civil rights activist no relation Photius Fisk
Photius Fisk (Greek: Φώτιος Καβασάλης Φισκ; January 1807/1809 – February 4, 1890), also known as Photius Kavasales or Kavasalis, was a Greek-American statesman, botanist, philanthropist, clergyman, abolitionist, and civil rights activist.  He is known for lobbying to end flogging in the U.S. Navy.  Congress officially passed the law in 1850.  The legislation was particularly beneficial to slaves working in the U.S. Navy.  Fisk funded countless abolitionist causes and erected several monuments for abolitionists.  He had a saffron or bronze complexion.  Photius dedicated his life to the poor and destitute.Abolitionist Road to the Civil War
By the Summer of 1853, he was reassigned to Pensacola Navy Yard in Florida.  He remained in this position for five years.  He was a known abolitionist. Officers and seamen knew Photius lobbied to stop flogging in the U.S. Navy.  This benefited the slaves.  As late as June 1855, the navy yard payroll listed 155 slaves. One to three people showed up to church service on Sundays.  When Photius visited the local town sometimes people shouted angry slurs and spit on him.  He was afraid of having problems with the local slave owners and he frequently kept to himself.  He stayed secluded reading and playing with his pet animals and birds.  He kept constant communication with abolitionists namely Samuel L. Southard and Joshua Reed Giddings.  He paid to erect a monument for abolitionist Captain Daniel Drayton in 1857.    After five years, in the fall of 1858, he was reassigned.Photius took a leave of absence for three months.  The Navy sent him orders to wait at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston for two years until they completed his reassignment.  Around early 1859, in Boston, he was active within the abolitionist community.  He was very close to William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Theodore Weld, Parker Pillsbury, and other anti-slavery agitators.  He donated large sums of money to the abolitionist cause.  In May 1859, Photius was with John Brown in Boston.  Brown was preparing for his raid on Harpers Ferry.  Photius donated one hundred dollars to Brown and his cause.  Roughly 3000 dollars adjusted for 2020 inflation.  He also obtained his autograph which was presented to the Kansas Historical Society.During the outbreak of the American Civil War, he was in Boston aiding the abolitionist cause.  Mainly funding different endeavors.  Around 1861,  Photius donated a substantial amount of money to abolitionist William Shreve Bailey.  Photius was instrumental in funding abolitionist causes during the American Civil War.  Another Greek American abolitionist John Celivergos Zachos was in Boston around this period assembling his book for the free people of the South.  Photius's leave continued until 1864.  He was retired by order of Abraham Lincoln on July 18, 1864.  After the war, Photius continued his philanthropic effort.  He amassed close to forty thousand dollars.  Adjusted for 2020 inflation, the amount was close to one million dollars.  He contributed large sums of money to Berea College and the Holley School at Lottsburgh, Virginia.  He also sent them crackers.
no relation