CIVIL WAR ABOLITIONIST SANITARY COM UNITARIAN CLERGYMAN COLLYER AUTOGRAPH SIGNED

Description

ROBERT COLLYER
(1823 - 1912)
NOTED CIVIL WAR ERA UNITARIAN CLERGYMAN, POPULAR PULPIT ORATOR and ANTI-SLAVERY ABOLITIONIST
ACTIVE IN THE WORK OF THE SANITARY COMMISSION DURING THE CIVIL WAR.
1
st
PASTOR and FOUNDER OF THE UNITY CHURCH, THE SECOND UNITARIAN CHURCH IN CHICAGO 1860-1879
PASTOR EMERITUS OF THE CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH (NOW RENAMED THE COMMUNITY CHURCH IN
NEW YORK CITY
) 1880s
WOMAN SUFFRAGE ADVOCATE and AUTHOR OF MOSTLY RELIGIOUS TOPICS
&
CHICAGO FIRE INSPIRATIONAL HERO!
Collyer’s advocacy of
anti-slavery
principles, then frowned upon by the Methodist authorities, aroused opposition, and eventually resulted in his trial for
heresy
and the revocation of his license.
He continued, however, as an independent
preacher
and lecturer, and in 1859, joined the
Unitarian Church
as a missionary in
Chicago, Illinois
.
Collyer was invited to be a featured speaker at the 14th Annual Convention of the
American Woman Suffrage Association
(AWSA). There, on the evening of October 10, 1883, he spoke of his wife and his thoughts on the women's rights movement. His speech was summarized in the AWSA's
Woman's Journal
.
<
<>
>
HERE’S COLLYER’S SIGNATURE REMOVED FROM A 19
th
CENTURY AUTOGRAPH ALBUM and SIGNED:
“Robert Collyer”
The document measures 4¾” x 7½” and is in VF condition, with some minimal paper loss at the extreme upper right margin.
A RARE ADDITION TO YOUR 19th CENTURY FAMOUS AMERICANS/ABOLITIONIST CLERGYMEN AUTOGRAPH & MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION!
<><
:+:
><>
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF
ROBERT COLLYER
Robert Collyer
(December 8, 1823 – November 30, 1912) was an English-born American
Unitarian
clergyman
, slavery abolitionist, and author.
Biography
Collyer was born in
Keighley
,
Yorkshire, England
, on December 8, 1823; the family moved to
Blubberhouses
within a month of his birth. At the age of eight he was compelled to leave school and support himself by work in a
linen
factory. He was naturally studious, however, and supplemented his scant schooling by night study. At fourteen he was apprenticed to a
blacksmith
, Jacky Birch—who had taught the trade to Samuel Collyer, Robert's father, in Blubberhouses–and for several years worked at this trade at
Ilkley
. In 1849 he became a local
Methodist
minister. In the same year, his wife Harriet died on 1 February, and his infant daughter Jane on 4 February.
In the following year emigrated to the
United States
, where he obtained employment as a
hammer
maker at
Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania
. Here he soon began to preach on Sundays while still employed in the factory on weekdays. His earnest, rugged, simple style of
oratory
made him extremely popular, and at once secured for him a wide reputation.
Collyer’s advocacy of
anti-slavery
principles, then frowned upon by the Methodist authorities, aroused opposition, and eventually resulted in his trial for
heresy
and the revocation of his license.
He continued, however, as an independent
preacher
and lecturer, and in 1859, having joined the
Unitarian Church
, became a missionary of that church in
Chicago, Illinois
working as the first minister-at-large of the
First Unitarian Church of Chicago
. In 1860 he organized and became pastor of the Unity Church, the second Unitarian church in Chicago. Under his guidance the church grew to be one of the strongest of that denomination in the West, and Collyer himself came to be looked upon as one of the foremost
pulpit
orators in the country.
During the
American Civil War
, he was active in the work of the
Sanitary Commission
. In 1879 he left Chicago and became pastor of the Church of the Messiah, now renamed the Community Church in
New York City
. Later he brought his old friend, the popular writer and hymnodist,
Minot Judson Savage
, to assist him in his ministry. In 1883, when he visited Birmingham in England, he engaged
Marie Bethell Beauclerc
to report and edit his sermons and prayers which were published during the same year.
Collyer was invited to be a featured speaker at the 14th Annual Convention of the
American Woman Suffrage Association
(AWSA). There, on the evening of October 10, 1883, he spoke of his wife and his thoughts on the women's rights movement. His speech was summarized in the AWSA's
Woman's Journal
:
After his honeymoon, he said, he discovered that his wife had a will and a way of her own. When she insisted upon having her way he would quote to her what Paul said about the subjection of women to their husbands, and on one occasion she replied, "O bother Paul! what did he know about it?" At length his wife would so persist in having her way that he would say, "My dear, we will try the matter and see how it works," which she wanted done and he did not. The men are now thinking about the woman question, said Mr. Collyer, and by and by, in every State, and county, and town the men would say, "My dear, we will try woman suffrage," and it will be said that the greatest and best and sweetest of movements in our country was that which gave her the right of suffrage. [Applause.]
In 1903 Collyer became pastor emeritus. He died in New York on November 30, 1912.
Publications
He published:
Nature and Life
(1867)
A Man in Earnest: Life of
A. H. Conant
(1868)
The Life That Now Is
(1871)
The Simple Truth
(1877)
Talks to Young Men: With Asides to Young Women
(1888)
Things New and Old
(1893)
Father Taylor
(1906)
Ilkley: Ancient and Modern
(with
Joseph Horsfall Turner
, 1885)
How and What to Read (Texas Chautauqua Assembly)
Notes
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "
Collyer, Robert
".
Encyclopædia Britannica
.
6
(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 694–695.
"The Life and Letters of Robert Collyer"
I am a proud member of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club (UACC), The Ephemera Society of America, the Manuscript Society and the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) (member name: John Lissandrello). I subscribe to each organizations' code of ethics and authenticity is guaranteed. ~Providing quality service and historical memorabilia online for over twenty years.~
WE ONLY SELL GENUINE ITEMS, i.e., NO REPRODUCTIONS, FAKES OR COPIES!