William Henry Furness
William Henry Furness was a prominent Unitarian minister and abolitionist born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1802. He graduated from Harvard College, earning his doctorate in divinity in 1823, and began his pastoral career in Philadelphia in 1825. Furness was married to Annis Jenks and fathered four children. Initially hesitant to take a public stance on slavery, he became well-known for his passionate abolitionist sermons, particularly after the late 1830s. He actively participated in anti-slavery movements, speaking at significant events alongside notable figures like Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. Despite not aligning himself with any formal organization, Furness's commitment to abolition led him to oppose the Fugitive Slave Law and engage in the Underground Railroad, actions that drew scrutiny and threats of treason during President Buchanan's administration. A Transcendentalist, he valued the humanity of Jesus Christ and the power of religious faith. Furness passed away in 1896, leaving behind a legacy as a committed advocate for justice and equality.
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William Henry Furness
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- Born: April 20, 1802
- Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts
- Died: January 30, 1896
- Place of death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Biography
William Henry Furness was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1802 and attended Harvard College, earning a preliminary degree and then his doctorate in divinity in 1823. After years of delays and biding his time, Furness became a pastor for the Unitarian Society in Philadelphia in 1825, and he remained with them until his death. That same year he wed Annis Jenks of Salem, Massachusetts, with whom he had four children.
Although he did not take a stand on slavery until the late 1830’s, Furness is best remembered for the abolitionist sermons that formed the majority of his work. Even though he was not a member of any organization—he did not believe in the principle of joining—Furness spoke at Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society meetings and made his most famous speech at the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1850 in New York. There he joined such minds as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison in speaking out against slavery. As he moved farther away from conventional Unitarianism, Furness became an even more passionate abolitionist, vowing to oppose the Fugitive Slave Law and openly participating in the Underground Railroad. These actions brought him under a tremendous amount of scrutiny; he did not hide his beliefs and was nearly charged with treason by President James Buchanan’s administration. Furness remained in close contact with Ralph Waldo Emerson, who praised Furness’s abolitionist poetry, and Charles Sumner, the famously outspoken senator who had been attacked on floor of the U.S. Senate by Preston Brooks in 1856. Like Emerson, Furness was a Transcendentalist, but he also believed in the truth of miracles and the power of religious faith as a source of support for the human soul. A preacher who held on to the tenet of Jesus Christ’s humanity in the Gospel, William Furness died in 1896; at the time of his death, he was the oldest living graduate of Harvard.