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 The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, helped found

Fisk University Fisk University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus i ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, and numerous other

historically black college Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

s in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

for the education of

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

. 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 Homer is a town in Cortland County, New York, United States of America. The population was 6,405 at the 2010 census. The name is from the Greek poet Homer. The town of Homer contains a village called Homer. The town is situated on the west b ...

, to Elizabeth "Betsey" Northway Cravath (born 1811) and Oren Birney Cravath (1806 – 1874) (alternately spelled Orin and Orrin), of

French Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

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 *Capital punishment#Abolition of capital punishment, Abolition of the death penalty, also called capital punishment *Abolitio ...

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 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 ...

to Canada. Erastus was raised in a household fervently devoted to the

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 ...

cause and aiding refugee

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

."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 A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

the Cravath family relocated to

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located about southwest of Cleveland within the Cleveland metropolitan area. The population was 8,555 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin ...

. 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, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

, 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 Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...

. In September 1860 Cravath married Ruth Anna Jackson, who was from a family of

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

s from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

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 Paul Drennan Cravath (July 14, 1861 – July 1, 1940) was an American corporate lawyer and presiding partner of the New York law firm known today as Cravath, Swaine & Moore. At the firm, he devised and implemented the Cravath System, which has ...

, 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 focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

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

Career

Cravath became a pastor in the

Congregational Church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

Berlin Heights, Ohio Berlin Heights is a village in Berlin Township, Erie County, Ohio, United States. The population was 651 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Sandusky, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. History In the late 1850s a branch of the "free love" ...

, in what later became part of the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

. He was an abolitionist. He entered the Union Army in December 1863, serving until the end of the war, including campaigns in

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

and

. 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 Un ...

, 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 a U.S. government agency of early post American Civil War Reconstruction, assisting freedmen (i.e., former enslaved people) in the ...

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 Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

; and at various points in Tennessee. In September 1866, Cravath became District Secretary of the AMA in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. By 1870, he had been promoted to Field Secretary at the AMA office in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 1875 Cravath returned to Fisk University as its president. He spent the next three years abroad touring with the

Fisk Jubilee Singers The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American a cappella ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for college. Their early ...

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, 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 Christian 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