Cad-Cat: Cady through Catto

See below for annotated biographies of American abolitionists and anti-slavery activists. Sources include: Scribner’s Dictionary of American Biography and Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography.


CADY, Josiah, Providence, Rhode Island, abolitionist.  Manager and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.

(Abolitionist, Volume I, No. XII, December, 1833)


CALDWELL, Elias Boudinet, founding officer and first Secretary of the American Colonization society, Washington, DC, December 1816. 

(Burin, Eric. Slavery and the Peculiar Solution: A History of the American Colonization Society. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida, 2005, p. 14; Campbell, Penelope. Maryland in Africa: The Maryland State Colonization Society, 1831-1857. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1971, p. 7; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 24-27, 29, 30, 74, 97)


CALDWELL, Joseph, Dr., Reverend, 1773-1835, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, university president.  Chief officer of the Chapel Hill auxiliary of the American Colonization Society. 

(Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, pp. 497-498; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume 2, Pt. 1, p. 409; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, pp. 497-498:

CALDWELL, Joseph, educator, born in Lammington, New Jersey, 21 April, 1773; died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 24 January, 1835. He was graduated at Princeton in 1791, delivering the Latin salutatory, and then taught school in Lammington and Elizabethtown, where he began the study of divinity. He became tutor at Princeton in April, 1795, and in 1796 was appointed professor of mathematics in the University of North Carolina. He found the institution, then only five years old, in a feeble state, nearly destitute of buildings, library, and apparatus, and to him is ascribed the merit of having saved it from ruin. He was made its president in 1804, and held the office till his death, with the exception of the years from 1812 till 1817. Princeton gave him the degree of D. D. in 1816. In 1824 he visited Europe to purchase apparatus and select books for the library of the university. A monument to his memory has been erected in the grove surrounding the university buildings. Dr. Caldwell published “A Compendious System of Elementary Geometry,” with a subjoined treatise on plane trigonometry (1822), and “Letters of Carleton” (1825). The latter had previously appeared in a newspaper in Raleigh, and were designed to awaken an interest in internal improvements. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.


CAMERON, SIMON (March 8, 1799-June 26, 1889), senator, secretary of war, 1861-1862 under Lincoln diplomat, Cameron decided to support the newly established anti-slavery Republican party and in 1856 actively supported John C. Fremont for President.

(Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, p. 508; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume II, Pt. 1, pp. 437-438)

Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume II, Pt. 1, pp. 437-438:

CAMERON, SIMON (March 8, 1799-June 26, 1889), senator, secretary of war, diplomat, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, of Scotch and German ancestry, the son of Charles and Martha (Pfoutz) Cameron. Reverses and misfortunes in his father's family cast him upon the world early and he was obliged to apprentice himself for a time in a printing business in Harrisburg. In January 1821, at the solicitation of Samuel D. Ingham, he went to Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where he edited the Bucks County Messenger, soon merged with the Doylestown Democrat as the Bucks County Democrat. On the decease of this paper at the close of the year 1821, he returned to Harrisburg for a short time as partner of Charles Mowry in the management of the Pennsylvania Intelligencer, but during 1822 he went to Washington to study national political movements, obtained work in the printing house of Gales & Seaton who printed the congressional debates, and spent his spare time in the houses of Congress and in making useful friends, among them Monroe and Calhoun. About 1824 he returned to Harrisburg, bought the Republican, and was soon exercising considerable influence in state and national politics. He was then, as later, a staunch advocate of the protective tariff. The remunerative position of state printer was given him and in 1826 he was made adjutant-general of the state. Newspaper editing did not hold him long. As soon as his position was established and his purse sufficient, he left the press and entered pursuits which promised greater financial gain. It was the era of internal improvements, and the ambitious young Cameron was quick to see money-making possibilities. He became a contractor for the construction of canals and began a network of railroads in Pennsylvania which he later united into the Northern Central Railroad. In 1832 he set up the Bank of Middletown with himself as cashier, and soon afterward entered the iron business. Subsequently he also engaged in insurance and became interested in other projects. Notwithstanding the diversity of these undertakings Cameron managed them with skill and success and amassed a fortune. At no time, however, did he lose his interest in state and national politics. It was partly through his efforts that the state legislature in 1830 was induced to head a movement for Jackson's renomination, and two years later he aided materially in having Van Buren nominated for vice-president in place of Calhoun. It was also largely through Cameron's maneuvering that James Buchanan was sent to the Senate in 1833 just at the time when he despaired of political opportunities and was seriously considering a return to the practise of law. Prior to 1838 Cameron had held no public office except the position of adjutant-general of Pennsylvania, but in that year he received an appointment as commissioner to settle certain claims of the Winnebago Indians, a place he acquired with Buchanan's assistance. Considerable scandal arose from his activities because of his adjusting the claims by the payment of notes on his own bank, an arrangement which enriched himself and earned for him the derisive sobriquet, "The Great Winnebago Chief." Following this episode, Cameron's political influence decreased for a time, but actually his career as a great politician was only beginning. In 1845 by a coalition of Whigs, Native Americans, and Protectionist Democrats he won the Senate seat vacated by Buchanan who resigned to enter Polk's cabinet. Buchanan was irritated at Cameron's defeat of the regular party candidate, George Woodward, a free-trader, and the two men parted political company. Alexander K. McClure, an old political foe, has written that from 1845 until Cameron's death nearly a half-century later, "There is not an important complete chapter of political history in the State that can be written with the omission of his defeats or triumphs, and even after his death until the present time [1905] no important chapter of political history can be fully written without recognizing his successors and assigns in politics as leading or controlling factors" (Old Time Nates of Pennsylvania, 1905, I, 98). Still, the victory of 1845 did not crown Cameron as the political czar of his state. He had won by fusion methods and incurred bitter Democratic opposition. In 1849 he was unable to command Democratic support and failed to effect a strong enough coalition in the legislature to win a reelection. His first term in the Senate is of interest principally because in 1846 he made the one important speech of his career. It was in opposition to the Walker revenue tariff. Another attempt in 1855 to return to the Senate with Know-Nothing support also resulted in failure. Cameron then decided to cast his lot with the new Republican party and in 1856 actively supported Fremont for President. The following year Republican backing and three Democratic votes, obtained by bargaining, enabled him to return to the Senate. There he became an implacable foe of President Buchanan. Cameron's political somersaulting was now at an end; he remained a Republican for the rest of his life and gave much of his time and energy to the building up of a smooth running party machine in Pennsylvania. In the management and control of it he was unequalled. His leadership was sometimes challenged; he suffered subsequent defeats; but no one ever dislodged him from control of the organization. In 1860 it helped him to make a presentable showing in the Republican national convention as a candidate for president. He could not be nominated, but his henchmen traded Pennsylvania votes for Lincoln in exchange for a cabinet post for Cameron. After much hesitation Lincoln abided by the bargain his managers had made without his consent. Cameron resigned his seat in the Senate and became secretary of war. The choice proved a most unfortunate one. Although Cameron was an able business executive, political considerations too often governed his judgments and his actions in departmental administration. He dispensed civil and military offices and army contracts in a notorious fashion; corruption became rampant. Although it does not appear that he enriched himself, there were many who did profit shamefully. Complaints against his management and his favoritism poured into Washington almost daily and demands for his removal were persistent. In an effort to retrieve popular support he began to advocate the freeing and arming of slaves, policies which were rapidly gaining public favor, but which were not then acceptable to the President. So embarrassing did the Secretary's presence become that Lincoln in January 1862 appointed him minister to Russia to be rid of him. Three months later the House of Representatives censured his conduct in the handling of contracts. Cameron had no intention of remaining long in Russia, however, and was back in the United States in time to try for the Senate again in 1863. He failed of election, but in 1867, after a struggle of unexampled desperation, was successful. For ten years thereafter the Senator reigned supreme in Pennsylvania, and in 1873 returned to the Senate without a contest. He also became a power in Grant's administration, controlled the patronage of his state, and in 1876 succeeded in having his son, James Donald Cameron [q.v.], appointed secretary of war. When President Hayes in 1877 refused to continue the son in that office, Cameron resigned his own place in the Senate upon receiving assurances from the subservient Pennsylvania legislature that it would elect his son as his successor. With this bold stroke the Senator closed his remarkable political career. At the same time he handed over to his son the control of the state machine. No politician of his generation understood the science of politics better than Simon Cameron; none enjoyed greater power. He studied and understood individuals who could be of service to him; he knew the precise value of men and could marshal them when occasion arose. His methods were often circuitous, the means employed were often questionable, but the end in view was always clear. Cameron was of broad intellectual force, if not of fine learning; he could employ his faculties to the utmost and meet each new problem in an eminently practical way. He could be patient and conservative, or keen and aggressive, as the situation demanded. Tradition and precedent bore lightly upon him and were promptly brushed aside when new conditions and necessities arose. He lived in a time when men firmly believed that "to the victor belongs the spoils, "and to this doctrine he gladly subscribed. By patronage he built up a political despotism in Pennsylvania; with it he rewarded his friends and punished his foes. It was commonly said that he never forgot a friend or an enemy. In his senatorial career there was little that was statesmanlike or brilliant. He had no aptitude for Websterian oratory or flights of verbal fancy. He said little in public that was vital, but did much in private that was practical, far-seeing, and astute. His business in the Senate, as elsewhere, was politics, and he governed his conduct accordingly. In appearance he was tall and slim, with a "marked Scotch face," keen gray eyes, a high broad forehead crowned with a luxuriant crop of hair. His manners and speech were kindly and gentle, and his genial, democratic manner won many people to him. He prided himself on possessing the doggedness and determination of his German forebears and the aggressiveness of the "Scotch rebels." His fighting qualities were great. Time dealt lightly with him and at the end of his half-century of political activity and struggle, he was hale and hearty as ever. For twelve years after leaving the Senate he enjoyed freedom from the cares and perplexities of political life on his farm at Donegal Springs, and saw his son three times elected to the place he had surrendered to him. In his ninety-first year, rich in honors and fortune, he passed away. His wife Margaret Brua died several years before, leaving five children.

