence upon 
 the future support of those who were to be 
 freed. In a general way it may be said that 
 the slave power at that time was that of a giant 
 conscious of his own invulnerability. It did not 
 fear discussion, and did not condemn those op- 
 posed to it. The anti-slavery sentiments of lead- 
 ing men, of Randolph, Jefferson, Mason, Nicho- 
 las, made no impression whatever upon this auto- 
 cratic power, ruling as it saw fit for its own inter- 
 est. Complacent when it saw but little to contend 
 for, with no pro-slavery or anti-slavery senti- 
 ment, it offered no obstruction to anti-slavery 
 societies in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennes- 
 
 7 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 see, fifteen years later. These moral forces were 
 scarce noted in the enormous development of the 
 cotton interest that took place in the early part 
 of the Nineteenth Century. In 1794 the inven- 
 tion of the cotton gin by Whitney revolution- 
 ized the status of the slave as affecting the in- 
 dustry of the Southern States. Hitherto slavery 
 and negroes had been but a poor inv^estment to 
 the planter, growing out of idle habits and hap- 
 hazzard methods. Had there been no cotton 
 culture, and no cotton gin to make the bus- 
 iness active and profitable, it is probable that 
 slavery would have expired in all the states as it 
 did in half of them, under the inspiration of uni- 
 versal liberty which came of the Declaration of 
 Independence and the struggle of the Revolu- 
 tion. But the cotton gin, with the aid of slave 
 labor, made cotton cultivation possible on a 
 greater scale; incited ambitions for wealth, ag- 
 grandizement and political power, and became an 
 essential from this standpoint to their future 
 prosperity. It held out the promises of enor- 
 mous gain. It received a representation based 
 upon slave population and for that purpose de- 
 manded an extension of the area of slavery. It 
 was the act of the hitherto sleeping giant awak- 
 ened to the seductive influences of enormous 
 
 8 
 
Historical Address 
 
 wealth, and it had the more alluring temptations 
 of supreme political power. The North also was 
 more or less affected by its conmiercial relation 
 with the South and especially is this true in the 
 case of important commercial centers. There, 
 everywhere, could be found a decided pro-slavery 
 sentiment, ready then and afterwards to foster 
 and encourage its promotion. 
 
 It is interesting to note the effect which com- 
 mercial relations or political ambitions had, or 
 could have, upon the conscience or the conduct 
 of mankind with reference to this question. One 
 naturally looks upon Massachusetts as for rock- 
 ribbed abolition, and upon Virginia as being for 
 slavery, from the very nature of the situation. To 
 illustrate how far from the truth this can be, let 
 me quote from a speech of Edward Everett in 
 Congress about 1834 or '35 : 
 
 "Sir," said he, addressing the speaker, "I am no 
 soldier. My habits and education are very unmil- 
 itary. But there is no cause in which I would 
 sooner buckle a knapsack on my back and put a 
 musket on my shoulder, than that of putting down 
 a servile insurrection at the South. The slaves of 
 this country are better clothed and fed than the 
 peasantry of some of the most prosperous states of 
 Europe. The great relation of servitude, in some 
 form or other, with greater or less departure from 
 the theoretic equality of man, is inseparable from 
 our nature. Domestic slavery is not, in my judgment, 
 
 9 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 to be set down as an immoral or irreligious relation. 
 It is a condition of life as well as any other, to be 
 judged by morality, religion and International Law." 
 
 And then arose John Randolph of Roanoke, 
 a typical Virginian: 
 
 "Sir, I envy neither the head nor the heart of thai 
 man from the North who rises here to defend slavery 
 on principle." 
 
 Abolitionism, meanwhile, was sitting quietly 
 by with folded hands, all organized opposition at 
 an end. Up to 1814 only three pamphlets of any 
 importance were published anpvhere affecting 
 anti-slavery and these advocated progressive 
 emancipation or discussed doctrinal or agricul- 
 tural questions in connection with slavery. 
 
 In this crisis of affairs, aggression on the one 
 hand, and apathy on the other, who should lead 
 a new crusade against the violators of the Tem- 
 ple of Liberty? Who should become another 
 Moses to lead a people out of bondage into free- 
 dom ? 
 
 He came, not out of a kingly court. Not 
 from among the learned, the eloquent, or those 
 of commanding influence, but from the ranks of 
 the humble and the lowly, and with nothing of 
 either physical or educational equipment that 
 would indicate the possibilities of his career. 
 
 10 
 
Historical Address 
 
 Benjamin Lundy was born January 4, 1789, 
 the only son of Joseph and Eliza (Shotwell) 
 Lundy, at Handwick, Sussex County, New Jer- 
 sey. His parents and most of their connections 
 were members of the society of Friends and came 
 originally from England and Wales. His moth- 
 er died when he was about five years old. During 
 her life he had been to school and learned to read 
 but little. After his father's second marriage he 
 attended school a few weeks and began to try to 
 write before he was eight years of age. At the 
 age of sixteen he again went to school a short time 
 to learn arithmetic. This was all the schooling 
 he ever had. He writes of himself: 
 
 "I had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and 
 was withal very ambitious, in so much that when my 
 father hired men to work on his farm, I labored with 
 them much too hard for my physical frame, in order 
 to convince them, though I was a mere boy, I could 
 do the work of the largest and strongest of them. 
 By this means I partially lost my hearing and other- 
 wise injured myself." 
 
 At the age of nineteen, on account of failing 
 health, he went to Wheeling, Virginia, where he 
 remained four years and served an apprentice- 
 ship at the saddler's trade and worked at it eigh- 
 teen months as a journeyman. It was there he 
 writes : 
 
 11 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 "My faculties were developed, my character made 
 known to myself and the principles that have since 
 guided me in my public labor were formed and 
 fixed." 
 
 Of his associates he says : 
 
 "They were wild, fashionable youths, clever 
 enough, but fond of frivolous sports." 
 
 For himself, he 
 
 "Resolved to check any unreasonable propensities 
 before it was too late. He kept in his plain dress, 
 attended the regular meetings of his society (the 
 Quakers) and spent most of his time in reading in- 
 structive books." 
 
