Sears, Richard Duane

Kentucky Abolitionists in the Midst of Slavery (1854-1864): Exiles for Freedom

1993 0-7734-9309-3
An examination of the relationship between the lives and thought of Cassius M. Clay and Rev. John G. Fee, Kentucky's most famous and controversial antislavery leaders. It provides the most thorough treatment yet written of Fee's thinking in relation to his background and experiences, and by far the most complete estimation of influences on his religious convictions. It presents a detailed account of virtually all the abolitionists active in Kentucky from 1854-1864, including leaders and followers, both out of state and indigenous. Includes a complete narrative of the founding of Berea, KY as an abolitionist colony, and information about the first, abortive establishment of what is now Berea College. Relates the events after John Brown's Harpers Ferry raid when all the KY abolitionists were forced into exile by vigilante mobs. Follows Fee and others up to the point of his return to the mission field in Kentucky in 1864.