[The Coryell and Buchanan papers in the Pennsylvania Historical Society contain a number of Cameron letters relating to his earlier years. Some others written in later life are to be found in the Library of Congress, in the manuscript collections of his political contemporaries. The files of the War Department and the Official Records contain most of his war correspondence, and the "Report of the Committee on Contracts" (House Report No. 2, 37 Congress, 2 Session) reveals much regarding his deficiencies as secretary of war. The most useful accounts of his life are in Alexander K. McClure, Old Time Notes of Pennsylvania (1905) and Abraham Lincoln and Men of War Time (1892).These are critical, but not unfriendly. Standard histories and the biographies of public men of Cameron's time also are helpful. Additional information is to be found in A.H. Meneely, The War Department, 1861 (1928); Ellis and Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (1883); New York Times, March 13, 14, 1877, June 3, 1878, June 27, 1889; Pittsburgh Dispatch, June 27, 1889; Harrisburg Daily Patriot, June 27, 1889; Philadelphia Press, March 13, 14, 15, 1877, January 20, June 27, 1889.]

A. H. M.

Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, p. 508:

CAMERON, Simon, statesman, born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 8 March, 1799; died there, 26 June, 1889. He early received a fair English education, and began to learn the printer's trade when but nine years of age. He worked as a journeyman in Lancaster, Harrisburg, and Washington, and so improved his opportunities that in 1820 he was editing a newspaper in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and in 1822 one in Harrisburg. As soon as he had accumulated sufficient capital he became interested in banking and in railroad construction in the central part of the state. He was for a time adjutant-general of Pennsylvania. He was elected to the U. S. senate in 1845 for the term ending in 1849, and during this period acted with the democrats on important party questions, such as the Missouri compromise bill. This was repealed in 1854, and Mr. Cameron became identified with the “people's party,” subsequently merged with the republicans. As its candidate he was re-elected to the senate for the full term of six years beginning in 1857, a period that covered the exciting crisis of secession. During this time he was so earnest an advocate of peace that his loyalty was suspected. At the republican convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln he was strongly supported for the presidency, and again for the vice-presidency; but lack of harmony in the Pennsylvania delegation prevented his nomination to the latter office. Mr. Lincoln at once called him to the cabinet as secretary of war, and he proved equal to the arduous duties of the place. He advocated more stringent and aggressive war measures than Mr. Lincoln was prepared to carry out, and when General Butler asked for instructions regarding fugitive slaves, directed him to employ them “under such organizations and in such occupations as exigencies may suggest or require.” Similar instructions were given to General Sherman and other officers in the field. In the original draft of his annual report to congress, in December, 1861, he boldly advocated arming fugitive slaves; but this was modified, on consultation with the cabinet. Mr. Cameron resigned the secretaryship 11 January, 1862, was at once appointed minister to Russia, and his influence undoubtedly tended in a large measure to secure the friendship of that powerful nation during the civil war. His official conduct in a certain transaction was censured by the house of representatives, 30 April, 1862; but Mr. Lincoln immediately sent a message assuming, with the other heads of departments, an equal share in the responsibility. He resigned as minister to Russia 8 November, 1862, and remained at home until 1866, when he was elected U. S. senator, and appointed chairman of the committee on foreign affairs on the retirement of Mr. Sumner in 1872. He was sent to the senate for the fourth time in 1873, but resigned in favor of his son. During the years of his active public life he was a powerful political leader, practically dictating the policy of the republican party in Pennsylvania, and wielding a strong influence over its policy in the nation at large. The accompanying view represents “Lochiel,” the residence at Harrisburg of the “Czar of Pennsylvania politics,” as Cameron has been called. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.


CAMP, David M., Swanton, Vermont, abolitionist.  American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1837-40.


CAMPBELL, A. R., Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Abolition Society, Executive Committee, 1842-46, 1846-.