 Consider for a moment the geographical po- 
 sition of Wheeling, his residence in these forma- 
 tive years. Located upon the Ohio River, it was 
 the boundary line of the slave territory over 
 which Lundy passed every week in attendance 
 upon First Day service in a free state. The Ohio 
 River was the highway of the slave traffic at that 
 time, which was enormous and enormously prof- 
 itable. Engaged in developing the new regions 
 of the west and southwest, Kentucky and Mis- 
 souri were being rapidly settled and Illinois was 
 a future battle ground to be occupied and en- 
 trenched, if possible. Virginia, Maryland and 
 the southern states adjoining were the breeding 
 ground for the western market. Here the slaves 
 
 12 
 
Historical Address 
 
 were collected together, "bunched up" as we 
 would say in cattle phrase to-day. Chained to- 
 gether under the guard of drivers, to prevent an 
 escape into free states adjoining, they were driv- 
 en to the Ohio River, placed upon boats at some 
 convenient point and floated down to their desti- 
 nation. Wheeling was the greatest thoroughfare 
 in this traffic in human flesh and Benjamin 
 Lundy saw it in all its enormity. Anticipating 
 by a few years the sensation and resolution of 
 Abraham Lincoln at New Orleans, he formed 
 a resolution then and there that became the de- 
 termined purpose of his life, and from the ac- 
 complishment of which he never wavered. He 
 says: 
 
 "My heart was deep)ly touched at the gross abom- 
 ination; I heard the wail of the captive, I felt his 
 pang of distress, and the iron entered my soul." 
 
 The assistant editor of his closing days, 
 Mr. Z. Eastman, was told in 1839 by Mr. 
 Lundy that as far back as 1808 he was led to 
 make a consecration of his life for the deliver- 
 ance of the slave. That must have been in the 
 first year of his apprenticeship and his impres- 
 sion must have been immediate as well as pro- 
 found. 
 
 Mr. Lundy left Wheeling in 1812 and re- 
 
 13 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 turned to Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, where he met his 
 future wife. Remaining there for two years en- 
 gaged at his trade, he returned to his father's 
 home in New Jersey for a stay of eight or ten 
 months. Refusing his father's offer to engage in 
 business there, he returned to St. Clairsville, 
 Ohio, ten miles west of Wheeling, was married 
 and started a business. That he was successful 
 appears from his own statement: 
 
 "I began with no other means but my own hands 
 and a disposition for industr}^ and economy. In a little 
 more than four years, however, I found myself in 
 possession of more than $3,000 worth of property be- 
 yond what was necessary to pay the moderate amount 
 I owed. I had then a loving wife and two beautiful 
 children that it was then a real happiness to possess 
 and cherish. I was at peace with my neighbor and 
 knew not that I had an enemy. I had bought a lot 
 and built myself a comfortable house. All my wants 
 and those of my family were fully supplied. My 
 business was increasing and prosperity seemed to 
 smile upon me." 
 
 I have quoted this fully that we might all 
 appreciate the extent and completeness of the 
 sacrifice that was to be made. In that period of 
 our national development upon the frontier very 
 much of future wealth and influence was repre- 
 sented in the fact of a permanent home, a united 
 family, and increasing business. The accumula- 
 tion of a capital of $3,000 within four years at 
 
 14 
 
Historical Address 
 
 that time, without assistance, was no mean ac- 
 comjjlishment and indicated great business ca- 
 pacity. The man who could do this was capable 
 of great things in any undertaking. 
 
 May we take a glance at the man himself at 
 that time? 
 
 A biographer has said: 
 
 "He was slender and slightly under middle size, 
 with light complexion, blue eyes and wavy hair. He 
 was cheerful, unassuming and studious." 
 
 An engraving from a portrait by A. Dicken- 
 son, published in 1847, reveals a man with a 
 scholarly, dignified face, a mild eye, clad in con- 
 ventional garb with high collar and choker; one 
 whose appearance would never indicate his rug- 
 ged nature or his ability for any heroic struggle 
 which should demand the highest capacity for 
 physical, mental and moral fortitude. His por- 
 trait is also included as one of a dozen men cited 
 m Greeley's Amencan Conflict as eminent op- 
 ponents of the slave power; compared with the 
 portraits of Joshua Giddings, William Lloyd 
 Garrison, Garret Smith, Charles Sumner, or 
 Owen Love joy, Lundy seems mild, indeed, 
 though not effeminate. A water color portrait, 
 however, owned by Susan Maria (Lundy) Wire- 
 man, his daughter, who is also buried at Clear 
 
 IS 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 Creek Cemetery, has given me a better idea of 
 the real man he was. "Bhie eyes and wavy 
 hair" might well describe the man of the engrav- 
 ing I have spoken of. They do not identify the 
 man of the water color portrait. An eye of blue 
 that was bright with the gleam of steel and of 
 fire, an eye that penetrated where it fastened its 
 gaze; scant reddish hair and beard, and a com- 
 plexion of purest Saxon tj-pe gave life and en- 
 ergy and vivacity to the subject which cold black 
 print can never portray; more than all these, 
 there is a certain setting of the jaw which 
 suggests that, which no other portrait contains. 
 Here in this portrait is seen the man to whom so 
 much of heroism, daring and sacrifice has been 
 attributed. Here can be seen the indomitable will, 
 unconquerable spirit and transcendent genius 
 that was necessary to the accomplishment of the 
 work to which he had dedicated himself. The 
 portrait reveals the physical and native resources 
 he possessed. It cannot reveal the added mental 
 and scholarly equipment which his "studious 
 habits with book in hand" had furnished him. 
 
 He was now twenty-five years of age, in the 
 midst of the comfort and possibilities he has de- 
 scribed. He was now a man with all the respon- 
 sibilities of a man. What should be his future? 
 
 16 
 
Historical Address 
 
 Up to that time he had taken no active part in 
 anti-slavery agitation, nor, so far as it can be 
 learned, had it ever influenced the slightest act 
 of his life. I have referred to his life at Wheel- 
 ing, and in his later years he gave utterance to 
 the reason which prompted his future conduct 
 and controlled his entire career. I quote from 
 his paper. The Genius of Univei'sal Emancipa- 
 tion, at that time printed in Washington, as 
 being the best authority for the reasons that de- 
 termined him in the change of his entire life. In 
 this journal of November, 1832, he said of 
 Wheeling : 
 
 "That was the place where his youthful eye 
 first caught a view of the 'cursed whip' and the 
 'hellish manacle' — where he first saw the slaves in 
 chains forced along like brutes to the southern mark- 
 ets for human flesh and blood ! Then did his young 
 heart bound within his bosom and his heated blood 
 boil in his veins on seeing droves of a dozen or twenty 
 ragged men chained together and driven through the 
 streets bareheaded and barefooted in sun and snow 
 by the remorseless 'soul sellers' with horse whips 
 and bludgeons in their hands ! It was the frequent 
 repetition of such scenes as these in the town of 
 Wheeling, Virginia, that made the impressions on 
 his mind relative to the slave question which have 
 induced him to devote himself to the cause of Uni- 
 versal Emancipation. During the apprenticeship 
 with a respectable mechanic of that place, he was 
 made acquainted with the cruelties and the despot- 
 ism of slavery as tolerated in this land ; and he made 
 
 17 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 a solemn vow to Almighty God that if favored with 
 health and strength, he would break at least one link 
 of the ponderous chain of oppression when he should 
 become a man." 
 
