Abolitionism in America

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Samuel J. May, Engraving
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Samuel J. May
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Samuel May’s life was forever changed when he heard William Lloyd Garrison lecture about immediate, unconditional emancipation without expatriation in 1830. May (1797-1871) wrote of that experience, “my soul was baptized in his spirit, and ever since I have been a disciple and fellow-laborer of Wm. Lloyd Garrison.”

May, a Unitarian minister, was a pacifist and practiced non-violent resistance by lecturing, acting as a general agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, and sheltering slaves on the Underground Railroad. In one notable case, May helped to liberate William “Jerry” Henry, who had been taken into custody in Syracuse under the Fugitive Slave Law, and was to be returned to slavery. After the “Jerry Rescue,” a pro-slavery mob attacked May and other rescuers and burned the unwavering May in effigy.

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Cornell University Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Cornell University Library