CAMPBELL, Alexander, 1779-1857, anti-slavery activist, born Virginia, moved to Ohio in 1830, representative to the Ohio legislature, member of the U.S. Senate, 1809-1813, first Vice President of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society, 1835.

(Dumond, Dwight Lowell, Antislavery: The Crusade for Freedom in America, University of Michigan Press, 1961, p. 93)


CAMPBELL, Alfred G., abolitionist, Trenton, New Jersey, Paterson, New Jersey, American Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1849-50, 1854-64, Manager, 1852-53.


CAMPBELL, Amos, 1833-1837, Ackworth, New Hampshire, abolitionist.  Manager and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.

(Abolitionist, Volume I, No. XII, December, 1833)


CAMPBELL, Archibald, New York, abolitionist leader.

(Sorin, Gerald. The New York Abolitionists: A Case Study of Political Radicalism. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Corporation, 1971)


CAMPBELL, David, Andover, Ohio, abolitionist. American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1841-1842.


CAMPBELL, George W., Reverend, South Berwick, Maine.  Agent of the American Colonization Society.  Traveled in New York and Vermont. 

(Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 131)


CAMPBELL, Robert, Georgia, American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1838-1841. 

(Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)


CAMPBELL, Thomas, Campbell County, Ohio, abolitionist.  Ohio Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1836-38.


CAMPBELL, Tunis Gulic, 1812-1891, African American abolitionist, Georgia political leader, moral reformer, temperance activist and lecturer.  Lectured with Frederick Douglass. Worked to help resettle recently-freed slaves near Port Royal, South Carolina.  Later was Bureau agent for Freedman’s Bureau on Georgia Islands.  Resisted acts to reverse gains made by African Americans by President Johnson administration during Reconstruction.

(Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Volume 2, p. 500; American National Biography, 2002, Volume 4, p. 299.)


CANNING, Stratford, British Minister to the United States.  Supporter of the American Colonization society. 

(Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 70)


CAPRON, Effingham L., 1791-1851, New England, Smithfield, Rhode Island, Uxbridge, Massachusetts, Society of Friends, Quaker, philanthropist, abolitionist.  Vice president, 1833-1837, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  Vice president, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1836-1840, 1840-1860. 

(Drake, Thomas. Quakers and Slavery in America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1950, pp. 137-140; Abolitionist, Volume I, No. XII, December, 1833).


CARBERRY, Thomas, charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, in 1816. 

(Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)


CAREY, George, abolitionist, Cincinnati, Ohio, American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1837-40.


CAREY, Mathew, 1760-1839, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, publisher, philanthropist.  Strong advocate for colonization and the American Colonization Society.  Printed pamphlets for the Society, “Letters on the Colonization Society.” 

(Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, pp. 524-525; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume 2, Pt. 1, p. 491; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 128, 183, 215)

Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, pp. 524-525:

CAREY, Mathew, publisher, born in Ireland, 28 January, 1760; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 16 September, 1839. He received a liberal education, and when he was fifteen years old his father gave him a list of twenty-five trades from which to make the choice of his life-work. He selected the business of printer and bookseller, and two years afterward brought out his first pamphlet, a treatise on duelling, followed by an address to Irish Catholics, so inflammatory that young Carey was obliged to avoid prosecution by flight to Paris. During his stay there he became acquainted with Benjamin Franklin, then representing the United States at the court of Versailles, who gave him employment. Returning to Ireland after a year's stay, he established a new paper called the “Volunteer’s Journal,” which, by its bold and able opposition to the government, became a power in politics, and eventually brought about the legislative independence of Ireland. A too violent attack upon parliament and the ministry led to his arraignment before the house of commons for libel in 1784, and he was imprisoned until the dissolution of parliament. After his liberation he sailed for America, reaching Philadelphia, 15 November, 1784, and two months afterward began to publish “The Pennsylvania Herald,” the first newspaper in the United States that furnished accurate reports of legislative debates, Carey acting as his own reporter. He fought a duel with Colonel Oswald, editor of a rival journal, and received a wound that confined him to his house for more than sixteen months. Soon after this he began the publication of “The American Museum,” which he conducted for six years. In 1791 he married, and opened a small bookselling shop. During the yellow-fever epidemic two years later he was a member of the committee of health, and tireless in his efforts for the relief of sufferers. The results of his extensive observation were collected and published in his “History of the Yellow Fever of 1793.” In the same year he founded the Hibernian society. In 1796 he was one of a few citizens who, under the direction of Bishop White, formed the first American Sunday-school society. With characteristic vigor he engaged in the discussions concerning the United States bank, writing articles for newspapers and publishing pamphlets, which he distributed at his own expense. In 1814 appeared his “Olive Branch, or Faults on Both Sides, Federal and Democratic,” designed to harmonize the antagonistic parties of the country pending the war with Great Britain. It passed through ten editions, and is still a recognized authority in regard to the political history of the period. In 1819 he published his “Vindici­æ Hibernicæ,” an examination and refutation of the charges against his countrymen in reference to the butcheries alleged to have been committed by them in the rebellion of 1641. From this time he devoted himself almost exclusively to politico-commercial pursuits, publishing in 1820 the “New Olive Branch,” in which he endeavored to show how harmonious were the real interests of the various classes of society, and in 1822 “Essays on Political Economy.” This was followed by a series of tracts extending to more than 2,000 pages. The object of all these was to demonstrate the necessity of the protective system as the only means of advancing the real interests of all classes in the community. He was active in the promotion of all the public works of the city and state, and advocated the system of internal improvements that led to the construction of the Pennsylvania canals. He interested himself in forwarding education and in establishing the charitable institutions for which Philadelphia is now famous. In 1833-'4 he contributed his autobiography to the “New England Magazine.”  Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.


CAREY, Shepard, 1805-1866, Maine, abolitionist, political leader.  U.S. House of Representatives, 1843, 1850-1853.  Candidate for Governor in Liberty Party in Maine in 1854, lost.


CARLTON, William, Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Abolition Society, Vice-President, 1839-


CARMAN, Joshua, clergyman, anti-slavery activist, founded anti-slavery church, Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1796, leader of Emancipating Baptists

(Dumond, Dwight Lowell, Antislavery: The Crusade for Freedom in America, University of Michigan Press, 1961, p. 91; Locke, 1901, pp. 44, 90)


CARMICHAEL, Daniel, abolitionist, Brooklyn, New York, American Anti-Slavery Society, Executive Committee, 1843-44, 1845-46.


CARPENTER, James, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Abolition Society, Executive Committee, 1843-.


CARPENTER, Philo, 1805-1886, Chicago, Illinois, pharmacist, abolitionist.  Helped found Chicago chapter of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1838, along with Dr. Charles V. Dyer, Calvin DeWolf and Robert V. Dyer.  Active as a conductor on the Underground Railroad.  His home was used to hide fugitive slaves escaping north to Canada.

(Campbell, Tom, Fighting Slavery in Chicago, Chicago, IL: Ampersand, Inc., 2009)


CARR, Overton, founding charger member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, December 1816. 

(Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)


CARRINGTON, William, Virginia.  Strong supporter of the American Colonization Society.  Contributed funds to the Society. 

(Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)


CARROLL, Charles, 1737-1832, Carrollton, Maryland, founding father, signer of the Declaration of Independence.  President of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  Head of the Baltimore auxiliary of the ACS. 

(Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, pp. 536-537; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume 2, Pt. 1, p. 522; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 70, 110-111, 183)

Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, pp. 536-537:

CARROLL, Charles, of Carrollton, last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, born in Annapolis, Maryland, 20 September, 1737; died in Baltimore, 14 November, 1832. The sept of the O’Carrolls was one of the most ancient and powerful in Ireland. They were princes and lords of Ely from the 12th to the 16th century. They sprang from the kings of Munster, and intermarried with the great houses of Ormond and Desmond in Ireland, and Argyll in Scotland. Charles Carroll, grandfather of Carroll of Carrollton, was a clerk in the office of Lord Powis in the reign of James II., and emigrated to Maryland upon the accession of William and Mary in 1689. In 1691 he was appointed judge and register of the land-office, and agent and receiver for Lord Baltimore's rents. His son Charles was born in 1702, and died in 1782, leaving his son Charles, the signer, whose mother was Elizabeth Brook. Carroll of Carrollton, at the age of eight years, was sent to France to be educated under the care of the Society of Jesus, which had controlled the Roman Catholics of Maryland since its foundation. He remained six years in the Jesuit college at St. Omer's, one year in their college at Rheims, and two years in the college of Louis Le Grand. Thence he went for a year to Bourges to study civil law, and from there he returned to college at Paris. In 1757 he entered the Middle Temple, London, for the study of the common law, and returned to Maryland in 1765. In June, 1768, he married Mary Darnall, daughter of Colonel Henry Darnall, a young lady of beauty, fortune, and ancient family. Carroll found the public mind in a ferment over many fundamental principles of government and of civil liberty. In a province founded by Roman Catholics on the basis of religious toleration, the education of Catholics in their own schools had been prohibited by law, and Carroll himself had just returned from a foreign land, whither he had been driven by the intolerance of his home authorities to seek a liberal education. Not only were Roman Catholics under the ban of disfranchisement, but all persons of every faith and no faith were taxed to support the established church, which was the church of England. The discussion as to the right of taxation for the support of religion soon extended from the legislature to the public press. Carroll, over the signature “The First Citizen,” in a series of articles in the “Maryland Gazette,” attacked the validity of the law imposing the tax. The church establishment was defended by Daniel Dulany, leader of the colonial bar, whose ability and learning were so generally acknowledged that his opinions were quoted as authority on colonial law in Westminster hall, and are published to this day, as such, in the Maryland law reports. In this discussion Carroll acquitted himself with such ability that he received the thanks of public meetings all over the province, and at once became one of the “first citizens.” In December, 1774, he was appointed one of the committee of correspondence for the province, as one of the initial steps of the revolution in Maryland, and in 1775 was elected one of the council of safety. He was elected delegate to the revolutionary convention from Anne Arundel county, which met at Annapolis, 7 December, 1775. In January, 1776, he was appointed by the Continental congress one of the commissioners to go to Canada and induce those colonies to unite with the rest in resistance to Great Britain. On 4 July, 1776, he, with Matthew Tilghman, Thomas Johnson, William Paca, Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, and Robert Alexander, was elected deputy from Maryland to the Continental congress. On 12 January, 1776, Maryland had instructed her deputies in congress not to consent to a declaration of independence without the knowledge and approbation of the convention. Mainly owing to the zealous efforts of Carroll and his subsequent colleagues, the Maryland convention, on 28 June, 1776, had rescinded this instruction, and unanimously directed its representatives in congress to unite in declaring “the united colonies free and independent states,” and on 6 July declared Maryland a free, sovereign, and independent state. Armed with this authority, Carroll took his seat in congress at Philadelphia, 18 July, 1776, and on 2 August, 1776, with the rest of the deputies of the thirteen states, signed the Declaration of Independence. It is said that he affixed the addition “of Carrollton” to his signature in order to distinguish him from his kinsman, Charles Carroll, barrister and to assume the certain responsibility himself of his act. He was made a member of the board of war, and served in congress until 10 November, 1776. In December, 1776, he was chosen a member of the first senate of Maryland, in 1777 again sent to congress, serving on the committee that visited Valley Forge to investigate complaints against General Washington, and in 1788 elected the first senator from the state of Maryland under the constitution of the United States. He drew the short term of two years in the federal senate in 1791, and was again elected to the state senate, remaining there till 1801. In 1797 he was one of the commissioners to settle the boundary-line between Maryland and Virginia. On 23 April, 1827, he was elected one of the directors of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company, and on 4 July, 1828, laid the foundation-stone of the beginning of that undertaking. His biographer, John H. B. Latrobe, writes to the senior editor of this Cyclopædia: “After I had finished my work I took it to Mr. Carroll, whom I knew very well indeed, and read it to him, as he was seated in an arm-chair in his own room in his son-in-law's house in Baltimore. He listened with marked attention and without a comment until I had ceased to read, when, after a pause, he said: ‘Why, Latrobe, you have made a much greater man of me than I ever thought I was; and yet really you have said nothing in what you have written that is not true.’ . . . In my mind's eye I see Mr. Carroll now—a small, attenuated old man, with a prominent nose and somewhat receding chin, small eyes that sparkled when he was interested in conversation. His head was small and his hair white, rather long and silky, while his face and forehead were seamed with wrinkles. But, old and feeble as he seemed to be, his manner and speech were those of a refined and courteous gentleman, and you saw at a glance whence came by inheritance the charm of manner that so eminently distinguished his son, Charles Carroll of Homewood, and his daughters, Mrs. Harper and Mrs. Caton.” The accompanying view represents his spacious mansion, known as Carrollton, still owned and occupied by his descendants. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Biography from National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans:

IT has been asserted that the American colonies, now the United States, began seriously to entertain the design of throwing off their allegiance to the British king, soon after the conquest of Canada by the arms of the British and provincial forces. There is, however, no evidence to sustain that assertion; and the probability is, that the colonies, although they each had cause for discontent, had never been united in their complaints until the British parliament united them by a series of general grievances. The charters granted to the various colonies had been uniformly violated so soon as they began to thrive; and they, in their weakness and sincere attachment to “the mother country,” had patiently submitted. Yet it is evident that they retained, from generation to generation, a lively sense of their natural and chartered rights. The descendants of those who had braved the dangers and hardships of the wilderness for the sake of civil and religious liberty, inherited the spirit of their fathers;—what the fathers had gained by patient toil, unbending fortitude, or by charter from the king, their children claimed as their birthright.