 He had now become a man. The time is now 
 at hand for the fulfillment of his vow, and he 
 says in his autobiography: 
 
 "I had lamented the sad condition of the slave 
 ever since I became acquainted with his wrong and 
 suffering, but the question. What can I do? was the 
 continual response to the impulses of my heart. As 
 I enjoyed no peace of mind, I concluded / must act, 
 and shortly after my settlement at St. Clairsville, I 
 called a few friends together and unbosomed myself 
 to them. The result was the organization of an anti- 
 slavery association called the 'Union Humanitarian 
 Society.' " 
 
 The first meeting was held at his home and 
 consisted of six persons. In a few months it had 
 grown to nearly five hundred persons, among 
 whom were the most eminent divines, lawyers 
 and citizens of that state. 
 
 He also wrote a circular dated Jan. 4, 181f), 
 being his twenty-seventh birthday, which was the 
 first definite announcement of a campaign that 
 ended in the overthrow of slavery. This circular 
 is historic. Its first appearance was in five or 
 six copies in manuscript. At the urgent request 
 of friends and of persons from a distance who 
 met at the yearly meeting in the society of 
 
 18 
 
Historical Address 
 
 Friends at Mt. Pleasant, this paper was printed 
 and circulated on the condition that it should 
 appear with a fictitious signature. This signa- 
 ture was Philo Justicia. As an introduction, 
 while urging the inadequacy of stopping at the 
 abolition of the African slave trade, when the 
 seeds of the evil system had been sown in our 
 soil and were springing up and producing in- 
 crease, he proposed, 
 
 First, that a society should be formed whenever 
 a number of persons could be induced to join in 
 them. 
 
 Second, that a title should be adopted common 
 to all the societies. 
 
 Third, they should all have a uniform constitu- 
 tion, "varying only on account of necessity arising 
 from location." 
 
 Fourth, that a correspondence should be kept up 
 between the societies, that they should co-operate 
 in action, that in case of important business they 
 should choose delegates to meet in general conven- 
 tion. 
 
 This plan is practically the same in efficient 
 operation twenty years afterwards when it em- 
 braced one thousand anti-slavery societies. At 
 the conclusion of the address, the writer stated 
 that he had the subject long in contemplation and 
 that he had now taken it up fully determined for 
 one, never to lay it down while he breathed, or 
 until the end should be obtained. 
 
 19 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 This circular, short and simple as it was, is 
 mentioned hy Greeley in his Amcrivan Con- 
 flict as "containing the germ of the entire anti- 
 slavery movement." 
 
 A local newspaper, The PJiilanthropist, 
 had been established at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, and 
 its columns were open to the discussion of slav- 
 ery. Lundy became an interested contributor 
 and soon was invited to take part in its editorial 
 w^ork. Soon his articles were upon the editorial 
 page. While he was at w^ork on his saddler's 
 bench, ten miles away, an invitation to ])ecome a 
 partner in the business and to remove to jNIt. 
 Pleasant was ac<!epted, and he proceeded to close 
 out his business for that purpose. In 1819, for 
 the purposes of a better market for his goods, he 
 took the balance of his stock upon a boat, his 
 apprentices plying their trade on board while he 
 steered the boat for St. Louis. Unable to sell his 
 stock at St. Louis by reason of financial depres- 
 sion, he rented a shop and boarded himself and 
 his boy apprentices. Missouri was at that time 
 in the turmoil and excitement of a great political 
 campaign and was knocking at the door for ad- 
 mission to the Union. Every spare moment was 
 devoted by Lundy, in person and through news- 
 paper articles, in JNIissouri and Illinois, to expos- 
 
 20 
 
Historical Address 
 
 ing the evils of slavery. He says, "The contest 
 which was long and severe, terminated in our 
 losing the day." * * * * He sold his remaining 
 stock at a ruinous sacrifice and returned home 
 on foot, a journey of seven hundred miles and in 
 the winter season, having been absent a year and 
 ten months. 
 
 During his absence, the newspaper had 
 changed hands and was conducted by Elisha 
 Bates, who did not come up to the anti-slavery 
 standards of Lundy. He also learned that Elihu 
 Embree had begun the publication of an anti- 
 slavery paper. The E?nancijmtor, at Jonesbor- 
 ough, Tennessee. He removed to Mt. Pleasant 
 and began the publication of the Genius of Uni- 
 versal Emancipation, in January, 1821. The 
 prospectus and first number were published by 
 Elisha Bates. Afterwards the printing was done 
 at Steubenville, Ohio, twenty miles away, Lundy 
 going to and fro on foot, carrying his printed 
 papers on his back. In a few months the sub- 
 scription list was quite large, but after eight 
 monthly issues, Lundy started for Tennessee to 
 use the Embree press at Jonesborough, Embree 
 having died. It was a journey of eight hundred 
 miles, half on foot and half by water. There, for 
 the first time, he undertook the printer's art and 
 
 21 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 did the mechanical, as well as editorial, work. 
 After a few months, during which considerahle 
 opposition and threats of violence developed, he 
 brought his family to Tennessee and resided 
 there for three years. During this time he at- 
 tended "The American Convention for the Abo- 
 lition of Slavery" at Philadelphia, a distance of 
 six hundred miles, going and returning on horse 
 back. He was the first delegate from any part 
 of the country as far south as Tennessee to any 
 anti-slavery meeting. Upon this trip he made 
 the acquaintance of some abolitionists east of the 
 Alleghany mountains. The Genius of Univer- 
 sal Emancipation had now obtained a consid- 
 erable circulation. It was the only anti-slavery 
 paper published in America. He concluded to 
 transfer its publication to one of the Atlantic 
 states to secure a wider influence and increased 
 support. Arranging his business and shoulder- 
 ing his knapsack, he set out for Baltimore in 
 1824. On this trip he delivered his first public 
 lecture and embraced every opportunity of ob- 
 taining an audience; at house raisings, musters, 
 and every sort of assemblies, he urged his cause, 
 and in the State of North Carolina alone, while on 
 this journey, twelve or fourteen anti-slavery so- 
 cieties were organized. 
 
