Amos A. (Augustus) Phelps (1805–1847) was an American minister and
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
.
Early life
He was born in
Farmington, Connecticut
Farmington is a town in Hartford County in the Farmington Valley area of central Connecticut in the United States. The population was 26,712 at the 2020 census. It sits 10 miles west of Hartford at the hub of major I-84 interchanges, 20 miles ...
. His mother was Clarissa Bodwell Phelps Tryon and his father was Amos Phelps of Avon, Connecticut.
Career
Phelps graduated from Yale College in 1826 and
Yale Divinity School
Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...
in 1830. After serving as a pastor in Congregational churches in
Hopkinton and Boston, Massachusetts, he became an agent of the
American Anti-Slavery Society in 1834. From 1837 to 1839, he served as the General Agent of the
Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society
The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, headquartered in Boston, was organized as an auxiliary of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1835. Its roots were in the New England Anti-Slavery Society, organized by William Lloyd Garrison, editor of ' ...
.
In 1839, he left the
Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society
The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, headquartered in Boston, was organized as an auxiliary of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1835. Its roots were in the New England Anti-Slavery Society, organized by William Lloyd Garrison, editor of ' ...
and became one of the founding members of the
Massachusetts Abolition Society, formed by abolitionists who disagreed with
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was a prominent American Christian, abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. He is best known for his widely read antislavery newspaper '' The Liberator'', which he foun ...
's progressive, and sometimes radical, politics. In 1840, he also joined forces with a group that formed the
American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society.
He died on July 27, 1847.
Personal life
He married Charlotte Brown Phelps, and they had a son Edward. Charlotte died in 1838. He then married Caroline Little in 1839 and they had a daughter, Lucy in 1841. Caroline died some time between 1841 and 1844. Phelps then married Caroline's sister, Lucy Little in 1844. Phelps and Lucy had two daughters together.
References
External links
Amos A. Phelps Correspondence (1821–1847) of Boston Public Library on Internet Archive*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelps, Amos
Yale Divinity School alumni
1805 births
1847 deaths
American abolitionists
People from Boston
People from Farmington, Connecticut