Charles Humphreys

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charles Humphreys (September 19, 1714 – March 11, 1786) was a slaveholder, miller, and statesman from Haverford, Pennsylvania.

The son of Daniel and Hannah (née Wynne; daughter of Dr. Thomas Wynne) Humphreys, he served as a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776. He was a signatory to the Continental Association, however he voted against the Declaration of Independence, since he believed it would inevitably escalate the Revolutionary War and that conflicted with his Quaker beliefs. He withdrew from the Congress soon afterwards.[1] Despite not taking part in the Revolutionary War, his sympathies were with the patriotic cause and he criticized what he thought was British oppression. Humphreys became the owner of a grist and fulling mill in 1782.

Charles Humphreys and his two sisters Elizabeth and Rebecca were all white slaveholders. Charles, Elizabeth, and Rebecca enslaved nine Black people in Haverford Township whose names were Tom, Ceasar, Judy, Nany, Nancy, Dolly, Alice, Fanny, and Tommey. These Black people's ages ranged from very young to very old: Tom and Ceasar were adult Black men; Judy, Nany, Nancy, and Dolly were adult Black women; and Alice, Fanny, and Tommey were children. [2]

He died in Haverford in 1786.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ Humphreys' biography at the U.S. Congress website, bioguide.congress.gov; accessed March 26, 2015.
  2. ^ 1780 Chester County Slave Register for Charles Humphreys, https://www.chesco.org/4572/1780-Slave-Register; accessed July 13, 2021.
  3. ^ Ashmead, Henry Graham (1884). History of Delaware County. Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co. p. 569. Retrieved 3 July 2017.


Stub icon

This article about a Pennsylvania politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

  • v
  • t
Stub icon

This Quaker-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

  • v
  • t
Retrieved from ""