 22 
 
Historical Address 
 
 The first Baltimore number of the Genius 
 was issued in October, 1824, being No. 1, of Vol. 
 4, and in about a year the publication was 
 changed from a monthly to a weekly. Mean- 
 while, his wife and family had been removed from 
 Tennessee to Baltimore. In 1825 he made his 
 first trip to the Island of Haiti to establish there 
 a number of slaves who had been freed, and ar- 
 range with the Island government for any eman- 
 cipated slaves that might be sent there. De- 
 tained longer than he had anticipated, he re- 
 turned to Baltimore to find his wife dead and his 
 five children scattered among friends. His obit- 
 uary notice of his wife's death, published in the 
 Genius, of June 3, 1826, is a most eloquent 
 and touching tribute to her worth. Only a brief 
 quotation can be made, but it is due to this wom- 
 an that she be credited with her part in his great 
 work. He said of her: 
 
 "Whenever it fell to my lot to be called away 
 from home, she uniformly and cheerfully gave her 
 consent thereto; observing that she could not find a 
 freedom in urging anything as a hindrance to the 
 success of my labor in the cause of philanthropy." 
 
 Five children were left motherless, among 
 them twins a few weeks old, and this man, in 
 face of that fact, said: 
 
 23 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 "I collected my cliildren together and placed 
 them with friends in whom I could confide and re- 
 newed my vow to devote my energy to the cause of 
 the slave until the nation should be effectually aroused 
 in its behalf. I relinquished any prospect of future 
 enjoyment of an earthly home until that object 
 should be accomplished." 
 
 The publication of the paper was continued at 
 Baltimore, William Swain being added as assist- 
 ant editor with Elizabeth Chandler, a poet and 
 author of some distinction ; both were converts of 
 his lectures and publications, and it is noteworthy 
 that his efforts produced not only converts, but 
 missionaries in his work. 
 
 In 1828 a trip was taken to the middle and 
 eastern states for purposes of lectures and sub- 
 scriptions. At Philadelphia a meeting was called 
 to consider the use of free labor products, the 
 first meeting of the kind ever held in America. 
 This would indicate his intellectual grasp and his 
 conception of the power of a modified boycott, 
 an elaboration of which has become so prominent 
 in the later stages of our national development. 
 It was upon this trip that he met, at Boston, 
 William Lloj^d Garrison, who had not yet tin-ned 
 his attention to the slavery question. They met 
 at a boarding house with eight clergymen of var- 
 ious denominations. The ministers all approved 
 
 24 
 
Historical Address 
 
 of the work and became subscribers to tlie Gen- 
 lus. Garrison also expressed approval of his 
 doctrines. He was at that time the editor of the 
 National Phila7ithropist, the first total absti- 
 nence sheet in the world. Truly, here was a scene 
 worthy the brush of the artist. This, in a way, 
 accidental meeting, in an obscure boarding house 
 in Boston, between Benjamin Lundy and Wil- 
 liam Lloyd Garrison— the little deaf Quaker and 
 the near-sighted Baptist who was to become the 
 foremost type of militant warfare in the cause 
 he at that moment espoused. "The Signing of the 
 Compact" and "The Landing of the Mayflower" 
 have been immortalized upon the canvas and 
 form two of our great historic pictures. Yet 
 neither of these events was more significant than 
 the one we mention. Here awakened into vital- 
 ity the conscience and co-operation of the man 
 who was to assume such prominence in the final 
 overthrow of slavery. Lundy's word had been 
 good seed and it had fallen upon good ground 
 The mild Quaker had lighted a flame that was 
 never extinguished. The history of abolitionism 
 shows us two fire-brands, John Brown and Wil- 
 liam Lloyd Garrison. But Garrison was the first 
 and more significant influence and very likely 
 was responsible for the attitude of the other. 
 
 25 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 In November, 1828, Lundy again visited 
 Boston and invited Garrison to assist him in 
 editing the Genius of Universal Emancipation, 
 but the latter was at that time editing a paper in 
 Vermont from which he could not free himself. 
 Meanwhile the paper was successfully published 
 and free produce stores were opened in Balti- 
 more and Philadelphia where nothing the pro- 
 duct of slave lab©r was handled. The editorial 
 position was full of dangers. A single example 
 will suffice to illustrate them : 
 
 "There was in Baltimore a slave-trader by the 
 name of Austin Wool folk, notorious for the heart- 
 less brutality with which he carried on his wretched 
 business. He sent a gang of twenty-nine slaves on 
 a boat to Georgia. When at sea the slaves rose for 
 their liberty, murdered the captain and mate, reached 
 New York City and escaped, — all except one, who 
 was caught and hung. When led to the place of 
 execution, the condemned negro, according to the 
 custom of those days, was allowed to make some re- 
 marks expressing his penitence. Woolfolk, who was 
 present, interrupted the unfortunate man with oaths 
 and abusive language and would not desist until 
 compelled to do so by the indignant spectators. An 
 account of this disgusting spectacle was published in 
 the New York Christian Inquirer, and reprinted by 
 Lundy in the "Genius." 
 
 Soon after this, Woolfolk met Lundy near the 
 post office in Baltimore, caught him by the throat, 
 threw him upon the pavement, choked him until he 
 was nearly unconscious, and then stamped on his 
 head and face with the heel of his boot. Woolfolk was 
 
 26 
 
Historical Address 
 
 arrested and tried for assault and battery. The jury 
 found Woolfolk guilty; and the judge, in whose dis- 
 cretion the penalty was, sentenced him to pay a fine 
 of one dollar. The judge said from the bench that 
 Lundy got nothing more than he deserved, and he 
 took the copy of the "Genius" containing the objec- 
 tionable article and sent it to the grand jury, charg- 
 ing them to indict Lundy for libel, which they re- 
 fused to do." 
 
 In the spring of 1829 another trip was made 
 to Haiti with a small colony of emancipated 
 slaves and leases of land obtained for them on 
 easy terms. Upon his return in September, 
 1829, Lundy announced in the Genius the as- 
 sociation of Garrison in its editorship. This 
 move was not a fortunate one. Garrison es- 
 poused the cause of Henry Clay against Jackson, 
 while Lundy had no confidence in Clay upon the 
 slavery question. Subscriptions fell off when 
 politics and sectarianism supplanted in any de- 
 gree the question for which Lundy alone stood. 
 Garrison, moreover, did not possess the gift of 
 using strong language just outside the law of 
 libel that Lundy had, and was soon behind grates 
 and bars and obliged to pay a fine, money for 
 which was obtained in New York by Lundy. 
 But Lundy himself was in turn arrested as co- 
 editor and imprisoned for several days. The par- 
 ticulars of this incident are told in the life of Gar- 
 
 27 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 rison, and of the time he was in jail, which was 
 forty-nine days, he says: 
 
 "The sun itself was not more regular day by day 
 during that period in visiting my cell with its cheer- 
 ing light than was my friend Lundy. His sym- 
 pathy, kindness and attention were all that a brother 
 could show." 
 
