John Milton Earle (April 13, 1794 – February 8, 1874) was an American businessman,

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 ...

, and politician who founded the

Massachusetts Horticultural Society The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, sometimes abbreviated to MassHort, is an American horticultural society based in Massachusetts. It describes itself as the oldest formally organized horticultural institution in the United States. In its m ...

in 1829.

Biography

John Milton Earle was born in

Leicester, Massachusetts Leicester ( ) is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts. The population was 11,087 at the 2020 United States Census. History What is now Leicester was originally settled by the Nipmuc people and was known by them as ''Towtaid''. On January 27 ...

to Patience Earle (''née'' Buffum) and Pliny Earle, a member of the prominent Earle family. He was educated in common schools and at the Leicester Academy. He was the editor and publisher of the ''Massachusetts Spy'' from 1823 to 1857. The publication was called the ''Daily Spy'' after July 22, 1845. The offices were in the Butman Block on Main Street. He loved and enjoyed the sharp encounter of harmless wit. Although not a technical

Garrisonian 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 ...

abolitionist, he was an early pioneer in Anti-Slavery movement first as a Whig, then as a Free Soiler. He tried to make Worcester County the stronghold of conscientious and determined political opposition to slavery. He was a member of the Massachusetts General Court, or state legislature, for several years, serving in both the House of Representatives (1844–1846 and 1850–1852) and the Senate (1858). He was also a city alderman, postmaster, state commissioner on Indian affairs, and founder of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. He served as president of the

Worcester County Horticultural Society The Worcester County Horticultural Society is a non-profit American horticulture, horticultural society based in Boylston, Massachusetts, USA, whose stated mission in 2014 was to "inspire the use and appreciation of horticulture to improve lives, e ...

from 1848 to 1851. He married Sarah Hussey (August 26, 1799 – March 9, 1858), who organized the Worcester Anti-Slavery Sewing Circle and Worcester County Anti-Slavery Society, South Division. She was the daughter of Tristram Hussey and Sarah Folger of

Nantucket, Massachusetts Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

Lucretia Mott Lucretia Mott (''née'' Coffin; January 3, 1793 – November 11, 1880) was an American Quaker, abolitionist, women's rights activist, and social reformer. She had formed the idea of reforming the position of women in society when she was amongs ...

was her cousin. Sarah married John Milton Earle on June 6, 1821 in Nantucket before moving to

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. The family lived on Nobility Hill at 262 Main Street across from the Worcester Common. She served on the Executive Committee of Worcester County Anti-Slavery Society, South Division, 1841–1859. She helped coordinate Anti Slavery fairs from 1848 and opened the 1850 National Woman's Rights Convention. Her obituary notice in the ''Worcester Spy'' said, "Aside from her own family circle, no one has cause to mourn more deeply than the slave, for whose interests her labors were untiring." Earle died in Worcester on February 8, 1874, and was buried in its

Rural Cemetery A rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of cemetery that became popular in the United States and Europe in the mid-nineteenth century due to the overcrowding and health concerns of urban cemeteries. They were typically built one to five ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earle, John Milton 1794 births 1874 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American politicians American abolitionists American publishers (people) Burials at Rural Cemetery (Worcester, Massachusetts) Businesspeople from Worcester, Massachusetts Massachusetts Free Soilers Massachusetts state senators Massachusetts Whigs Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives People from Leicester, Massachusetts Earle family