Charles Humphreys (September 19, 1714 – March 11, 1786) was a signatory to the

Continental Association The Continental Association, also known as the Articles of Association or simply the Association, was an agreement among the American colonies adopted by the First Continental Congress on October 20, 1774. It called for a trade boycott against B ...

while representing

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in the

First Continental Congress The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Nav ...

. He was born in

Haverford, Pennsylvania Haverford is an unincorporated community located in both Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, and Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, approximately west of Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) ope ...

, and was a slave owner, miller, and fuller. The son of Daniel and Hannah (née Wynne; daughter of Dr. Thomas Wynne) Humphreys, he served as a delegate for Pennsylvania to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

from 1774 to 1776. He was a signatory to the Continental Association, however he voted against the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

, since he believed it would inevitably escalate the Revolutionary War and that conflicted with his

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

beliefs. He withdrew from the Congress soon afterwards. Despite not taking part in the Revolutionary War, his sympathies were with the patriotic cause, and he criticized what he thought was British oppression. Humphreys became the owner of a

grist Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. It can also mean grain that has been ground at a gristmill. Its etymology derives from the verb ''grind.'' Grist can be ground into meal or flour, depending on ho ...

and fulling mill in 1782. Humphreys and his two sisters Elizabeth and Rebecca were slaveholders. Charles, Elizabeth, and Rebecca owned nine Black people in Haverford Township whose names were Tom, Ceasar, Judy, Nany, Nancy, Dolly, Alice, Fanny, and Tommey. The slave's ages ranged from very young to very old: Tom and Ceasar were adult men; Judy, Nany, Nancy, and Dolly were adult women; and Alice, Fanny, and Tommey were children. Humphreys died in Haverford in 1786.

References

1714 births 1786 deaths People from Haverford Township, Pennsylvania American Quakers Continental Congressmen from Pennsylvania 18th-century American politicians Place of birth missing Place of death missing Signers of the Continental Association {{Quaker-stub