Charles Calistus Burleigh (November 3, 1810 – June 13, 1878) was an American journalist and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

who fought against Connecticut's " Black Law" and enlisted participants in the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. Burleigh was drawn into abolitionist work because of the racist persecution and harassment of

Prudence Crandall Prudence Crandall (September 3, 1803 – January 27, 1890) was an American schoolteacher and activist. She ran the Canterbury Female Boarding School in Canterbury, Connecticut, which became the first school for black girls ("young Ladies and li ...

when she tried to open a school for educating young Black women in

Canterbury, Connecticut Canterbury is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 5,045 at the 2020 census. History The area was settled by English colonists in the 1680s as ...

. Burleigh wrote an article denouncing the actions of the Connecticut authorities for a newspaper called ''The Genius of Temperance,'' which led to him being asked in 1833 to be the editor of a fledgling newspaper ''The Unionist'', out of

Brooklyn, Connecticut Brooklyn is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The populat ...

(home of Crandall's supporter

Samuel 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 ...

). Burleigh was the antislavery editor of ''The Unionist'' and also the editor of '' The Pennsylvania Freeman'' after 1844. He served as secretary of the

American Anti-Slavery Society The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) was an Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist society in the United States. AASS formed in 1833 in response to the nullification crisis and the failures of existing anti-slavery organizations, ...

beginning in 1836, and was the editor of its annual reports. He traveled around the Northeast, particularly in Pennsylvania, visiting antislavery societies and helping other groups to organize their own anti-slavery groups. At the American Anti-Slavery Society convention in 1837 he promoted a resolution which called for allowing alleged fugitive slaves the right of trial by jury, he denounced the sin of slaveholding, and specifically highlighted contributions that women were making to the antislavery cause. Burleigh was a campaigner on many topics. He published a book, ''Thoughts on the Death Penalty,'' an early argument against

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

. He was also in favor of women's rights and participated in the 1850

National Women's Rights Convention The National Women's Rights Convention was an annual series of meetings that increased the visibility of the early women's rights movement in the United States. First held in 1850 in Worcester, Massachusetts, the National Women's Rights Conventio ...

in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was known as an effective and colorful orator, with very long hair and beard that he had vowed not to cut until slavery had ended in the United States.

Personal life

Burleigh was born in Plainfield, Connecticut, to Rinaldo Burleigh and Lydia Bradford, one of eight children including abolitionist Cyrus M. Burleigh. He attended Plainfield Academy and studied law; he was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in Connecticut in 1835. He married Gertrude Kimber, a Quaker from

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially referred to as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in ...

, on October 24, 1842, and they had three children, including the artist Charles Calistus Burleigh, Jr. He was killed by a passing railroad train in

Florence, Massachusetts Florence is a village in the northwestern portion of the city of Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. During the 19th century, Florence was a thriving manufacturing village shaped by progressive ideas on religion, aboliti ...

, in 1878.

References

External links

Thoughts on the Death Penalty
at Hathi Trust {{DEFAULTSORT:Burleigh, Charles Calistus 1810 births 1878 deaths Abolitionists from Connecticut People from Plainfield, Connecticut