Amos Dresser (December 17, 1812 – February 4, 1904) was an
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
pacifist minister, one of the founders of
Olivet College
Olivet College is a private Christian liberal arts college located in Olivet, Michigan. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It was founded in 1844 by missionaries from Oberlin College, and it followed Oberlin in becom ...
. His name was well known in the
Antebellum
Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to:
United States history
* Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States
** Antebellum Georgia
** Antebellum South Carolina
** Antebellum Virginia
* Antebellum ...
period because of a well-publicized incident: in 1835 he was arrested, tried, convicted, and publicly whipped in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
, for the crime of possession of abolitionist publications. The incident was widely reported and became well known. Dresser published an account of it,
[ and spoke of it frequently.
]
Amos Dresser's early life
Dresser was born in Peru, Massachusetts
Peru is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 814 at the 2020 census.
History
Originally known as Northern Berkshire Township Number 2 and including all of Hinsdale and part of Middlefield, the town was ...
, and was a descendant of Robert Cushman
Robert Cushman (1577–1625) was an important leader and organiser of the ''Mayflower'' voyage in 1620, serving as Chief Agent in London for the Leiden Separatist contingent from 1617 to 1620 and later for Plymouth Colony until his death in 1625 ...
, a Mayflower
''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...
pilgrim
A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of ...
. His father died when he was an infant; he lived with his mother Minerva Cushman and his mother's second husband, Henry Pierce, until his mother’s death in 1826, when he was 13.[ "He was for a time engaged in a store; he then taught a school." To prepare for the ministry, in 1830 he enrolled in the new Oneida Institute of Science and Industry, a ]manual labor school
A manual labor college was a type of school in the United States, primarily between 1825 and 1860, in which work, usually agricultural or mechanical, supplemented academic activity.
The manual labor model was intended to make educational opportuni ...
near Utica, New York
Utica () is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 U.S. Census. Located on the Mohawk River at the ...
, predecessor of Oberlin, and briefly the most 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 ...
school in the country.
He was one of the first to join a group, led by Theodore Weld
Theodore Dwight Weld (November 23, 1803 – February 3, 1895) was one of the architects of the American abolitionist movement during its formative years from 1830 to 1844, playing a role as writer, editor, speaker, and organizer. He is best known ...
, that left Oneida, eventually enrolling as students at the also new Lane Seminary near Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...
. This was the first organized student activism in the country. Dresser was active in the initiative among the group to teach Negroes in Cincinnati.[ He remained part of the Weld group, now called the ]Lane Rebels
Lane Seminary, sometimes called Cincinnati Lane Seminary, and later renamed Lane Theological Seminary, was a Presbyterian theological college that operated from 1829 to 1932 in Walnut Hills, Ohio, today a neighborhood in Cincinnati. Its campus ...
, when it withdrew ''en masse'' in 1834 after Lane prohibited student discussion of slavery. However, although others did, he did not enroll immediately in the Oberlin Collegiate Institute
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest coeducational liberal arts college in the United States and the second oldest continuously operating coeducational institute of higher ...
, as it was called until 1866.[
]
The whipping in Nashville
During the summer of 1835, in order to raise money to further his education Dresser traveled around the South selling the Cottage Bible
''The Cottage Bible And Family Expositor: Containing The Old And New Testaments, With Practical Expositions And Explanatory Notes'' was an 1824 study Bible, compiled by Thomas Williams (1755–1839).
The ''Cottage Bible'' printed text deemed unsu ...
.[ In ]Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
, by unfortunate accident he was discovered to have abolitionist literature with him. He was taken before an extra-legal vigilance committee
A vigilance committee was a group formed of private citizens to administer law and order or exercise power through violence in places where they considered governmental structures or actions inadequate. A form of vigilantism and often a more stru ...
of sixty prominent citizens.[ Dresser openly denounced the ]kangaroo court
A kangaroo court is a court that ignores recognized standards of law or justice, carries little or no official standing in the territory within which it resides, and is typically convened ad hoc. A kangaroo court may ignore due process and come ...
and the institution of slavery altogether.[ From his "papers, pamphlets, correspondence and statements", the self-appointed Committee found him guilty of:
# Being an "active member" of an anti-slavery society in Ohio,
# Having in his possession "sundry pamphlets of a most violent and pernicious tendency, and which if generally disseminated, would in all human possibility, cause an insurrection or rebellion among the slaves".
# "That he published and exposed to public view the said pamphlets."][
A newspaper reporting the case commented editorially that Dresser's crime "might possibly lead to the violation by blacks of our wives and daughters".] He was sentenced to "twenty stripes on his bare back", which were carried out in public. The Committee claimed that were it not for them, he would have been lynched
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
. Dresser then hurriedly left Nashville, without his luggage and horse, which he never recovered, although "I have frequently written to my friends concerning them."[
The ''Nashville Republican'' published a ]special issue
Special or specials may refer to:
Policing
* Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force
* Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer
Literature
* ''Speci ...
on the incident.
Dresser published in the ''Cincinnati Daily Gazette'' the story of what had happened to him, twice had it reprinted in pamphlets, plus the American Anti-Slavery Society issued it the following year, accompanied by other testimony on slavery.[ He later spoke of it many times, in the course of abolitionist lectures. In January, 1837, he spoke on it to the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, forced to meet in the hay-loft of a barn. Descriptions in Southern newspapers support his account, although they call the Bible-selling a sham obscuring what according to them was his alleged real purpose: distributing abolitionist literature and fomenting a slave insurrection.
