Ellis Gray Loring (April 14, 1803 – May 24, 1858) was an American attorney,

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 philanthropist from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. He co-founded the

New England Anti-Slavery Society The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, headquartered in Boston, was organized as an auxiliary of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1835. Its roots were in the New England Anti-Slavery Society, organized by William Lloyd Garrison, editor of ...

, provided legal advice to abolitionists, harbored fugitive slaves in his home, and helped finance the abolitionist newspaper, the '' Liberator''. Loring also mentored Robert Morris, who went on to become one of the first African-American attorneys in the United States.

Early life and career

Loring was born in Boston on April 14, 1803, to James Tyng Loring, a druggist, and Relief Faxon Cookson Loring. He attended the Boston Latin School, and was awarded the school's Franklin Medal for scholarship in 1819. He studied at Harvard, where he was a

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

member. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1827, and went to work for the Western Railroad Company.

Abolitionism

Loring initially believed that a policy of abolishing slavery gradually, rather than all at once, would attract more supporters to the abolitionist cause.

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 foun ...

persuaded him that "immediate and unconditional emancipation" was the only morally acceptable policy. On January 1, 1831, Loring was one of twelve abolitionists who gathered in the basement of the

African Meeting House The African Meeting House, also known variously as First African Baptist Church, First Independent Baptist Church and the Belknap Street Church, was built in 1806 and is now the oldest black church edifice still standing in the United States. It ...

to found the

. He and Oliver Johnson drafted the society's constitution. He was also a member of the financial committee that supported the abolitionist newspaper, the ''Liberator''. Along with David Lee Child and

Samuel Edmund Sewall Samuel Edmund Sewall (1799–1888) was an American lawyer, abolitionist, and suffragist. He co-founded the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, lent his legal expertise to the Underground Railroad, and served a term in the Massachusetts Senate as ...

, Loring frequently provided legal advice to abolitionists. In 1836, to appease conservatives who were upset by local activists, Massachusetts governor

Edward Everett Edward Everett (April 11, 1794 – January 15, 1865) was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Mass ...

proposed legislation that would have curtailed the free speech of abolitionists. Along with Garrison and

Samuel Joseph May Samuel Joseph May (September 12, 1797 – July 1, 1871) was an American reformer during the nineteenth century who championed education, women's rights, and abolition of slavery. May argued on behalf of all working people that the rights of h ...

, Loring argued before the joint legislative committee appointed to consider the measure, and persuaded them it was unconstitutional. That same year, he and Sewall successfully argued before the Massachusetts Supreme Court in '' Commonwealth v. Aves'' that any slave who was brought to a free state by a slaveholder could not be forced to leave. In the late 1830s, Loring hired a 15-year-old African-American youth named Robert Morris as a household servant. When Loring's regular copyist, a white youth, neglected his duties, Morris took over for him. Impressed with Morris's intellect, Loring tutored him in the law, and in 1847 presented him for admission to the Massachusetts bar. Morris was the second African American to practice law in Massachusetts, and frequently used his legal expertise in the cause of racial justice. Loring was on the Amistad Committee, which organized legal and financial support for the captive Africans in '' United States v. The Amistad'' in 1841. He and

Lewis Tappan Lewis Tappan (May 23, 1788 – June 21, 1873) was a New York abolitionist who worked to achieve freedom for the enslaved Africans aboard the '' Amistad''. Tappan was also among the founders of the American Missionary Association in 1846, which b ...

visited the 72-year-old

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...

at his home and persuaded him to take the case. After the

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern interests in slavery and Northern Free-Soilers. The Act was one of the most con ...

was passed, Loring joined the

Boston Vigilance Committee The Boston Vigilance Committee (1841–1861) was an abolitionist organization formed in Boston, Massachusetts, to protect escaped slaves from being kidnapped and returned to slavery in the South. The Committee aided hundreds of escapees, most ...

and opened his home to fugitive slaves. Loring's home was one of the safehouses where

Ellen Craft Ellen Craft (1826–1891) and William Craft (September 25, 1824 – January 29, 1900) were American fugitives who were born and enslaved in Macon, Georgia. They escaped to the North in December 1848 by traveling by train and steamboat, arriving ...

stayed when she was being pursued by Georgia

slave catchers In the United States a slave catcher was a person employed to track down and return escaped slaves to their enslavers. The first slave catchers in the Americas were active in European colonies in the West Indies during the sixteenth century. I ...

that October. In 1851 he was one of the lawyers who defended

Shadrach Minkins Shadrach Minkins (c. 1814 – December 13, 1875) was an African-American fugitive slave from Virginia who escaped in 1850 and reached Boston. He also used the pseudonyms Frederick Wilkins and Frederick Jenkins.Collison (1998), p. 1. He is known fo ...

, a Boston resident who was arrested under the Fugitive Slave Act. When the legal team failed to get Minkins released, a group of activists stormed the courthouse and rescued him. With

Richard Henry Dana Jr. Richard Henry Dana Jr. (August 1, 1815 – January 6, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of a colonial family, who gained renown as the author of the classic American memoir ''Two Years Before the Mast''. ...

, Loring defended Robert Morris,

Lewis Hayden Lewis Hayden (December 2, 1811 – April 7, 1889) escaped slavery in Kentucky with his family and escaped to Canada. He established a school for African Americans before moving to Boston, Massachusetts to aid in the abolition movement. There h ...

, and

John J. Smith John James Smith (1820 – 1906) was a barber shop owner, abolitionist, a three-term Massachusetts state representative, and one of the first African-American members of the Boston Common Council. A Republican, he served three terms in the Mas ...

in connection with the rescue.

Personal life

A fifth great grandson of Thomas Loring the immigrant, Loring married Louisa Gilman in 1827. The couple had one child, Anna, who married the pianist and composer Otto Dresel in 1863. Anna's son, Ellis Loring Dresel, was a lawyer and diplomat who served as attaché to the U.S. embassy in Berlin. Louisa Loring was a member of the

Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society The Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (1833–1840) was an abolitionist, interracial organization in Boston, Massachusetts, in the mid-19th century. "During its brief history ... it orchestrated three national women's conventions, organized a mult ...

. A close friend of

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...

, Loring influenced Emerson's views on abolitionism and helped with the research for his 1844 address, ''Emancipation in the West Indies''. Loring died on May 24, 1858, after a brief illness. Three days later, William Lloyd Garrison and

Wendell Phillips Wendell Phillips (November 29, 1811 – February 2, 1884) was an American abolitionist, advocate for Native Americans, orator, and attorney. According to George Lewis Ruffin, a Black attorney, Phillips was seen by many Blacks as "the one whi ...

eulogized Loring at the New England Anti-Slavery Convention; their remarks were published in the ''Liberator''. The poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a tribute to Loring, addressed to their mutual friend Lydia Maria Child.

References

External links

Letter from Ellis Gray Loring to Lewis Tappan
* Posthumous poem about Loring. *
Ellis Gray Loring Family papers, 1824-1925: A Finding Aid.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
Papers of Ellis Gray Loring, 1809-1949: A Finding Aid.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
Papers, 1825-1865 (inclusive) Catalog Record.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Loring, Ellis Gray Lawyers from Boston 1803 births 1868 deaths Harvard Law School alumni Boston Latin School alumni Abolitionists from Boston 19th-century American lawyers