Minister and abolitionist. He began his work freeing slaves in 1837. Ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1842, he enrolled at Oberlin Collegiate Institute in Ohio in 1844, but left to continue running slaves across the Ohio River to put them on the Underground Railroad. This brought him two terms of imprisonment, 1845-1849, and 1852-1864, in the Kentucky State Penitentiary. Following his second release, he married Mandana Tileston, to whom he had become engaged in 1851. She moved from Massachusetts to Ohio in order to visit him as often as possible during his second imprisonment. They had a son, Calvin Cornelius Fairbank, born in 1868. Mandana died in 1876 and is buried in the New Village Hill Cemetery in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. Calvin remarried in 1879 and is buried beside his second wife, Adeline Winegar. The conditions of his second imprisonment were particularly harsh and permanently impaired his health. His memoirs were published in 1890 under the title,Rev. Calvin Fairbank During Slavery Times: How He "Fought the Good Fight" to Prepare "the Way." He is generally credited with helping free 47 slaves, including Lewis Hayden, who became influential in Boston politics and a leading abolitionist in his own right.
I am grateful to the following individuals who helped me in my research for this biography: Ken Grossi, Associate Archivist, Oberlin College Archives, for verifying the date of Calvin Fairbank's enrollment at Oberlin Collegiate Institute; Melva Clark, Town Clerk, Angelica, NY, for finding the exact lot number of Calvin Fairbank's grave; and Erik Weig, Director, Kentuckiana Digital Library, for confirming that use of KDL's digital image of Calvin Fairbank is permitted. I am also grateful to Allegany County, NY, Historian Craig Braack and to genealogist Gerrie Raw for pointing me in the direction of useful sources. Special thanks goes to Don Kaake (http://www.angelica14709.com) for providing a photo of the Fairbank grave. --M.W.
I am grateful to the following individuals who helped me in my research for this biography: Ken Grossi, Associate Archivist, Oberlin College Archives, for verifying the date of Calvin Fairbank's enrollment at Oberlin Collegiate Institute; Melva Clark, Town Clerk, Angelica, NY, for finding the exact lot number of Calvin Fairbank's grave; and Erik Weig, Director, Kentuckiana Digital Library, for confirming that use of KDL's digital image of Calvin Fairbank is permitted. I am also grateful to Allegany County, NY, Historian Craig Braack and to genealogist Gerrie Raw for pointing me in the direction of useful sources. Special thanks goes to Don Kaake (http://www.angelica14709.com) for providing a photo of the Fairbank grave. --M.W.
Minister and abolitionist. He began his work freeing slaves in 1837. Ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1842, he enrolled at Oberlin Collegiate Institute in Ohio in 1844, but left to continue running slaves across the Ohio River to put them on the Underground Railroad. This brought him two terms of imprisonment, 1845-1849, and 1852-1864, in the Kentucky State Penitentiary. Following his second release, he married Mandana Tileston, to whom he had become engaged in 1851. She moved from Massachusetts to Ohio in order to visit him as often as possible during his second imprisonment. They had a son, Calvin Cornelius Fairbank, born in 1868. Mandana died in 1876 and is buried in the New Village Hill Cemetery in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. Calvin remarried in 1879 and is buried beside his second wife, Adeline Winegar. The conditions of his second imprisonment were particularly harsh and permanently impaired his health. His memoirs were published in 1890 under the title,Rev. Calvin Fairbank During Slavery Times: How He "Fought the Good Fight" to Prepare "the Way." He is generally credited with helping free 47 slaves, including Lewis Hayden, who became influential in Boston politics and a leading abolitionist in his own right.
I am grateful to the following individuals who helped me in my research for this biography: Ken Grossi, Associate Archivist, Oberlin College Archives, for verifying the date of Calvin Fairbank's enrollment at Oberlin Collegiate Institute; Melva Clark, Town Clerk, Angelica, NY, for finding the exact lot number of Calvin Fairbank's grave; and Erik Weig, Director, Kentuckiana Digital Library, for confirming that use of KDL's digital image of Calvin Fairbank is permitted. I am also grateful to Allegany County, NY, Historian Craig Braack and to genealogist Gerrie Raw for pointing me in the direction of useful sources. Special thanks goes to Don Kaake (http://www.angelica14709.com) for providing a photo of the Fairbank grave. --M.W.
I am grateful to the following individuals who helped me in my research for this biography: Ken Grossi, Associate Archivist, Oberlin College Archives, for verifying the date of Calvin Fairbank's enrollment at Oberlin Collegiate Institute; Melva Clark, Town Clerk, Angelica, NY, for finding the exact lot number of Calvin Fairbank's grave; and Erik Weig, Director, Kentuckiana Digital Library, for confirming that use of KDL's digital image of Calvin Fairbank is permitted. I am also grateful to Allegany County, NY, Historian Craig Braack and to genealogist Gerrie Raw for pointing me in the direction of useful sources. Special thanks goes to Don Kaake (http://www.angelica14709.com) for providing a photo of the Fairbank grave. --M.W.
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