In 1836, he became a successful lecturer for the American Anti-Slavery Society. He worked for abolitionist leader ]Henry B. Stanton
Henry Brewster Stanton (June 27, 1805 – January 14, 1887) was an American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, social reformer, Lawyer, attorney, journalist and politician. His writing was published in the ''New York Tribune, ...
in Worcester County, Massachusetts
Worcester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the population was 862,111, making it the second-most populous county in Massachusetts while also being the largest in area. The largest city and tra ...
, lecturing at Athol, Massachusetts
Athol is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,945 at the 2020 census.
History
Originally called Pequoiag when settled by Native Americans, the area was subsequently settled by five families in Sept ...
, Ashburn, and Slatersville, Rhode Island
Slatersville is a village on the Branch River in the town of North Smithfield, Rhode Island, United States. It includes the Slatersville Historic District, a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The historic dist ...
. He then went to Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and in 1839 to Jamaica to assist another Lane Rebel, David Ingraham, in missionary work among the Negroes.
Dresser's later life
Dresser returned to Ohio and, along with other Lane Rebels, enrolled at the Oberlin Collegiate Institute
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest coeducational liberal arts college in the United States and the second oldest continuously operating coeducational institute of higher ...
, where he obtained a degree in 1839. While a student at Oberlin he supported himself by working for the American Anti-Slavery Society as a lecturer. After completing his studies, he married Adeline Smith, also a former Oberlin student, and from 1839 to 1841 they were missionaries in Jamaica. Among their children was Amos Dresser, Jr.[
For two years they lived in Batavia, Ohio, where he was pastor of two churches. From 1843 to 1846 he taught at the Olivet Institution in ]Olivet, Michigan
Olivet is a city in Eaton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,605 at the 2010 census. Olivet College is located in the city.
History
From its founding in 1844 through the 1910 census,Elihu Burritt
Elihu Burritt (December 8, 1810March 6, 1879) was an American diplomat, philanthropist and social activist.Arthur Weinberg and Lila Shaffer Weinberg. ''Instead of Violence: Writings by the Great Advocates of Peace and Nonviolence Throughout Histo ...
and the League of Universal Brotherhood
Elihu Burritt (December 8, 1810March 6, 1879) was an American diplomat, philanthropist and social activist.Arthur Weinberg and Lila Shaffer Weinberg. ''Instead of Violence: Writings by the Great Advocates of Peace and Nonviolence Throughout Histo ...
.[ In 1849 he published ''The Bible Against War.''][
His wife died in 1850, and in 1851 he married another former Oberlin student, Ann Jane Gray; Adeline Minerva Dresser was their daughter. They toured Europe, where Dresser gave lectures on temperance and abolition. When they returned to the United States, they settled in ]Farmington, Ohio
Farmington is an unincorporated community in Belmont County, in the U.S. state of Ohio
Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the Unit ...
, where Dresser worked as a pastor.[ He served as minister of the Cranston Memorial Presbyterian Church in ]New Harmony, Indiana
New Harmony is a historic town on the Wabash River in Harmony Township, Posey County, Indiana. It lies north of Mount Vernon, the county seat, and is part of the Evansville metropolitan area. The town's population was 789 at the 2010 census. ...
. From 1852 to 1865 Dresser was pastor of churches in Trumbull and Ashtabula
Ashtabula ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, and the center of the Ashtabula micropolitan area. It is located at the mouth of the Ashtabula River on Lake Erie, northeast of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city ha ...
Counties, Ohio, in the Western Reserve
The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms o ...
, Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...
center and the most anti-slavery region of the country. From 1865 to 1869 he was pastor of three churches in Oceana County, Michigan. In 1869 he went to Butler County, Nebraska
Butler County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 8,369. Its county seat is David City. The county was created in 1856 and organized in 1868.
In the Nebraska license plate system ...
, where he had the “whole county for a parish.” In 1879 he went to Red Willow County, Nebraska
Red Willow County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 10,702. Its county seat is McCook.
In the Nebraska license plate system, Red Willow County is represented by the prefi ...
. At some point towards the end of his life Dresser and his wife went to live in Lawrence, Kansas, with one of their children, and both Amos and Ann Jane died there.[
]
Writings
*
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
* Extensive excerpts were reprinted in '' The Liberator'' on March 1, March 29, and April 5, 1850. They received a lengthy response in a letter published in '' The Liberator'' on April 26. He spoke on this topic to the Ashtabula (Ohio) Bible Society in 1858.
References
Further reading
* {{Cite journal , last=Eaton , first=Clement , date=1942 , title=Mob Violence in the Old South , journal=Mississippi Valley Historical Review
''The Journal of American History'' is the official academic journal of the Organization of American Historians. It covers the field of American history and was established in 1914 as the ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', the official jo ...
, volume=29 , issue=3 , pages=351–370 , doi=10.2307/1897915 , issn=0161-391X , jstor=1897915
Abolitionism in the United States
July 1835 events
Lane Rebels
History of Nashville, Tennessee
Whipping
American Presbyterian ministers
African-American history of Tennessee
19th-century Presbyterian ministers
American abolitionists
Christians from Massachusetts
American Protestant missionaries
Christian missionaries in Jamaica
People from Peru, Massachusetts