Samuel Eli Cornish (1795 – 6 November 1858) was an American

Presbyterian minister Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or ...

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 ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

, and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. He was a leader in New York City's small free black community, where he organized the first congregation of black Presbyterians in New York. In 1827 he became one of two editors of the newly founded ''

Freedom's Journal ''Freedom's Journal'' was the first African-American owned and operated newspaper published in the United States. Founded by Rev. John Wilk and other free Black men in New York City, it was published weekly starting with the 16 March 1827 issue. ...

'', the first black newspaper in the United States. In 1833 he was a founding member of the interracial

American Anti-Slavery Society The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS; 1833–1870) was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, had become a prominent abolitionist and was a key leader of this society ...

Biography

Early life and education

Cornish was born in

Sussex County, Delaware Sussex County is located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Delaware, on the Delmarva Peninsula. As of the 2020 census, the population was 237,378. The county seat is Georgetown. The first European settlement in the state of Delaware w ...

, to free parents of mixed race. As a young man, in 1815 he moved to

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, which had a large community of free blacks. After moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1821, Cornish organized the first congregation of black

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

in the city.

Career

When Cornish was ordained in 1822, his parish was officially established as the New Demeter Street Presbyterian Church, making it the first black Presbyterian Church in New York City. He later ministered at the First African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, and Emmanuel Church in New York City. Cornish held high-ranking positions within the

American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engage ...

and the American Missionary Association, founded in 1846. He was one of the four founding black members; there were a total of 12 founders. In March 1827 he became one of two editors of ''

'', the first black newspaper in the United States. The other editor was

John Russwurm John Brown Russwurm (October 1, 1799 – June 9, 1851) was an abolitionist, newspaper publisher, and colonizer of Liberia, where he moved from the United States. He was born in Jamaica to an English father and enslaved mother. As a child he ...

. It was intended to serve the 300,000 free blacks in the country and especially New York's community, as well as to offset the racist commentary of local papers in the city. Cornish left the paper in September 1827, likely due to pressure from Presbyterian colleagues Samuel Miller and

Archibald Alexander Archibald Alexander (April 17, 1772 – October 22, 1851) was an American Presbyterian theologian and professor at the Princeton Theological Seminary. He served for 9 years as the President of Hampden–Sydney College in Virginia and for 39 year ...

over attacks against the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...

by Russwurm in the paper. During the two years Russwurm was in sole charge of ''Freedom's Journal'', he reversed his position on colonization and lost many readers. He emigrated to

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

in 1829. Cornish returned to the paper and tried to revive it, changing the name to ''

The Rights of All ''The Rights of All'' (May 1829 to 1830) was an African-American abolitionist newspaper, founded in New York City by Samuel Cornish, a black Presbyterian minister and antislavery activist. ''The Rights of All'' replaced ''Freedom's Journal,'' the n ...

,'' but the paper folded in less than a year. Cornish later was editor for the ''Weekly Advocate'', later renamed the '' Colored American'', from 1837 to 1839. The paper was owned by Philip Alexander Bell."Freedom's Journal"
''Black Press'', PBS, n.d., accessed 30 May 2012. In 1833 Cornish was one of the founding members of the

, whose membership and leaders were interracial. He was active with them until 1840. That year, he left to join the newly formed

American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society The American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society split off from the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1840 over a number of issues, including the increasing influence of anarchism (and an unwillingness to participate in the government's political proce ...

, largely because of disputes 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 found ...

over religion in the

Abolitionist movement 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 ...

. Cornish used his position as a journalist and editor to inform the public on the issues involving abolitionism.

Personal life

Samuel Cornish married Jane Livingston in 1824 in New York City, where he lived most of his life. The couple had four children. Cornish died on November 6, 1858 in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He was 63 years old.

References

External links

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Spartacus Educational: Samuel Cornish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornish, Samuel 1795 births 1858 deaths African-American journalists American male journalists African-American publishers (people) American publishers (people) African-American writers African-American abolitionists American political writers American male non-fiction writers African-American Christian clergy American Christian clergy People from Sussex County, Delaware Presbyterian abolitionists 19th-century American clergy 19th-century American businesspeople