In 1764, parliament, for the first time, attempted to raise a revenue in the colonies without their consent. This led to a discussion of the right in the provincial assemblies and among the people, and the general sentiment appears to have been, that “taxation and representation were inseparable.” In 1765 the famous Stamp Act was passed; and the policy of the British government being unveiled, an universal expression of indignation and opposition was echoed through the colonies. In addition to these general causes for complaint, each colony remembered its own individual grievances. It is only our purpose, on this occasion, to trace the causes of discontent in Maryland; and to show, that when her sons embarked their “lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor,” in their country’s cause, they had reason and justice on their side.

The charter of Maryland was obtained by Lord Baltimore, from Charles I., in June, 1632. By the charter it was declared, that the grantee was actuated by a laudable zeal for extending the Christian religion and the territories of the empire. Lord Baltimore was a Roman Catholic; and his avowed intention was, to erect an asylum in America for the Catholic faith. In honor of the queen the province was named, and its endowment was accompanied with immunities more ample than any other of the colonies. Lord Baltimore was created the absolute proprietary, saving the allegiance due to the crown—license was given to all British subjects to transport themselves thither, and they and their posterity were declared entitled to the liberties of Englishmen, as if they had been born within the kingdom; with powers to make laws for the province, “not repugnant to the jurisprudence of England,”—power was given to the proprietary, with assent of the people, to impose all just and proper subsidies, which were granted to him for ever; and it was covenanted on the part of the king, that neither he nor his successors should at any time impose, or cause to be imposed, any tollages on the colonists, or their goods and tenements, or on their commodities, to be laden within the province. The proprietary was also authorized to appoint officers, repel invasions, and suppress rebellions. The charter contained no special reservative of royal prerogative to interfere in the government of the province. Thus was laid the foundation of a popular government not likely to be willingly renounced when once possessed.

No efforts were spared by Lord Baltimore to facilitate the population and happiness of the colony; and in five years it had increased to such an extent that a code of laws became necessary. Lord Baltimore composed and submitted a body of laws to the colonists for their assent, but they not approving of them, prepared a code for themselves. At a very early period the proprietary had declared in favor of religious toleration; in 1649 the assembly adopted that principle by declaring, “that no persons professing to believe in JESUS CHRIST should be molested in respect to their religion, or in the free exercise thereof;” thus meriting the distinguished praise of being the first of the American States in which religious toleration was established by law. In 1654 Cromwell sent commissioners to reduce the colony to his subjection, who, although they met with no opposition in Maryland, abolished its institutions and introduced religious discord. They inflamed the Protestants against the Catholics, until, exasperated to extremity, the parties met in an engagement, when the partizans of the proprietary government were defeated, the governor deposed, and a new assembly formed, by which a law was passed depriving the Catholics of the protection of law in the community. With the restoration of Charles II., in 1661, tranquillity was restored to the province; but in a few years that tranquillity was again disturbed by a series of petty vexations, originating in the strife and jealousy of the ruling party in Britain, on account of religion. The king’s ministers commanded that all the offices of the provincial government should in future be committed exclusively to Protestants, and not only in this was the charter violated, but also by the appointment of revenue officers and the exacting of imposts. In 1686 James II. determined to overthrow the proprietary governments of the colonies, but the more important affairs in which he was engaged at home, during his short reign, prevented the consummation of his threat.*[1] On the accession of William III. a Protestant association was formed, which, under the authority and approbation of the king, usurped the direction of the affairs of the province, keeping up the farce of a Papist plot as an excuse for their conduct. Lord Baltimore was deprived, by an act of the privy council, of the political administration, although they could find no fault in him, except that he was of the Catholic faith. With the proprietary’s government the liberal principles of his administration were subverted. The Church of England was established, and a tax levied to support it.

Sanctioned by the authority and instructed by the example of the British government, the newly modelled legislature of Maryland proceeded to enact a series of laws which completely disfranchised the Catholics, by depriving them of all political and religious privileges, and of the ordinary means of education. By an act, passed in 1704 and renewed in 1715, it was ordained that the celebration of Mass, or the education of youth by a Papist, should be punished by transportation to England. These acts were afterwards modified; but the evils inflicted on the colony by the violations of the charter, were not removed until the connection with Great Britain was dissolved by the Revolution. In 1702, in the midst of this state of affairs, Charles Carroll, the father of CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON, was born. We may readily suppose with what attachment to the royal cause he arrived at manhood. We are informed that “he took an active part in the affairs of the provincial government; and in the religious disputes of the times stood prominent as one of the leading and most influential members of the Catholic party.” On the eighth of September, 1737, O. S., his son, CHARLES CARROLL, surnamed OF CARROLLTON, was born at Annapolis; and at eight years old was taken to France to be educated. He remained there until 1757, when he visited London and commenced the study of law. In 1764, he returned to Maryland a finished scholar and an accomplished gentleman. About this period the respective rights of the colonies and of the king’s government began to be discussed; religious disputes subsided and were forgotten, in the new and interesting topics of the time. The celebrated Stamp Act, in 1765, produced an universal excitement, and elicited, from men of the highest character and talents in the country, the most energetic and decisive expressions of opinion. Among those who came boldly forward in vindication of the colonists was CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON.

The Stamp Act was repealed and the excitement ceased; but in the colonies the principle of parliamentary taxation was a settled question.

In June, 1768, Mr. CARROLL married.

In 1771-2, Mr. CARROLL’S talents as an advocate of popular rights, were again brought into requisition. The house of delegates, after an investigation, framed and passed a law regulating the fees of the civil officers of the colonial government, but the upper house refused to concur in it. After the adjournment of the assembly, the governor issued a proclamation commanding and enjoining all officers not to take other or greater fees than those therein mentioned. The people viewed this measure as an attempt to fix a tax upon them by proclamation, and in that light considered it as an unjust and arbitrary exercise of official authority. A newspaper contest ensued between numerous advocates of the people and of the governor. At length the parties stood in silence watching the progress of a single combat between the champion of the people, Mr. CARROLL, and his antagonist, the provincial secretary. In this controversy, Mr. CARROLL’S talents and principles were brought fully before the public, and received the applause of the prominent men of the day. His antagonist was silenced, and the governor’s proclamation suspended on a gallows and burnt by the common hangman. The above controversy was conducted by the parties under fictitious signatures, and before it was known who had been the writer to whom the laurel was awarded, the citizens of Annapolis instructed their representatives to address a letter of thanks, through the newspaper, to the “distinguished advocate of the rights of his country;” but when it was generally known that “the distinguished advocate,” was CHARLES CARROLL, “the people of Annapolis, not satisfied with the letter of the delegates, came in a body to thank him for his exertions in defence of their rights.” Mr. CARROLL had evidently made up his mind to abide the issue of the contest, which he foresaw had only been commenced with the pen to be terminated with the bayonet; and he took repeated occasions so to express his convictions to friends and foes. As the great drama of the Revolution advanced, Mr. CARROLL’S popularity evidently became more extensive, and his advice and influence more frequently sought. After the delegates in 1774 had prohibited the importation of tea, a brig arrived at Annapolis with a quantity on board; it was court time, and a great number of people were assembled from the neighboring counties, and so irritated were they, that personal violence was threatened to the captain and consignees of the vessel and destruction to the cargo. Application was made to Mr. CARROLL for advice and protection, by the owner of the vessel. He advised him to burn the vessel and the tea it contained to the water’s edge, as the most effectual means of allaying the popular excitement. His counsel was followed, the sails were set, the colors displayed, and the brig burnt amidst the acclamations of the multitude.

