As most who read this newsletter know by now, the marble tablet honoring Sam May that was in the James Street church, once thought lost, was found. It will be repaired, hung on the southwest outside wall of the church, and dedicated on October 1. An exciting and meaningful time for us, so I’m ruminating just a bit more on our beloved Rev. May.
In many ways, Sam was always ahead of his time. He helped found the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. Hear the power, poignancy, and even irony in his words when he spoke on May 8, 1834, at the 1st anniversary meeting of that Society in NYC: “By the laws which sustain slavery, millions of human beings are held as chattels. Yes . . . they are driven along the streets of Washington, with less liberty than cattle, in the sight of that proud capital, where the national flag is flying, and where so many fine things are said in the favor of liberty.” He spoke with such fervor for years throughout the Northeast and was mobbed five times for the voice he refused to quiet. No wonder he brought that fire here and eventually was front and center in the “Jerry Rescue” saga. As our own Rev. John Fuller said in a 1966 sermon about Dr. May and the Jerry rescue, “He was a man on fire for the freedom of all men, on fire for righteousness, on fire especially for his poor brothers in slavery.”
He was ahead of his times in so many other ways, too. He took a firm and vocal stance against the death penalty, but did you know that in 1826 at age 29 he founded one of the earliest Peace Societies in the U.S., the Windham County (Connecticut) Peace Society. When he was President of the Syracuse Board of Education he abolished corporal punishment. Peace, forgiveness, and do no harm obviously were part of his lifelong motto. One can go on and on about our Sam May, so once that marble tablet is in place, walk by occasionally and thank him for being who he was.
Rog Hiemstra, Archivist (written June 26, 2006)
