February Meeting – Ted Engle Discusses Rev. Robert Everett

Join us on Wednesday, February 19th at 7pm for a presentation by Ted Engle of the St. David’s Society( Welsh/American society) on The Rev. Robert Everett their nominee to the Abolishment Hall of Fame. Below is some of Robert Everett’s story.

Robert Everett – Preacher, Publisher, and Abolitionist

Rev. Robert Everett was a Welsh-American preacher and publisher who came to Oneida County in 1823 from Wales in Great Britain. He immediately became involved in the Anti-slavery movement. Central New York soon became a key region for the abolitionist movement. In 1835 Utica was selected as the site for the first NY Anti-Slavery Convention. The meeting was broken up by an angry mob. Initially stationed in Utica, Everett was forced to move several times because his views were considered so radical during those early times. His church services were often broken-up by various ruffians who rejected his abolitionist message.

He eventually located to the Remsen-Steuben region and became a publisher as well as a preacher. With the help of his family, his newspapers and books were distributed throughout the country, the territories, and even internationally in Canada, Australia and Great Britain. He also translated and published antislavery speeches of Frederick Douglas and Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom’s Cabin).
He, along with his cohorts, are credited with the high support for the Union War effort in this region.
While in Remsen he became a stationmaster in the Underground Railroad and assisted many runaway slaves escape to Canada. His eldest son was also involved with John Brown in Kansas.

During the Civil War he supported the Union effort and provided free newspapers and bibles to the troops and reported on their activities. After the war he encouraged the education of freed slaves and his daughter opened two schools for that purpose in Norfolk VA and Charleston SC.

By the time of his death he was internationally known and revered. To acknowledge his many contributions, in 2018 several area groups have joined together with the goal of nominating Everett to the Abolition Hall of Fame in Peterboro, NY. Every two years the Abolition Hall of Fame will induct several worthy candidates. Some of the current inductees include Beriah Green, Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, William Lloyd Garrison, and Gerrit Smith.

The application process is fairly involved and can take two years or more. We recently received word, however, that his nomination has been approved and he will be formally inducted on the weekend of October 23rd-25th. I have enclosed a preliminary news release from the Hall of Fame regarding that event.