 The partnership was a short one. This plan 
 of the two joining to shake the sleepy nation to 
 consciousness had to be abandoned. Garrison 
 wxnt to Boston with the inspiration of a Balti- 
 more jail upon him, most terribly in earnest; an 
 intellectual and moral lion aroused to work in 
 his own way in the path laid out for him. Lundy 
 was left to plod his accustomed way alone. At 
 this point, for the first time, Lundy, in his paper, 
 the Genius of Universal Emaricijjation, after 
 regretting the loss of the help of his friend, states 
 his own case, and it were well to perpetuate it 
 here ; 
 
 "Nine years have nearly elapsed since this work 
 first made its appearance. During that period I have 
 witnessed many vicissitudes in the affairs of life ; have 
 experienced something of the fickleness of fortune 
 and a good share of what the world calls hardship 
 and privation." 
 
 Then he tells of the great difficulties he en- 
 countered in getting out his monthly paper, his 
 desires to publish it weekly, his hopes of the fu- 
 
 28 
 
Historical Address 
 
 tiire, his patience and unflinching determination 
 shown in every line. He goes on : 
 
 "I do not wish to speak boastingly of what I 
 have done or essayed to do in advocating the question 
 of African emancipation, and I detest the idea of 
 making a cringing appeal to the public for aid in my 
 undertakings. I am willing to work, and can sup- 
 port myself and family by my own labor. But, after 
 ten years' struggle to promote the cause to the best 
 of my humble abilities and in every possible manner, 
 it may not be amiss to inform those who take an in- 
 terest in this publication that I have, within the 
 period above mentioned, sacrificed several thousand 
 dollars of my own hard earnings; have traveled up- 
 ward of 5,000 miles on foot, and more than 20.000 
 in other ways; have visited nineteen of the states of 
 this Union, and held more than 200 public meetings, 
 with the view of making known our object, etc., and,' 
 in addition to this, have performed two voyages to 
 the West Indies, by which means the liberation of 
 a considerable number of slaves has been effected, 
 and, I hope, the way paved for the enlargement of 
 many more. What effect this work has had in turn- 
 ing the attention of the public to the subject of the 
 abolition of slavery, it would not become me to say. 
 ***** There is not another periodical work pub- 
 lished by a citizen of the United States, whose con- 
 ductor dare treat upon the subject of slavery as its 
 nature requires and its importance demands, and, 
 viewing the matter in this light, I shall persevere 
 in my efforts, as usual, while the means of doing it 
 are afforded, or until more efficient advocates of the 
 cause shall make themselves known." 
 
 In resuming control of the paper Lundy an- 
 nounced that the Geinus would hereafter treat 
 
 29 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 exclusively upon the subject of emancipation. 
 The paper had now fallen upon evil days. Sub- 
 scriptions failed and it was changed from a 
 weekly to a monthly sheet. It soon became nec- 
 essary for Lundy himself to leave Baltimore and 
 the Genius was moved to Washington and that 
 city became the nominal place of its publication. 
 It also became necessary for Lundy to travel to 
 secure subscriptions, leaving the paper in the 
 hands of a temporary editor. A few numbers 
 would be published and then publication cease 
 for lack of funds. Lundy, hearing of this, would 
 prepare manuscript on the road and print the 
 next number where he happened to be. He could 
 secure a printing press at almost any point. The 
 type he found it more convenient to carry with 
 him, possibly upon his back. 
 
 The founding of Garrison's Liberator in 
 Massg^chusetts, and the breaking out of the 
 "Nat Turner Rebellion" in Virginia, hastened 
 the failure of the Genius. The one, although 
 working along the same lines, was necessarily 
 to some extent a rival, and the Turner outbreak 
 was fatal to all abolition societies of the south 
 which furnished many subscribers. The story 
 of the Genius of Universal Emancipation is 
 now shortly told. Removed to Washington in 
 
 30 
 
Historical Address 
 
 1830, it was printed there until 1834, sometimes 
 consecutively for months, when it made its last 
 removal to Philadelphia, expiring there in 1838 
 amid the flames of Pennsylvania Hall, which was 
 burned by a mob in June of that year. 
 
 Just a word as to its appearance. I quote 
 from the words of Mr. Z. Eastman, who was 
 with Lundy at Lowell, Illinois, at the time of his 
 death, in the capacity of printer and assistant 
 editor : 
 
 "I well remember the editorial, 'Vignette.' It 
 seemed to have been quite a pet of Mr. Lundy's. I 
 think it was of his own designing. It was not quite 
 clear to me what truth was to be inferred from it. 
 Mr. Lundy once explained it minutely. It repre- 
 sented a scene in a garden. There was in the back 
 ground a sort of miniature square tower with a seat 
 at the bottom. There was nothing in this country 
 like it. Over it were trailing vines. Nearby, drag- 
 ging a chain and holding a spade in hand, was a 
 white man with depressed appearance. By his side 
 stands a man, possibly putting some question to the 
 slave held by the chain. He looks like a philosopher 
 or Doctor of Divinity, it is impossible to tell which. 
 He is evidently inquiring of this white slave 'Why 
 is this.'"' It was not a strange question if our own 
 color were in that condition. Mr. Lundy would have 
 had it asked, even of the black man also doomed to 
 drag the ball and chain. Mr. Lundy's paper, be- 
 sides that piercing motto 'Justicia fiat, ruat coelum," 
 also carried on its front this motto, 'We hold these 
 truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
 equal and are endowed by their Creator with cer- 
 
 31 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 tain inalienable rights, in which are life, liberty and 
 tlie pursuit of liappiness.' " 
 
 The historical vahie of Lundy's paper, begin- 
 ning in 1821 and practically ending in 1830-34, 
 can hardly be estimated. It is the repository of 
 all plans for the abolition of slavery, of all laws, 
 opinions, arguments, essays, speeches, poems, 
 views, statistics, constitutions of societies, manu- 
 missions, congressional proceedings, book notices, 
 pamphlets, colonization efforts, political move- 
 ments, in short, it included everything that could 
 th^-ow light upon or affected the question of slav- 
 ery here or elsewhere. It had taken part in the 
 historic campaign of 1824 in Illinois, where an 
 attempt was made to fasten slavery upon this 
 state, and was a factor in what was, everything 
 considered, the hardest fought political cam- 
 paign ever waged in Illinois. Speaking of this 
 campaign through newspaper and pamphlets 
 widely disseminated, I have before me a pamj^h- 
 let called ''Impartial Appeal to the Reason, Jus- 
 tice and Patriotism of the People of Illinois and 
 the Injurious Effects of Slave Labor" This lit- 
 tle brochure, published anonymously in Philadel- 
 phia and used in the Illinois campaign, bears 
 every token of being the work of Benjamin 
 Lundy. It applies to the economic side of the 
 
 32 
 
Historical Address 
 
 question and repeats many arguments, purely 
 his, found elsewhere. It is noteworthy as bear- 
 ing upon our subject that it was reprinted in 
 London, and used in connection with the struggle 
 for the abolishment of slavery in the West In- 
 dies, and I found the little book in London. So 
 we may well claim that this humble Quaker con- 
 tributed also to that work in no small degree. 
 
