| James G. Birney |
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He was born in Danville, Kentucky. After he studied at Transylvania College and Princeton , where he was graduated in 1810 , he studied law under Alexander J. Dallas in Philadelphia , then began practice in Danville in 1814 , and was elected to the State Legislature two years later. In 1818 , he moved to the vicinity of Huntsville, Alabama . He had long opposed slavery, and had debated against it at Princeton, but was content with a gradual approach. While living in Alabama , he acted as agent for The National Colonization Society of America in 1832 –33. In 1833 , Mr. Birney returned to Danville, Kentucky where he freed his own slaves. In 1839, he inherited 21 slaves from his father, all of which he freed. He now resolved that slavery should be brought to an immediate end. Mr. Birney organized the Kentucky Antislavery Society in 1835 . Unable to find a publisher for an antislavery paper at Danville, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where he published the first issue of ''The Philanthropist'' on January 1 , 1836 . Hostile mobs destroyed his press several times over the next few years; and he was repeatedly threatened. Mr. Birney opposed all violence and supported the Constitution . He was elected secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1837 . He gave many speeches before large assemblages of people, and became widely known as the leader of the Abolitionist s who opposed all revolutionary measures. In 1845 , he was disabled by a fall from his horse and spent the last twelve years of his life as an invalid. His sons, William Birney (1819–1907) and David B. Birney (1825–64), served as generals in the Union Army during the Civil War . His oldest son, James Birney, served as lieutenant-governor of the state of Michigan in 1860. SEE ALSO |
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