, 1864-02-21
RENJAMIN LUNDY.
From Grce1ey's History Of the Rebellion.


Benjamin Lundy deserves the high honor
OF ranking as the pioneer Of direct and DIS
tiuctiye anti.slavery in America Many who
lived before and contemporary with him were
Aboliuonists; hut hc was the first Of our
no19er to he causp Of e slaves Ia @
Born Ia Sussex County, New jersey, january
i, 1TeQ, Of Quaker parents, whose ancestors
for several generations had lived and died n
this country, he injured himself while still
far1n, incurring thereby partial loss hearing,
from which Le never recovered. Slight in
fia1ne and below the common height, unas-
suu1iue In manner and gentle in spirit, he
gave to the cause Of Emancipation neither
Mealtli, nor eloquence, nor lofty abilities, for
he had them not but his courage, persever.
ance, and devotion were unsurpassed; and
these combined to render him formidable,
though diregartlcd if not dcspiscd, antagon-
ist to our national crime. Leaving bis faith
cr's farm ut nineteen years Of age, he wan
dcrcd westward to Wheeling, Virginia, WHERE,
trade Of saddler, md gained IN insight into
The cruclties and yillanles Of slave-hollingy-
Wheeling being at time great thoroughfarc
for negro traders and theilprcy on their route
from Maryland and Virginia 70 the lower
Mississippi: Before nc nude e,.. Wheeling gas nif
Pleaeent, Ohio, whittier he returned after
learning Ills trade. md remained there two
years, during which be married young
woman Of like spirit to his oWn. Hc then,
after long visit to his fatherin New Jersey,
settled at ST. Clairsvillc, Ohio, near Wheeling,
he nude nlout three Thousand dollars above
his expenses, and, with q loving wife and two
children, was happy and contcnted with his
lot es any man need be.
But the impression made On his mind 6y
hts experience Of slavery n wheeling K. could QUO
1876, when twcnty-six years Of age, he or
geuized an anti-slayery association known as
the stUnion Humane Society," whereof the
first meeting was held 1t Ills own house and
consisted Of but five or six persona. Within
few months, It's numbers were swelled to
four Or i've hundred, and included the best
and most prominent citizens Of Belmont and
the adjacent counties. 1undy wrote an ap.
peal to philanthropists on the subject Of
slavery, which was FIRST printed on the 18th
Of January, 1916, being his twenty-seventh
birthday Short and 5igMs as lt,s It Tas, It
movement. 4 weekly Journal entitled the
I2tilanfh,ohit was soon after started ut Mount
Pleasant By Charles Osborne; and LundF, at
the editor's invitation, contributed to its
columns, mainly by. selections. In Q few
mouths he was urged By Osborne to 1oln him
eentcd to do 80, removing to Mount Pleasant
Meantime, he made voyage to 81. Louis In
q fat boat to dispose of bis stock Of eaddlery.
Arriving at that city In the fall Of 1873, when
the whole region WIS convulsed BY the Mis-
souri Question, be was fmpelled to write on
the side then unpopular in the Journals Of
the day. His speculation proved unfortunate
tho whole west, and, indeed, the whole
country, being then involved in a commercial
| convulsion. with trade stagnant and almost
on foot during tic ensuing WINTER having
been absent nearly two years, md lost all be
wns worth.
Meantime, Osborn, tired of his thank1csa
and rroftless vocation, had sold ont his cs,
tabllshment, and 1t had been removed to
paper TOOK tho title Of the Ea,aneipdsor.
Lnndy removed Us, as he ! ad proposed, to
Mount Pleasant, and there started, IL
January, 1871, q monthly eutitled the
Gt,ius e Ena,r a Emancipation: Hs
| commenced 1t with six subscribers, himself
having his work dond at Steubenyille, twenty
miles distant travelling thlther frequently
| On foot, and returning with his edition on
his back four months later, he had very
considerable subscription list About this
time, Elihu Embree, who had started tht
Erantirato, in Tennessee, died, md Lundy
IVES urged to 60 thither, unite the two jour
nails, mud print them himself from the ma
telials or the Emaneipo{or. He consented
md made the journey Of eight hundred miles
! ono hull On 1oot and the rest by wafer. Al
Joresborough he learnt the art Of printing
arL WAS soon issuing a weekly newspnps1
besides the G:nins, aud monthly agri
cultural work. He removed his family few
months later, md East Tennessee was thence
forward his home for nearly three years
during which the Genius Of Universal EAam
cipatio,. was the only dlstinctiyely aud e,
ciualyely anti-s1avery periodical issued In til,
| United States, constantly increasing In cir
l. culatiop and Influence. And, though otter
threatened with personal assault, aud onc
shut up In private room with two ruiflans
WHO undertook TO bully him into some con
cestIon BY flourish Of deadly weapons, Ii
WAS at no time subjected to mob violence O
In fhe Winter Of 1884, the first Ameri
can Convention for the Abolition of SLAYER,
was heId In Philadelphia; and Lundy mad
fhe iourney Of six hundred miles and hacl
on turposc tn attend It. During his tour, Il
decided on transferring his establishment t.
Baltimore. and, In the summer Of 1891, knnp
aack on shoulder, he set out on foot for TIM
CITY. On the way, he deligercd, at Dec
Creek. North Ca1olln+, his first public I'D
drces apAinst elayery, He spoke In beau
tIlul eTOye, near the Friends meeting 'hous
at that place, directly after divine worship
and the audience were go well satisfied tla
they invited him to speak again, IN thei
plnce Of worship. Before this secondsmcei
Ing adjourned, an antl-slnvery society va
formed; and be proceeded to hold dtteen
! twenty similar meetings at other Place
within that stste. In or g instance, he spoki
at house-sasing; in smother, at 9 mihtt
| muster Here An anfi-BlaVeFT society OF l0n]