 Time forbids to speak of the literary charac- 
 ter of the Genius, its trenchant English, modes 
 of emphasis and telling invective. With but the 
 scanty preparation spoken of at the outset, Lun- 
 dy became a great master of English in both 
 style and expression, nor was he lacking in sen- 
 timent and poetry. Let me quote a single verse, 
 being one of a number sent his sister after in- 
 forming her of the birth of his second daughtei* 
 and their decision to call her Elizabeth: 
 
 "Here let me pause, the Muse in accent clear 
 Repeats the name that memory holds most dear, 
 My mother, it was thine — blest spirit see 
 Thy son, thy only son, remembers thee." 
 
 Leaving for a time his journalistic work, 
 permit me to call your attention to another phase 
 of his many sided plans for abolition. I have 
 suggested the two trips to Haiti, each time with 
 a number of slaves that he located there. Lundy 
 
 33 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 was unique as an abolitionist in this. He was 
 willing to do for the time being the best that 
 could be (lone. Garrison had the one idea of 
 immediate emancipation, so had Goodell. Lundy 
 possessed that idea with equal fervidness, but 
 pending its success wished to have sovietJdng 
 done and that without delay. With this thought 
 in mind he sought to colonize emancipated slaves 
 and free blacks upon territory contiguous to the 
 United States, and upon lands which were not 
 only to provide for them a home, and comply 
 with some state laws as to voluntary emancipa- 
 tion, but would furnish a concrete illustration 
 of the safety and profitableness of the "Eman- 
 cipation on the Soil" theory. With this in mind 
 he made two journeys to Texas, then a part of 
 Mexico, the first in 1830-31, beginning in the 
 winter. A large portion of a biography pub- 
 lished by his children in 1847 is taken up with 
 the account of these trips. He says of them, 
 "My labors were most arduous." The story is 
 one of poverty, privation and danger; at times 
 in disguise; cholera raging everywhere; working 
 at his trade to get the means for a scanty liveli- 
 hood ; when this did not offer, in making suspen- 
 ders and shot pouches for those who would buy. 
 The purpose of this trip was to establish a set- 
 
 34 
 
Historical Address 
 
 tlement of colored people in Texas with the view 
 of the cultivation of sugar, cotton and rice by 
 free labor. The first trip lasted eighteen months 
 and involved much diplomacy with the Mexican 
 Government to obtain the land, but owing to dis- 
 turbing conditions was without avail and he re- 
 turned home in 1833. In May, 1834, he again 
 started on a similar errand, this time not dis- 
 guising his name, and several times nearly lost 
 his life. In October of that year sorry times 
 certainly were upon him. His notes in his jour- 
 nal of October 7th show that he had spent his 
 last cent for provisions and "was reading the 
 'Letters of Junius' to beguile his thoughts." On 
 the 15th of October he writes: "I must move in 
 some direction shortly even if I must as a last 
 resort, fast, beg or starve." His narrative as a 
 whole shows close habits of observation, and un- 
 bounded resource and diplomacy in approaching 
 the authorities seeking the grant of land. In this 
 quest he was successful and obtained from the 
 Government of Taumaulipas a grant of 138,000 
 acres of land, conditioned upon introducing two 
 hundred and fifty settlers with their families. 
 This grant, however, came to naught, by reason 
 of the revolution in Texas which followed, and 
 the years of privation and absence went for noth- 
 
 35 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 ing. It did accomplish, however, in another way 
 a great and telling result. 
 
 Better than any other American, Lundy had 
 become acquainted with the Texan country. He 
 knew its extent and the number and kind of its 
 inhabitants and it was he who furnished to John 
 Quincy Adams the facts upon which the sturdy 
 tight was made in the United States Congress 
 against the admission of Texas, and the subse- 
 quent acts that led to the war with Mexico. It 
 is not a part of our theme to discuss what part in 
 this war with Mexico the question of slavery 
 played, but this may be said, that no one person 
 did more to furnish the opponents of slavery 
 with weapons against the admission of Texas or 
 the war with Mexico, than he. 
 
 A pamphlet issued in 1836, of sixty- four 
 double columns printed in small type, reveals 
 him in the fullness of his intellectual activity 
 and development. It was entitled, ''War in 
 Teccas, a Review of Facts and Circumstances, 
 Showing that this Contest is a Crusade against 
 Mexico, Set on Foot and Supported hy Slave 
 Holders, Land Speculators, etc., in Order to 
 Re-establish, Re-extend and Perpetuate the Sys- 
 tem of Slavery and Slave Trade" It was signed 
 by "A Citizen of the United States." This 
 
 36 
 
Historical Address 
 
 pamphlet is a masterly review of the situation 
 from the standpoint of those opposed to the ac- 
 quisition of Texas to become a part of the United 
 States. It is a scathing arraignment of all en- 
 gaged either in the conquest of Texas or its ad- 
 mission to the Union ; brims with quotations from 
 southern journals, and southern speeches to 
 make clear his claim of conspiracy, all presented 
 in a forceful and convincing way; it furnished to 
 John Quincy Adams the material upon which he 
 based his opposition in Congress to the admis- 
 sion of Texas as a state, and did no other writ- 
 ing of his exist, this pamphlet would distinguish 
 Mr. Lundy not only as a consecrated and deter- 
 mined missionary, but as a master of polemic 
 literature, inferior to none of his day. The strug- 
 gle was not successful ; the enemy was too strong 
 and too well intrenched, but the admission of 
 Texas was delayed for years thereby, and oppor- 
 tunity given to strengthen the abolition forces 
 against the greater conflict now inevitable and 
 almost in sight. May I place upon your records 
 the concluding paragraphs of this great pamph- 
 let which I do not find to have been quoted else- 
 where : 
 
 "Our countrymen in fighting for the Union of 
 Texas with the United States will be fighting for that 
 
 37 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 which at no distant day will inevitably dissolve the 
 Union. The slave states having the eligible addition 
 to their land of bondage, will ere long cut asunder the 
 Federal tie and confederate a new and slave holding 
 Republic in opposition to the whole free Republic 
 of the north. Thus early will be fulfilled the pre- 
 diction of the old politicians of Europe that our 
 Union could not remain one century entire; and then 
 also will the maxim be exemplified in history that 
 liberty and slavery cannot long inhabit the same 
 soil. 
 
