Calvin Fairbank, American minister and activist (d. 1898)
Calvin Fairbank (November 3, 1816 – October 12, 1898) was an American abolitionist and Methodist minister from New York state who was twice convicted in Kentucky of aiding the escape of slaves, and served a total of 19 years in the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Frankfort. Fairbank is believed to have aided the escape of 47 slaves.
Pardoned in 1849 after four years of his first sentence, Fairbank returned to his Underground Railroad work. He was arrested in 1851 with the aid of the governor of Indiana, who was enforcing the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Fairbank was convicted again in Kentucky and served the full sentence of 15 years.
1816Nov, 3
Calvin Fairbank
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Events on 1816
- 20Feb
The Barber of Seville
Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville premieres at the Teatro Argentina in Rome. - 10Apr
Second Bank of the United States
The Federal government of the United States approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States. - 22May
Ely and Littleport riots of 1816
A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs, which spreads to Ely the next day. - 5Aug
Electrical telegraph
The British Admiralty dismisses Francis Ronalds's new invention of the first working electric telegraph as "wholly unnecessary", preferring to continue using the semaphore. - 14Aug
Cape Colony
The United Kingdom formally annexes the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, administering the islands from the Cape Colony in South Africa.