In February, 1776, Mr. CARROLL, then a member of the Maryland convention, was appointed by the continental congress on a commission to visit Canada, in conjunction with Dr. Franklin, Samuel Chase, and the Reverend John Carroll, the object of which was to induce the Canadians to unite their efforts with the United Provinces in the struggle for liberty; but the defeat of Montgomery’s army, the contributions levied on the inhabitants, and the invincible opposition of the priests, rendered their mission abortive. Mr. CARROLL returned to Philadelphia just as the subject of independence was under discussion; he was decidedly in favor of it, but was not a member of congress; and the delegates from Maryland had been instructed to refuse their assent to it. He proceeded to Annapolis with all speed, and in his place in the convention advocated the cause of independence with such effect, that on the 28th of June new instructions were given in the place of the old ones, and on the 4th of July, 1776, the votes of the Maryland delegation were given for independence.

On the same day, Mr. CARROLL was appointed a delegate to congress, and took his seat as a member, for the first time, on the 18th. On the next day a secret resolution was adopted, directing the Declaration to be engrossed on parchment, and signed by all the members, which was accordingly done on the 2d of August. As Mr. CARROLL had not given a vote on the adoption of that instrument, he was asked by the President if he would sign it; “most willingly,” he replied, and immediately affixed his name to that “record of glory,” which has endeared him to his country, and rendered his name immortal. By those who have the curiosity to compare that signature with the autograph accompanying our portrait, it will be perceived that the first was traced by a firm and manly hand, the latter after a lapse of more than half a century, and at an age when “the keepers of the house tremble.” Both fac similes are correct.

Mr. CARROLL assisted in the formation of the constitution of Maryland in 1776, and continued in congress until 1778.

He served in the senate of the state for several years, was a member of the United States senate, from 1788 to 1791, from which time until 1801 he was an active member of the senate of his native state.

For the next thirty years he dwelt in the retirement of private life, in the enjoyment of tranquillity, health, fortune, and the richest reward of his patriotic labors; the veneration and gratitude of his country. After the death of Jefferson and Adams, in 1826, he was the sole survivor of the immortal band whose talents and inflexible virtues, in the midst of peril, pledged for their country, all that men esteem of value; life, fortune, honor: and the sole inheritor of the rich legacy of glory which they had left. But, on the 14th of November, 1832, the mandate which all must obey, summoned to the tomb the last of the signers of the Declaration of Independence; that deed of noble daring which gave his country “a place among nations,” and opened an asylum for the oppressed of all. To it the eyes of all nations are turned for instruction and example, and it is evident that the political institutions of the old world are gradually conforming to its model, to which they must very nearly approach, before the people, for whose happiness governments are framed, will be content.

Source: National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans, 1839, Volume 1.


CARROLL, George A., founding charger member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, December 1816. 

(Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)


CARROLL, Henry, founding member and Manager of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, December 1816. 

(Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)


CARSON, Andrew, abolitionist, founding member, Electing Committee, Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 1787.

(Basker, James G., gen. ed. Early American Abolitionists: A Collection of Anti-Slavery Writings, 1760-1820. New York: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, 2005, pp. 92, 102; Nathan, 1991)


CARTER, Gaius, Becket, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40.


CARTER, James G., Lancaster, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Abolition Society, Vice-President, 1842-45, Executive Committee, 1843-45.


CARTER, Robert, 1819-1879, Albany, New York, newspaper editor.  Member and active in the Free Soil Party.  Edited the Boston Commonwealth, a paper of the Free Soilers.  Early member of the Republican party. 

(Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, pp. 541-542)

Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, pp. 541-542:

CARTER, Robert, editor, born in Albany, New York, 5 February, 1819; died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 15 February, 1879. He received a common-school education, and passed one term in the Jesuit college of Chambly, Canada. In his fifteenth year he was appointed assistant librarian in the state library at Albany, where he remained till 1838. At this time he began to publish poems and sketches in the daily papers, his first contribution being a long poem, which he dropped stealthily into the editor's letterbox, and which appeared the next day with flattering comments, but so frightfully misprinted that he hardly knew it. This experience and a natural aptitude led him to acquire proof-reading as an accomplishment, at which he became very expert. In 1841 he went to Boston, where he formed a life-long friendship with James Russell Lowell, and together they began “The Pioneer,” a literary monthly magazine, which Duyckinck says was “of too fine a cast to be successful.” Nevertheless, its want of success was due, not to the editors, but to the publisher, who mismanaged it and failed when but three numbers had been issued. Among the contributors were Poe, Hawthorne, Whittier, Neal, Miss Barrett (afterward Mrs. Browning), and the sculptor Story. Mr. Carter began in its pages a serial novel entitled “The Armenian's Daughter.” He next spent two years in editing statistical and geographical works, and writing for periodicals. His story, “The Great Tower of Tarudant,” ran through several numbers of the “Broadway Journal,” then edited by Poe. In 1845 he became a clerk in the post-office at Cambridge, and in 1847-'8 was private secretary to Prescott the historian. His elaborate article on the character and habits of Prescott, written for the New York “Tribune” just after the historian's death in 1859, was re-published in the memorial volume issued by the Massachusetts historical society. Mr. Carter joined the free-soil party in 1848, and in 1850 wrote for the Boston “Atlas” a series of brilliant articles in reply to Francis Bowen's attack on the Hungarian revolutionists. These articles were re-published in a pamphlet, “The Hungarian Controversy” (Boston, 1852), and are said to have caused the rejection of Mr. Bowen's nomination as professor of history at Harvard. At the same time Carter edited, with Kossuth's approval, a large volume entitled “Kossuth in New England” (Boston, 1852). In 1851-'2 he edited, at first as assistant of John G. Palfrey and afterward alone, the Boston “Commonwealth,” the chief exponent of the free-soilers. For two years he was secretary of the state committee of the free-soil party, and in the summer of 1854 he obtained the consent of the committee to call a convention, which he did without assistance, sending out thousands of circulars to men whose names were on the committee's books. The convention met in Worcester, 20 July, was so large that no hall could contain it, and held its session in the open air. A short platform drawn up by him was adopted, together with the name “Republican,” and on his motion a committee of six was appointed to organize the new party, John A. Andrew being made its chairman. In 1855 Carter edited the Boston “Telegraph,” in conjunction with W. S. Robinson and Hildreth the historian; in 1856 he edited the “Atlas”; and in 1857-'9 he was Washington correspondent of the New York “Tribune.” His next work was with Messrs. Ripley and Dana on the first edition of the “American Cyclopædia” (1859-'63), in which many important articles were from his pen, including “Egypt,” “Hindostan,” “Mormons,” and the history of the United States. In January, 1864, he was appointed private secretary of the treasury agent whose headquarters were at Beaufort, South Carolina; and from July of that year till October, 1869, he edited the Rochester, New York, “Democrat,” doing such work for it as was seldom done on any but metropolitan journals. When news came of the assassination of President Lincoln, he wrote, without consulting any book or memoranda, an article giving a brief but circumstantial account, with dates, of every celebrated case of regicide. He was editor of “Appletons’ Journal” in 1870-'3, and then became associate editor for the revision of the “American Cyclopædia.” But in 1874 impaired health compelled him to discontinue his literary work, and in the next three years he made three tours in Europe. He was the author of “A Summer Cruise on the Coast of New England” (Boston, 1864), which passed through several editions; and he left unpublished memoirs, of which only the first volume was complete in manuscript.—His first wife, Ann Augusta Gray, was a successful writer of poems and tales for the young.—His second wife, Susan Nichols, is principal of the female art school in Cooper institute, New York, and has published hand-books of art and contributed largely to periodicals.  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.