 Citizens of the free states: Are you prepared to 
 sanction the acts of such freebooters and usurpers? 
 Nay more: Are you willing to be made the instru- 
 ments of these wanton aggressors, in effecting their 
 unholy purposes, and thus not only excite the sym- 
 pathizing maledictions of other human powers, but 
 also invoke the awful judgments of Heaven against 
 you? Some of our wisest statesmen have spoken 
 out, in condemnation of their deeds ; and the patri- 
 otic conductors of the press are likewise beginning 
 to awaken the public attention to them. 
 
 You see that they are now fully resolved to make 
 a speedy application to Congress, for the incorpora- 
 tion of the government which they have thus as- 
 sumed into the confederation of the United States. 
 This will be attempted the very moment that an 
 opportunity is presented. People of the north! Will 
 you permit it? Will you sanction the abominable 
 outrage; involve yourselves in the deep criminality, 
 and perhaps the horrors of war, for the establish- 
 ment of slavery in a land of freedom; and thus put 
 your necks and the necks of your posterity under the 
 feet of the domineering tyrants of the South, for 
 centuries to come? The great moral and political 
 campaign is now fairly opened. Your government 
 has fully espoused the cause of these land-pirates 
 
 38 
 
Historical Address 
 
 and free-booters. Can you still remain silent, and 
 thus lend your sanction to the unparalleled and 
 Heaven-daring usurpation? With deep anxiety, I 
 await your response; and trust it will come in the 
 loudest tones of a thundering Negative, resounding 
 o'er your granite mountains, and echoing through 
 every valley north of 'Mason and Dixon's Line.' 
 
 You have been warned, again and again, of the 
 deep machinations, and the wicked aggressive policy 
 of this despotic "Slave-holding Party." I have un- 
 folded its marauding designs, and pointed out its 
 varied plans and movements. You would not listen 
 to these earnest entreaties and admonitions. You 
 have slumbered in the arms of political harlots, until 
 they have nearly shorn you of your locks, and bound 
 you with the bloody cords prepared by the Philistine 
 horde of tyrannical desperadoes. Arise! Arise 
 quickly! and burst those bands, or your doom, with 
 that of your posterity, is sealed perhaps forever." 
 
 Let me call especial attention to the prophecy 
 of a "dissolution of the Union" and the confed- 
 eration of a new and slave holding Republic. I 
 know of no earlier prophecy and it is noteworthy 
 that when formed, it was called the confederacy. 
 
 I have gathered the story of this man largely 
 from the diary he kept. He seeks there to pre- 
 pare for himself no page in history. It is the sim- 
 ple story of resolve, effort and accomplishment. 
 But he has a permanent place in history and may 
 I be allowed to record a few brief extracts from 
 various tributes to him? 
 
 39 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 "Any one who will examine John Quincy Adams' 
 speech on Texas, in 1838, will see that he was only 
 seconding the full and able exposure of the Texas 
 plot, prepared by Benjamin Lundy, to one of whose 
 pamphlets Dr. Channing in his 'Letter to Henry 
 Clay' has confessed his obligation. Every one ac- 
 quainted with those years will allow that the North 
 owes its earliest knowledge and first awakening on 
 that subject to Mr. Lundy who made long journeys 
 and devoted years to the investigation. His (Lun- 
 dy 's) labors have this attestation that they quick- 
 ened the zeal and strengthened the hands of such 
 men as Adams and Channing. I have been told that 
 Mr. Lundy prepared a brief for Mr. Adams and fur- 
 nished him the materials for his 'Speech on Texas.' " 
 — Speech of Wendell Phillips, Boston, Jan. 27, 1853. 
 
 "The immediate precursor and in a certain sense 
 the founder of abolitionism was Benjamin Lundy, a 
 Quaker, born in New Jersey ***** In 1821 he 
 began to publish the 'Genius of Universal Emanci- 
 pation,' which is to be considered the first abolition 
 organ ***** The Nineteenth Century can scarcely 
 point to another instance in which the command- 
 ment of Christ to 'leave all things and follow Him' 
 was so literally construed *****" 
 — Von Hoist's History of the United States, Vol. 2, 
 Pages 81-82. 
 
 "Nor is that pioneer of freedom, Benjamin Lundy, 
 to be forgotten. It was his lot to struggle for years 
 almost alone, a solitary voice crying in the wilder- 
 ness ; poor, unaided, yet never despairing, traversing 
 the Island of Haiti, wasting with disease in New Or- 
 leans, hunted by Texan banditti, wandering on foot 
 among the mountains of East Tennessee and along 
 the Ozark Hills, beaten down and trampled on by 
 Baltimore slave dealers; yet amidst all, faithful to 
 
 40 
 
Historical Address 
 
 his one great purpose, the emancipation of the slaves 
 and the protection of the free people of color. To 
 him we owe under Providence the enlistment of Wil- 
 liam Lloyd Garrison in the service which he has so 
 nobly performed." 
 
 — Letter of John G. Whittier, dated Amesbury, Mass- 
 achusetts, March, 1874-. 
 
 "I trust that the memory and labors of Benja- 
 min Lundy will be especially remembered and hon- 
 ored at this reunion gathering. To him I owe my 
 connection with the cause of emancipation, as he 
 was the first to call my attention to it, and by his 
 pressing invitation to me to join him at printing and 
 editing the 'Genius of Universal Emancipation' at 
 Baltimore, he shaped my destiny for the remainder 
 of my life." 
 
 — Letter of William Lloyd Garrison to Eastman, 
 March, 1874. 
 
 More than five pages of Greeley's Ameri- 
 can Conflict are devoted to the life and service 
 of Mr. Lundy and he concludes with these fit- 
 ting words: 
 
 "Thus closed the record of one of the most he- 
 roic, devoted, unselfish lives that has ever been lived 
 on this continent." 
 — The American Conflict, pages 111-115. 
 
 Mr. Garrison writes of Mr. Lundy in the 
 Journal of the Times, Burlington, Vermont, 
 Dec. 12, 1828: 
 
 "Instead of being able to withstand the tide of 
 public opinion, it would seem at first doubtful wheth- 
 er he could sustain a temporary conflict with the 
 
 41 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 winds of Heaven. And yet, he has explored nine- 
 teen states out of the twenty-four, from the Green 
 Mountains of Vermont to the banks of the Mississ- 
 ippi, multiplying anti-slavery societies in every quar- 
 ter, putting every petition in motion relative to the 
 extinction of slavery in the District of Columbia, 
 everywhere awakening the slumbering sympathies 
 of the people and beginning a work, the completion 
 of which will be the salvation of his country. His 
 heart is of gigantic size. Every inch of him is alive 
 with power. He combines the meekness of Howard 
 and the boldness of Luther. No reformer was ever 
 more devoted, zealous, persevering or sanguine. He 
 has fought single-handed against a host without miss- 
 ing a blow, or faltering a moment, but his forces are 
 rapidly gathering and he will yet save our land. It 
 should be mentioned, too, that he has sacrificed sev- 
 eral thousand dollars in this holy cause, accumu- 
 lated by unceasing industry. Yet he makes no pub- 
 lic appeal, but goes forward in the quietude and 
 resolution of his spirit, husbanding his little resources 
 from town to town and from state to state. He 
 said to me some months ago, 'I would not exchange 
 my circumstances with any person on earth if I there- 
 by must relinquish the cause in which I am enlisted.' 
 Within a few months he has traveled 2,400 miles, 
 of whicli upwards of 1,600 have been on foot, dur- 
 ing which time he has held nearly 500 public meet- 
 ings. Rivers and mountains vanish in his path. 
 Midnight finds him on his solitary way over an un- 
 frequented road. The sun is anticipated in his 
 rising. Never was a moral sublimity better illus- 
 trated." 
 
