David Ruggles
Encyclopedia
David Ruggles was an anti-slavery activist who was active in the New York Committee of Vigilance
and the Underground Railroad
. He was an "African-American printer in New York City during the 1830s", who "was the prototype for black activist journalists of his time". He claimed to have led over six hundred people, including friend and fellow abolitionist Frederick Douglass
, to freedom in the North.
. His parents were David Ruggles, Sr. and Nancy Ruggles, both free blacks. The family moved to Norwich, Connecticut
, when David was very young and set up home in Bean Hill, a wealthy suburb of Norwich. The family lived a small hut owned by Nancy's sister, Sylvia. David Sr. was a blacksmith
and woodcutter while Nancy was a noted caterer, whose cakes were sought after for any social event of consequence. They were devout Methodists. David was the oldest of eight children. He was educated at sabbath schools and became so learned that Bean Hill residents paid for a tutor from Yale to teach him Latin
. At the age of sixteen, he moved to New York City
where he worked as a mariner before opening a grocery store. At first, he sold liquor, then embraced temperance. He became involved in anti-slavery and the Free Produce Movement. He was an agent for the Liberator and Emancipator. After he closed his grocery, he opened the first African-American bookstore in the United States. He edited a New York journal called The Mirror of Liberty, and also published a pamphlet called The Extinguisher and contributed to abolitionist newspapers such as The Emancipator
and The Liberator. He also published The Abrogation of the Seventh Commandment in 1835, a call to northern women who let their husbands keep enslaved black women as mistresses.
Ruggles was secretary of the New York Committee of Vigilance, a radical organization designed to inform enslaved workers in New York about state laws declaring that enslaved workers be emancipated after nine months of residence. On occasion, Ruggles went to private homes where enslaved blacks were hidden, to tell workers that they were free.
Ruggles was especially active against "kidnappers," bounty hunters who made a living by capturing escaped slaves. With the vigilance committee, he fought for these fugitives to have the right to jury trial
s and legal assistance.
His activism earned him many enemies. Ruggles was physically assaulted and his business was destroyed through arson
. He quickly reopened his library an bookshop. There were two known attempts to kidnap him and sell him into slavery in the South. His enemies included fellow abolitionists who disagreed with his tactics, including his participation in the well-publicized Darg case of 1838 involving a Virginia slaveholder named John P. Darg and one of his slaves, Thomas Hughes.
Ruggles suffered from ill health which intensified following the Darg case. In 1841, his father died, and Ruggles was himself ailing and almost blind. In 1842, a fellow abolitionist and friend, Lydia Maria Child, arranged for him to join a radical utopian commune called the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, in Northhampton, Massachusetts, which became named Florence, Massachusetts
in 1852.
Applying home treatment upon hydropathic principles, he regained his health to some degree, but not his eyesight. He began practicing hydrotherapy, and by 1845, had established a water cure hospital in the area now known as Florence. This was one of the earliest in the United States, although others, notably Joel Shew, and Russell Thatcher Trall (R.T. Trall), had preceded him. Ruggles died in Florence in 1849.
Vigilance committee
A vigilance committee was a group formed of private citizens to administer law and order where they considered governmental structures to be inadequate. The term is commonly associated with the frontier areas of the American West in the mid-19th century, where groups attacked cattle rustlers and...
and the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
. He was an "African-American printer in New York City during the 1830s", who "was the prototype for black activist journalists of his time". He claimed to have led over six hundred people, including friend and fellow abolitionist Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
, to freedom in the North.
Biography
Ruggles was born in Lyme, ConnecticutLyme, Connecticut
Lyme is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,016 at the 2000 census. Lyme and its neighboring town Old Lyme are the namesake for Lyme disease.-Geography:...
. His parents were David Ruggles, Sr. and Nancy Ruggles, both free blacks. The family moved to Norwich, Connecticut
Norwich, Connecticut
Regular steamship service between New York and Boston helped Norwich to prosper as a shipping center through the early part of the 20th century. During the Civil War, Norwich once again rallied and saw the growth of its textile, armaments, and specialty item manufacturing...
, when David was very young and set up home in Bean Hill, a wealthy suburb of Norwich. The family lived a small hut owned by Nancy's sister, Sylvia. David Sr. was a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
and woodcutter while Nancy was a noted caterer, whose cakes were sought after for any social event of consequence. They were devout Methodists. David was the oldest of eight children. He was educated at sabbath schools and became so learned that Bean Hill residents paid for a tutor from Yale to teach him Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
. At the age of sixteen, he moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he worked as a mariner before opening a grocery store. At first, he sold liquor, then embraced temperance. He became involved in anti-slavery and the Free Produce Movement. He was an agent for the Liberator and Emancipator. After he closed his grocery, he opened the first African-American bookstore in the United States. He edited a New York journal called The Mirror of Liberty, and also published a pamphlet called The Extinguisher and contributed to abolitionist newspapers such as The Emancipator
The Emancipator
Originally founded in 1819 by Elihu Embree, the son of a Quaker minister, as the Manumission Intelligencier, The Emancipator was an abolitionist newspaper. It was renamed in 1820 and then sold to Benjamin Lundy in 1821 when it became The Genius of Universal Emancipation.- References :* Vaughn,...
and The Liberator. He also published The Abrogation of the Seventh Commandment in 1835, a call to northern women who let their husbands keep enslaved black women as mistresses.
Ruggles was secretary of the New York Committee of Vigilance, a radical organization designed to inform enslaved workers in New York about state laws declaring that enslaved workers be emancipated after nine months of residence. On occasion, Ruggles went to private homes where enslaved blacks were hidden, to tell workers that they were free.
Ruggles was especially active against "kidnappers," bounty hunters who made a living by capturing escaped slaves. With the vigilance committee, he fought for these fugitives to have the right to jury trial
Jury trial
A jury trial is a legal proceeding in which a jury either makes a decision or makes findings of fact which are then applied by a judge...
s and legal assistance.
His activism earned him many enemies. Ruggles was physically assaulted and his business was destroyed through arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
. He quickly reopened his library an bookshop. There were two known attempts to kidnap him and sell him into slavery in the South. His enemies included fellow abolitionists who disagreed with his tactics, including his participation in the well-publicized Darg case of 1838 involving a Virginia slaveholder named John P. Darg and one of his slaves, Thomas Hughes.
Ruggles suffered from ill health which intensified following the Darg case. In 1841, his father died, and Ruggles was himself ailing and almost blind. In 1842, a fellow abolitionist and friend, Lydia Maria Child, arranged for him to join a radical utopian commune called the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, in Northhampton, Massachusetts, which became named Florence, Massachusetts
Florence, Massachusetts
Florence is a village in the northwestern portion of the city of Northampton, near Westhampton and Williamsburg in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.-The naming of Florence, Massachusetts:The name "Florence" was suggested by neurologist Dr...
in 1852.
Applying home treatment upon hydropathic principles, he regained his health to some degree, but not his eyesight. He began practicing hydrotherapy, and by 1845, had established a water cure hospital in the area now known as Florence. This was one of the earliest in the United States, although others, notably Joel Shew, and Russell Thatcher Trall (R.T. Trall), had preceded him. Ruggles died in Florence in 1849.