CARTWRIGHT, Peter, 1785-1872, born in Virginia, went to Kentucky in 1790, then to Illinois in 1824, state senator in Ohio.  Opponent of slavery.

(Dumond, Dwight Lowell, Antislavery: The Crusade for Freedom in America, University of Michigan Press, 1961, p. 93; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, pp. 544-545; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume II, Pt. 1, p. 546. He published several pamphlets, of which his “Controversy with the Devil” (1853) was perhaps the most famous. “The Autobiography of the Reverend Peter Cartwright” (New York, 1856) was edited by William P. Strickland. See also Dr. Abel Stevens' “Observations on Dr. Cartwright,” and his many books treating of the history of Methodism, and “The Backwoods Preacher” (London, 1869).

Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume II, Pt. 1, p. 546:

CARTWRIGHT, PETER (September 1, 1785-September 25, 1872), Methodist clergyman, was born in Amherst County, Virginia. His father, Justinian Cartwright, a Revolutionary soldier, "was quite a poor man and not so much a bad as a good-for-nothing kind of man" (Mrs. Susannah Johnson, Recollections of the Reverend John Johnson, Nashville, 1869, p. 32). He married a widow Wilcox, a devout Methodist but a termagant. Among her numerous children beside Peter, one son, Edmund, became a local Methodist preacher, another, John, was hanged for murder, while a daughter, Polly, led a life of debauchery. About the year 1790 Justinian moved with his family into the wilds of Kentucky and ultimately located, in 1793, in Logan County on the extreme southern edge of the state in a section known as Rogue's Harbor from the number of escaped convicts and desperadoes who congregated there. Although the more respectable settlers eventually organized into a band called the Regulators and after several pitched battles drove out the Rogues, life in this region continued turbulent and unrestrained. Here Peter grew up, a tall and lusty youth, devoted to horse-racing, card-playing, and dancing. He was almost totally without education save for the religious instruction received from his mother which made a deep impression upon his ardently emotional nature. In his sixteenth year he fell into a conviction of sin soon followed by conversion at a camp meeting and by admission into the Methodist Church. In the service of that robust communion he was thenceforth able to express the energy which had formerly gone into more purely pagan activities. Almost immediately after his own conversion he began to convert the lads of the neighborhood with such success that in the next year (1802) he was given an exhorter's license. A little later his family moved into Lewiston County where for a time Peter attended Brown's Academy, but doctrinal disputes with the teacher and the other pupils soon interrupted his schooling and he returned to the more congenial work of exhortation. In October 1803 when a little over eighteen he became a traveling preacher. His early itineraries successively included the Red River Circuit in Kentucky, the Waynesville Circuit which covered a part of Tennessee, the Salt River and Shelbyville Circuit which extended into Indiana, and the Scioto Circuit in Ohio. Through all this wide territory, "the Kentucky Boy," as Peter was called, became a well-known and popular figure. His self-reliance, his readiness with tongue and fist, his quick sense of humor, all made him dear to the hearts of the frontier. As presiding elder he had the noted William M'Kendree [q.v.], who instructed him in English grammar and laid out for him a course of study and reading which the young disciple faithfully pursued with much profit. In 1806 Peter was ordained a deacon by Bishop Francis Asbury [q.v.], and two years later, at the age of twenty-three, he was ordained an elder. On August 18, 1808, he was married to Frances Gaines, a girl of nineteen, because, as he wrote, "After mature deliberation and prayer. I thought it was my duty to marry." He continued his work as a circuit-rider mainly in Kentucky and Tennessee until 1824 when, actuated largely by hatred of slavery, he had himself transferred to the Sangamon Circuit in Illinois, with which state he was thenceforth identified.

For almost another fifty years "the Kentucky Boy," now known as "Uncle Peter," remained a leader in the religious activities of the West. His personality was almost perfectly adapted to the demands of frontier life. Early inured to physical hardship and to poverty, delighting in herculean labors, ruggedly honest and shrewdly humorous, indifferent to refinement of thought or manners, he made his Methodism a joyous battlefield against the devil and rival sects. Baptist, Presbyterian, and Shaker he overwhelmed with torrents of abuse, ridicule, and scorn. Sin (consisting in unbelief, drinking, gambling, or the wearing of ruffles) and salvation (consisting of conversion to the Church) gave him a dual theme which he manipulated with telling force. This simple ethical code, this narrow and intense religion, above all this thunderous fighting spirit literally swept his hearers off their feet, and at his camp-meetings hundreds were felled to the ground beneath his eloquence and lay prostrate until brought to the mourners' seats, whence he led them singing and shouting into the courts of heaven. If, as not infrequently happened, intruders attempted to break up his meetings, he was quick to meet force with force and seems to have been uniformly victorious in these physical encounters. There was a point of emotional excess, however, at which Cartwright's common sense revolted. For the nervous disorders which too often accompanied his meetings,-"the jerks," "the runnings and barkings," the trances and prolonged illnesses-he assumed no responsibility, regarding them as due to the wiles of the devil, who thus sought to discredit his work. So he continued on his way, a mighty figure among the Methodists of Illinois. He was for forty-five years a presiding elder, attended forty-six meetings of the Illinois Conference, and was twelve times elected to the General Conference. He was twice a member of the Illinois legislature. The one defeat of his career came in 1846 when he ran for the United States Congress against Abraham Lincoln, attempting in vain to make the issue turn upon Lincoln's alleged "infidelism." This political campaign Cartwright forgot to mention in his noted Autobiography, published in 1857, a work naively self-glorifying, and unsatisfactory as a record of his life, but written with great verve, revealing the author's extraordinary ability as a raconteur. His later work, Fifty Years as a Presiding Elder (1871), edited by the Reverend W. S. Hooper, is considerably less interesting but contains Cartwright's celebrated letter to the devil (a polemic against Calvinism). With advancing years, although he contributed liberally to Methodist colleges and publishing houses, Cartwright found some difficulty in adapting himself to the more intellectual interests of the newer Methodism. He deplored the passing of the good old days and earnestly prayed that "camp-meetings, class-meetings, prayer-meetings, and love-feasts" might "eternally" continue. Hale and hearty he himself remained: his magnificent body, supporting a massive head, with beady black eyes and disheveled hair, hardly knew a day's ill health until extreme old age. From the time of his coming to Illinois he made his home at Pleasant Hills, where in the intervals of religious duty he farmed, and, also, reared a numerous progeny. He lived to welcome nine children, fifty grandchildren, thirty-seven greatgrandchildren, and seven great-great-grandchildren.