 But I must hasten to the conckision of this 
 eventful life. He had, following the assassina- 
 tion of Love joy, determined to move to Illinois 
 
 42 
 
Historical Address 
 
 and print an abolition paper here if it led to a 
 bloody grave. His little property consisting of 
 books, papers and Quaker clothing, and a com- 
 plete file of his Ge7iius of Universal Emancipa- 
 tion, were, preparatory to his departure, stored 
 in "Pennsylvania Hall," a building erected for 
 the cause of freedom at Philadelphia. On May 
 17, 1838, it was destroyed by the torch of a mob 
 and all of his property, with the brain work of 
 twenty years, went up in flames. 
 
 In July he started for Illinois and planned 
 to re-establish the Genius here. His relatives 
 lived at Magnolia, in Putnam County, and he 
 selected Hennepin, the county seat, as his place 
 of publication. The paper was dated at Henne- 
 pin, but printed at Lowell, where some friends 
 had purchased an old press and worn out type. 
 Lowell was then a city of the future, with a large 
 stone mill in process of erection, with city lots 
 to sell and some to give away. Now scarce a 
 vestige remains of the place. The paper was 
 mailed at Vermillionville, across the Vermillion 
 River, and not far away. A building 12 feet 
 square was the printing office and a two-room 
 house just behind was the dwelling. The twins, 
 now twelve years old, were with him and his 
 daughter, Esther, his little housekeeper. In the 
 
 43 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 spring of 1839 three or four issues were printed. 
 John Love joy, a brother of the mart^T, came to 
 his assistance as a helper, but he was not a printer. 
 In the spring of 1839 Mr. Z. Eastman, a printer, 
 joined him and may I use his words in describing 
 the end: 
 
 "We all worked in that little office for a few weeks. 
 Lundy seemed very happy. He had some confiden- 
 tial talk with me, when I told him it would become 
 necessary for me soon to return to the East. He 
 spoke of dividing with me his town-lots in Lowell, 
 and of giving me a share of the broad prairie on 
 which he had squatted ; but the proposition did not 
 seem flattering. He was taken ill a day or two after ; 
 he wrote a sentence as an apology for lack of edito- 
 rial, in which he said, 'We shall soon be better.' He 
 went to his bed at the tavern the next day, and the 
 day following, about 1 1 o'clock at night, being told 
 by the physician that he was near his end, stated 
 that he felt perfectly easy, and in a few moments fell 
 into a sweet sleep, that of a child pillowed upon its 
 mother's bosom ; but it was his last sleep. I saw that 
 peaceful death. I wrote the obituary notice that ap- 
 peared in the same paper with his last editorial 
 words, in which he said he should soon be better. His 
 friends, without display, in the simple, plain style of 
 their religious faith, carried him away, for burial. I 
 suppose no colored man in this world knows where 
 they laid him." 
 
 The last statement is not true certainly at 
 this day. Last summer my wife and I drove to 
 the little cemetery in a car driven by a negro 
 chauffeur. We stood at the grave of Lundy and 
 
 44 
 
Historical Address 
 
 it occurred to us that it would be a matter of in- 
 terest to the colored man to see the grave of the 
 man who struck the first blow for the freedom of 
 his race. We called him to the spot and told him 
 in a few words of the man who lay buried there. 
 I have spoken of the wealth of myrtle upon the 
 grave, and I saw the young negro quietly place 
 some sprigs of it in his purse. I asked him what 
 he wanted to do with them. He replied that he 
 wanted to send them to his sister at Tuskegee. 
 Then I thought, Oh that the man who lay so 
 quietly there could see this act, and could know 
 that from his grave, perhaps from his very bones, 
 had sprung the tokens that carried a brother's 
 message to the negro in his better estate, with the 
 opportunities at hand for which he had lived 
 and suffered and died. Surely if that message 
 wrought its perfect work, it would tell to that 
 people, to whom his life had opened such oppor- 
 tunity, of the heroic self-sacrifice that had made 
 freedom and opportunity possible to them. 
 
 He, like Moses, did not live to enter the 
 promised land, but the people for whom he la- 
 bored have entered into it. 
 
 May I not fittingly close this address by quot- 
 ing the last verse of Mrs. Alexander's poem with 
 which I began: 
 
 45 
 
A Pioneer of Freedom 
 
 "O lonely tomb in Moab's land ! 
 O dark Beth-peor's hill ! 
 Speak to these curious hearts of ours, 
 And teach them to be still. 
 God hath His mysteries of grace, — 
 '^f Ways that we cannot tell ; 
 
 '~^s^ He hides them deep, like the secret sleep 
 
 ^ ' Of him He loved so well." 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Adams, Alice Dana 
 
 The Neglected Period of Anti-Slavery in America [1808-1831]. [Rad- 
 
 cliffe College Monographs.] Ginn and Company, Boston, 1808. 
 Armstrong, William Clinton 
 
 Tlie Lundy Family and their Descendants. J. Heidingsfeld, New- 
 Brunswick, N. J., 1902. 
 BiRNEY, William 
 
 James G. Birney and his Times [pp. 76-86]. D. Appleton and Co., 
 
 New York, 1890. 
 Lundy, Benjamin 
 
 The War in Texas. (2nd edition pamphlet.) Merrihew and Ginn, 
 
 Philadelphia, 1837. 
 
 The Life, Travel and Opinions of Benjamin Lundy (compiled under 
 
 the direction of his children). W. D. Parrish, Philadelphia, 1847. 
 Sanborn, Frank B. 
 
 The Great Agitation. The Cosmopolitan Magazine, vol. vii, pp. 52-55, 
 
 1889. 
 
 The Chicago Daily Tribune, [Thursday, June 11, 1874]. Article on 
 
 the Abolitionists, at the Anti-Slavery Reunion. 
 
 Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. 5th Annual Report, p. 66. Isaac 
 
 Knapp, 25 Cornhill, Boston, 1837. 
 
 46 
 
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