The Life of DR. CHARLES AVERY

 Founder of Allegheny Cemetery, Abolitionist, Methodist Minister

Charles Avery was born in Westchester N. Y., he came here seeking his fortunes and eventually prospered in pharmaceuticals, textiles, copper and iron ore.

As a young Methodist, Avery was influenced by the strong anti-slavery

stand by John Wesley that eventually split the Methodists into Northern and

Southern factions. At first, he shared the belief that slaves should be returned

to Africa. But after coming in contact with blacks in Pittsburgh, he realized

that they were now American and began to advocate an immediate end to slavery.

His first big plunge into abolitionist waters came in 1837, when

he organized local rallies to support the widow and children of a Illinois editor

who was murdered for publishing an anti-slavery newspaper. But Avery's biggest

involvement revolved around the 1839 incident of the Amistad, a Spanish slave

ship. The slaves had rebelled, killing the captain and two crew members, seizing

the ship. They were picked up in Northern waters and taken to Connecticut.

Hundreds of activists rallied around the Amistad. Southerners demanded that
the slaves be hung for murder and piracy, but abolitionists saw them as heroes. In order to raise funds for their defense Avery and other evangelical Christian abolitionists formed the American Missionary Society (it still exists today).

The lawyer they hired was none other than John Quincy Adams, who argued
for 10 hours before the U.S. Supreme Court. The court found for the slaves,
ordering them set free and returned to West Africa. The decision fueled the
abolitionist forces and established the AMS as a force to be reckoned with.

Avery took particular interest in a 10 year old girl from the Amistad, later baptized as Sarah Kinsen. He kept in touch with her in Africa, and when she turned 18 he sent her to Oberlin College in Ohio, where she became the first international student in the history of American higher education.

Avery was also known to transport escapees personally from one site to the next.

Once, he dressed as his own carriage man, pulled up to a safe house,
picked up some escapees and smuggled them to the next stop!

Like many abolitionists, Avery was interested in other reformist

causes as well, including women's rights. As the owner of a textile plant, he

employed mostly young women ages 15 and 16. These workers became some of the

earliest union agitators, but they struck Avery's plant only once. When his

fellow plant owners shut the women out, he met with them and negotiated salary increases.

When Avery died in 1856, his funeral was one of the largest the city had ever seen.
The procession included huge numbers of working women and blacks,  making it
one of the first integrated demonstrations in Pittsburgh History!

On his monument at his grave are carvings, much the worse for age, depicting

the Amistad, the old U.S. Supreme Court building, the fugitive slaves and
John Quincy Adams.

Informational Links:
 Free At Last

Avery College Former Location in Pittsburgh