Erastus Milo Cravath (1833–1900) was a pastor and

American Missionary Association The American Missionary Association (AMA) was a Protestant-based abolitionist group founded on in Albany, New York. The main purpose of the organization was abolition of slavery, education of African Americans, promotion of racial equality, and ...

(AMA) official who after the American Civil War, helped found

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

in Nashville, Tennessee, and numerous other historically black colleges in Georgia and Tennessee for the education of freedmen. He also served as president of Fisk University for more than 20 years.

Early life, education and family

Erastus Milo Cravath was born July 1, 1833, in Homer, New York, to Elizabeth "Betsey" Northway Cravath (born 1811) and Oren Birney Cravath (1806 – 1874) (alternately spelled Orin and Orrin), of French Huguenot ancestry. His father was one of a trio to form an

abolition Abolition refers to the act of putting an end to something by law, and may refer to: * Abolitionism, abolition of slavery * Abolition of the death penalty, also called capital punishment * Abolition of monarchy *Abolition of nuclear weapons *Abol ...

party in Homer, where the family had settled in 1830, at Route 281 and Cold Brook Road, the Cravath dwelling is now noted as the Salisbury-Pratt Homestead, a way station along the Underground Railroad to Canada. Erastus was raised in a household fervently devoted to the abolitionist cause and aiding refugee

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

."Personal Sketches: Rev. Erastus Milo Cravath"
''The American Missionary'', Vol. 48 (2), February 1894, ''Making of America'', Cornell University Library, accessed March 3, 2009Richard D. Sears
''Camp Nelson, Kentucky''
Lexington, Ky: University Press of Kentucky, 2002, p. 347. It was a time and place of progressive causes. The daughter of his brother, Bishop, Dr. May Hannah Cravath Wharton (1873 – 1959), left a noted autobiography, ''Doctor Woman of the Cumberlands'', an account of her years as a physician in rural Tennessee. A decade prior to the Civil War the Cravath family relocated to Oberlin, Ohio. Cravath was a student at the local common school, then Homer Academy, in New York. He subsequently studied at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

, graduating with a bachelor's, in 1857, then with a Master of Divinity degree in 1860. After devoting much of his adult life to religion and education, in 1886, Cravath earned a Doctor of Divinity degree at Grinnell College. In September 1860 Cravath married Ruth Anna Jackson, who was from a family of

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

s from Pennsylvania and England. The couple had at least three children, Elizabeth "Bessie" Northway (born October 7, 1868); Erastus Milo Cravath (born August 24, 1872);''New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 2''
William Richard Cutter, Editor, Lewis historical publishing Company, 1913, page 542. Retrieved December 1, 2021. and Paul Drennan Cravath, who became a noted lawyer and a co-founder of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

, which he served as inaugural vice-president, then as a director.

Career

Cravath became a pastor in the

Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

of Berlin Heights, Ohio, in what later became part of the United Church of Christ. He was an abolitionist. He entered the Union Army in December 1863, serving until the end of the war, including campaigns in Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee. By October 1865, Cravath had returned to Nashville. He became a Field Agent of the

(AMA), and worked to establish schools in the South for freedmen. He purchased land for the Fisk School, which he cofounded in 1866 with

John Ogden John Ogden may refer to: *John Ogden (colonist) (1609-1682), an American colonial leader *John Ogden (actor) (died 1732), a British stage actor * John B. Ogden (1812–?), 19th century Arkansas judge *John Ogden (academic), co-founder of Fisk Unive ...

, superintendent of education for the

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...

in Tennessee; and the Reverend Edward Parmelee Smith, also of the AMA. It accepted children and adults both for classes in various subjects, including reading, writing, and math. Within the first six months, the number of students climbed from 200 to 900. Using Fisk as his base, Cravath also started freedmen's schools at Macon, Milledgeville and Atlanta, Georgia; and at various points in Tennessee. In September 1866, Cravath became District Secretary of the AMA in Cincinnati, Ohio. By 1870, he had been promoted to Field Secretary at the AMA office in New York City. In 1875 Cravath returned to Fisk University as its president. He spent the next three years abroad touring with the Fisk Jubilee Singers to raise funds for the college. For more than 20 years, he led Fisk University, helping it through its growth and building campaign of the 1880s, and the steady expansion of education initiatives. Cravath lived in

St. Charles, Minnesota St. Charles is a city in Winona County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,735 at the 2010 census. It promotes itself as the gateway to Whitewater State Park, which is located north of the city on Minnesota State Highway 74. Histor ...

in his last years, where he died on September 4, 1900. His niece Georgia Laura White taught English at Fisk from 1934 to 1936, and served on the school's board of trustees.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cravath, Erastus Milo 1833 births 1900 deaths People from Homer, New York People of New York (state) in the American Civil War American religious leaders African-American history between emancipation and the civil rights movement United Church of Christ Fisk University faculty Presidents of Fisk University Oberlin College alumni Grinnell College alumni American Congregationalists Underground Railroad people Activists from New York (state) People from St. Charles, Minnesota Congregationalist abolitionists