[In addition to the works mentioned above see Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the M. E. Church for the Year 1873, pp. 115-17; Abel Stevens, A Compendious History of American Methodism (1868), pp. 482-86; M. H. Chamberlin, "Reverend Peter Cartwright, D.D.," in Trans. of the Illinois State Historical Society, 1902, pp. 47-56.]

E. S. B.

Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, pp. 544-545:

CARTWRIGHT, Peter, clergyman, born in Amherst county, Virginia, 1 September, 1785; died near Pleasant Plains, Sangamon county, Illinois, 25 September, 1872. His father was a soldier in the revolutionary war, and about 1790 removed with his family to Logan county, Kentucky. At that time, according to his own account, there was not a newspaper printed south of Green river, no schools worth the name, and no mills within forty miles. Clothing was home-made from the cotton and flax, and imported tea, coffee, and sugar were unknown. Methodist preachers had just begun to ride “circuits” in that section, and the Reverend John Lurton obtained permission to hold public services in Mr. Cartwright's cabin when in the neighborhood. After a few years a conference was formed, known as the western conference, the seventh then in the United States. In 1801 a camp-meeting was held at Cane Ridge, at which nearly 2,000 persons were converted. Peter was then a wild boy of sixteen, fond of horse-racing, card-playing, and dancing. He was soon awakened to a sense of his sinfulness, but fought against his convictions for some time, plunging more recklessly than ever into his dissipations, until, after a night's dance and debauch at a wedding some miles from his father's house, he fell under conviction of sin, and began to pray. He sold a favorite race-horse, burned his cards, gave up gambling, to which he was greatly addicted, and, after three months' earnest seeking was converted. He immediately began to preach as a “local,” but in 1803 was received into the regular ministry, and ordained an elder in 1806 by Bishop Asbury. In 1823 Mr. Cartwright removed from the Cumberland district and sought a home in Illinois, settling the year following in Sangamon county, then peopled only by a few hardy and enterprising pioneers. After a few years he was elected to the legislature, wherein his rough-and-ready wit and his unflinching courage made him the victor in many debates. He attended annual conferences with almost unfailing regularity for a series of years, and was always a conspicuous member. Year after year he attended camp-meetings, finding his greatest happiness in them. He was a delegate to numerous general conferences, and retained his interest in religion to the last. From a very early period he was a zealous opponent of slavery, and was rejoiced when the Methodist Episcopal church was rid of all complicity with it by the division in 1844. Nevertheless, he retained his allegiance to the democratic party, and was its candidate for congress in 1846, in opposition to Abraham Lincoln, who defeated him by a majority of 1,500. For more than fifty years he was presiding elder in the church, which he saw rise, from 72,874 members when he joined it, to about 1,750,000 when he was called away. He was a powerful preacher and a tireless worker. His quaint and eccentric habits, and his exhaustless fund of stories, drawn largely from personal experience, gained favor and popularity wherever he went. Numerous stories are told of his personal prowess in dealing with the rough characters of the frontier, who often sought to interrupt his meetings, and whom, if report be true, he invariably vanquished by moral suasion if possible, or, failing that, by the arm of flesh. In conference meetings he was loved, revered, and dreaded, for he hesitated not to arraign the house of bishops to their face; but his influence was powerful, and his strong good sense often shaped the policy of the whole denomination. He published several pamphlets, of which his “Controversy with the Devil” (1853) was perhaps the most famous. “The Autobiography of the Reverend Peter Cartwright” (New York, 1856) was edited by William P. Strickland. See also Dr. Abel Stevens' “Observations on Dr. Cartwright,” and his many books treating of the history of Methodism, and “The Backwoods Preacher” (London, 1869). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I. pp. 546.


CARY, Lott, 1780-1828, Charles City county, Virginia, formerly enslaved individual.  Vice President, American Colonization Society, in 1828. 

(Burin, Eric. Slavery and the Peculiar Solution: A History of the American Colonization Society. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida, 2005, pp. 16-17, 67, 68; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, p. 548; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume 2, Pt. 1, p. 555)

Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume I, p. 548:

CARY, Lott, negro slave, born in Charles City county, Virginia, in 1780; died in Monrovia, Africa, 8 November, 1828. In 1804 he was sent to Richmond, and hired out as a common laborer. Gifted with a high order of native intelligence, he soon taught himself, with slight assistance, to read and write, and, having a remarkable memory and sense of order, he became one of the best shipping-clerks in the Richmond tobacco warehouses. Until 1807 he was an unbeliever, but during that year became converted to Christianity, and was ever afterward a leader among the Baptists of his own color. In 1813 he purchased his own freedom and that of his two children for $850. As a freeman he maintained his habits of industry and economy, and when the colonization scheme was organized had accumulated a sum sufficiently large to enable him to pay his own expenses as a member of the colony sent out to the African coast in 1822. He was with the colony during its early wars with the barbarous natives, and rendered invaluable services as a counsellor, physician, and pastor. He was elected vice-agent of the colonization society in 1826, and during the absence of Mr. Ashmun, the agent, acted in his place. On the evening of 8 November, 1828, he was making cartridges in anticipation of an attack from slave-traders, when an accidental explosion fatally injured him and seven of his companions. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.


CARY, Mary Ann Shadd, 1823-1893, African American, abolitionist leader.

(Rodriguez, Junius P., Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, 2007, pp. 446-447; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Volume 2, p. 596)


CASSEY, Amy Matilda, abolitionist, Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society (PFASS), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

(Yellin, Jean Fagan and John C. Van Horne (Eds). The Abolitionist Sisterhood: Women’s Political Culture in Antebellum America. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1994, pp. 75-76, 97, 116, 116n)


CASSEY, Joseph, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1834-37.


CATTO, Octavius Valentine, 1839-1871, African American educator, activist, soldier.  Opposed slavery.  Recruited Black soldiers for the Union Army.  Established Union League Association.  Served as a Major in the Army.

(Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Volume 2, p. 611)

[1]About this time Charles Carroll (the son of Daniel Carroll, of Kings county, Ireland, and grandfather of CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON,) came into the colony.

Sources:
Dictionary of American Biography, Volumes I-X, Edited by Dumas Malone, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1930.

Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volumes I-VI, Edited by James Grant Wilson & John Fiske, New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1888-1889.