Charles V. Dyer
Encyclopedia
Charles Volney Dyer was a prominent Chicago
Abolitionist and Stationmaster on the Underground Railroad
.
He established a practice in Newark, Wayne County Vermont in February, 1831.
Dyer invested his savings in real estate, and after several ups and downs, was able to retire from the practice of medicine in 1854.
, Illinois. In 1838, he helped organize a Chicago Chapter of the American Anti-Slavery Society
, along with Rev. Flavel Bascom, Philo Carpenter
, Robert Freeman and Calvin De Wolf.
In 1839, Dyer took in a runaway slave boy, and arranged for his passage on to Windsor, Canada
, thus beginning his career as a stationmaster on the Underground Railroad
. From then on, he would host many runaways, evading the Illinois law against "harboring" (fraudulently concealing) runaways by allowing them to live openly in his home while waiting for passage to Canada. One prominent conductor on the Underground Railroad, Owen Lovejoy
, is known to have taken many runaway slaves to Dr. Dyer's home, and was frequently a guest there himself.
Dyer was not merely a passive host, he was also known to take action to rescue runaways who were retrieved by slave-catchers. Slave-catchers from Kentucky, knowing that Dr. Dyer was harboring a young male slave they were after, waited for the boy to leave Dr. Dyer's house on an errand. Snatching him, they took him to a hotel and bound him with rope, sending for a blacksmith to fit him with iron manacles. Hearing about this, Dyer went to the hotel, burst into the room where the captive was held, and cut the ropes, directing him to escape through a window.
Once the slave catchers recovered from their surprise at this bold action, they chased Dr Dyer out into the street, and one of them charged him with a Bowie knife
. Dyer beat the man unconscious with his walking stick, breaking it in the process. The rest of the gang gathered their companion and left. A gold-capped cane presented to Dr. Dyer by the Negro citizens of Chicago in memory of this incident still rests in the collection of the Chicago History Museum.
In 1848, Dyer ran for Governor of Illinois
on the Liberty ticket. He lost to Augustus C. French
.
appointed Dr. Dyer a judge of the Mixed Court for the Suppression of the Slave Trade in Sierra Leone.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Abolitionist and Stationmaster on 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,...
.
Early life
Charles was born in Clarendon, Vermont on June 12, 1808, the ninth of the ten children of Daniel and Susan Owen Dyer. A precocious child, he was sent at age 15 to the Castleton Academy to prepare for college. He then attended Middlebury College's medical department, from which he graduated on December 9, 1830.He established a practice in Newark, Wayne County Vermont in February, 1831.
Chicago Years
Ambition led him to Chicago, then a small, but rapidly growing town, in August 1935. He became Surgeon for the garrison at Ft. Dearborn soon thereafter. In 1837, he married Louisa M. Gilford, of Elgin, with whom he would have six children, three of whom (Stella, Charles G. and Louis) would survive into adulthood. The Dyers also adopted a daughter, Cornelia. Reentering private practice, he was instrumental in the fight against the cholera that plagued Chicago in the late 1840s. In 1839, he shared offices with Dr.Levi D. Boone, who would go on to become Mayor of Chicago in 1855.Dyer invested his savings in real estate, and after several ups and downs, was able to retire from the practice of medicine in 1854.
Abolition Activities
In 1837, Dr. Dyer rented a hall and called a protest meeting in reaction to the murder of Elijah Lovejoy by a mob in AltonAlton, Illinois
Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...
, Illinois. In 1838, he helped organize a Chicago Chapter of the American Anti-Slavery Society
American Anti-Slavery Society
The American Anti-Slavery Society was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass was a key leader of this society and often spoke at its meetings. William Wells Brown was another freed slave who often spoke at meetings. By 1838, the society had...
, along with Rev. Flavel Bascom, Philo Carpenter
Philo Carpenter
Philo Carpenter was Chicago, Illinois' first pharmacist, and an outspoken abolitionist.Born in Savoy, Massachusetts, February 27, 1805, young Philo learned medicine and the pharmaceutical trade in Troy, New York in the drugstore of Amatus Robins, eventually gaining a half interest in the business...
, Robert Freeman and Calvin De Wolf.
In 1839, Dyer took in a runaway slave boy, and arranged for his passage on to Windsor, Canada
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
, thus beginning his career as a stationmaster on 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,...
. From then on, he would host many runaways, evading the Illinois law against "harboring" (fraudulently concealing) runaways by allowing them to live openly in his home while waiting for passage to Canada. One prominent conductor on the Underground Railroad, Owen Lovejoy
Owen Lovejoy
Owen Lovejoy was an American lawyer, Congregational minister, abolitionist, and Republican congressman from Illinois. He was also a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad...
, is known to have taken many runaway slaves to Dr. Dyer's home, and was frequently a guest there himself.
Dyer was not merely a passive host, he was also known to take action to rescue runaways who were retrieved by slave-catchers. Slave-catchers from Kentucky, knowing that Dr. Dyer was harboring a young male slave they were after, waited for the boy to leave Dr. Dyer's house on an errand. Snatching him, they took him to a hotel and bound him with rope, sending for a blacksmith to fit him with iron manacles. Hearing about this, Dyer went to the hotel, burst into the room where the captive was held, and cut the ropes, directing him to escape through a window.
Once the slave catchers recovered from their surprise at this bold action, they chased Dr Dyer out into the street, and one of them charged him with a Bowie knife
Bowie knife
A Bowie knife is a pattern of fixed-blade fighting knife first popularized by Colonel James "Jim" Bowie in the early 19th Century. Since the first incarnation was created by James Black, the Bowie knife has come to incorporate several recognizable and characteristic design features, although its...
. Dyer beat the man unconscious with his walking stick, breaking it in the process. The rest of the gang gathered their companion and left. A gold-capped cane presented to Dr. Dyer by the Negro citizens of Chicago in memory of this incident still rests in the collection of the Chicago History Museum.
In 1848, Dyer ran for Governor of Illinois
Illinois gubernatorial election, 1848
The Illinois gubernatorial election of 1848 was the ninth election for this office. Democratic governor Augustus C. French was easily re-elected. This was the first gubernatorial election in Illinois that was held on the same date as the presidential election....
on the Liberty ticket. He lost to Augustus C. French
Augustus C. French
Augustus Chaflin French was the ninth Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois from 1846 until 1853. He is best known for his fiscal policies, which eliminated the state's debt by the end of his administration, and for the lack of scandals during his administration...
.
Career as Judge
In 1862, Great Britain and the US entered into the Lyons-Seward Treaty, intended to suppress the international slave trade. In 1863, Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
appointed Dr. Dyer a judge of the Mixed Court for the Suppression of the Slave Trade in Sierra Leone.