Stephen Pearl Andrews
Stephen Pearl Andrews was an influential figure born on March 22, 1812, in Templeton, Massachusetts. He was the youngest of eight children in his family and pursued education at Amherst College before moving to Louisiana, where he worked as an instructor and later established a successful law practice in New Orleans. A staunch abolitionist, Andrews became deeply committed to ending slavery, devising plans to purchase and free enslaved individuals. His activism led to significant opposition, culminating in an attack on his home by an antiabolitionist mob.
In the 1840s, Andrews traveled to Britain in an effort to secure funding for abolitionist initiatives but faced political challenges that thwarted his proposals. He later became interested in phonography, founding a school for shorthand and advocating for spelling reform. His ventures included publishing several magazines and producing phonographic educational materials. Andrews also engaged in establishing utopian communities and developed a philosophy called "universology," aimed at unifying knowledge and activities.
Throughout his life, Andrews was a champion for social change, including involvement in the women's suffrage movement and studying Marxist theories. He passed away on May 21, 1886, leaving behind a legacy of radical thought and activism for freedom and social justice.
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Stephen Pearl Andrews
Abolitionist
- Born: March 22, 1812
- Birthplace: Templeton, Massachusetts
- Died: May 21, 1886
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Stephen Pearl Andrews was born in Templeton, Massachusetts, on March 22, 1812, the youngest of eight children born to Elisha and Ann (Lathrop) Andrews. In 1828 he began attending Amherst College, enrolling in the classics department. Two years later, he moved to Louisiana with an older sister and brother. There he worked as an instructor at Jackson Female Seminary and met his future wife, Mary Ann Gordon. They were married in 1835 and had four sons.
Andrews studied law and in 1833 was admitted to the Louisiana state bar. He moved to New Orleans and set up a successful law practice. It was there that he became friends with abolitionist Lewis Tappan. Andrews’s experiences in Louisiana caused him to feel a deep revulsion for slavery, and he devised an abolitionist plan to purchase and release slaves.
Yellow fever epidemics and the panic of 1837 drove the Andrews family to Houston, Texas. He enjoyed some popular support for his abolitionist ideas but garnered equal spite from others who believed he stirred up trouble among the slaves. His home was attacked in 1843 by an antiabolitionist mob, forcing Andrews and his family to flee from Texas. That summer, he traveled to Britain with Tappan, where he was nearly successful in securing a loan to enable the British to purchase slaves from the state of Texas. However, political opposition in Texas killed this proposal.
While in England, Andrews became familiar with Isaac Pitman’s shorthand system, which inspired him to establish a school of phonography (a system of shorthand based on sound) upon his return to the United States. He also became an advocate of spelling reform. Andrews produced and edited two magazines, Propagandist and Anglo-Saxon, using phonetic type. In 1845, he collaborated with Augustus F. Boyle to create The Complete Phonographic Class-Book and The Phonographic Reader: A Complete Course of Inductive Reading Lessons in Phonography.
Andrews moved to New York City in 1847, where he studied linguistics and equitable commerce. Andrews eventually acquired a good understanding of at least thirty languages. He also worked to establish utopian communities and helped found the Modern Times community in Brentwood, New York, in 1851, and Unity Home in New York City in 1857. By the 1860’s he was promoting a utopian philosophy called Pantarchy, and from these ideas he devised a philosophy he dubbed “universology” that emphasized the unity of all activities and knowledge. He wrote Basic Outline of Universology to explain his theories.
He married again in 1856, this time to Esther Hussey Bartlett Jones. In his later years, Andrews was involved in the women’s suffrage movement and studied the works of Karl Marx. He died on May 21, 1886. A lifelong activist for radical political and social change, Andrews believed “A grand social revolution will occur. Tyranny of all kinds will disappear, freedom of all kinds will be revered, and none will be ashamed to confess that they believe in the Freedom of Love.”