Charlotte B. Ray Explained

Charlotte B. Ray
Other Names:	Charlotte Augusta Burroughs Ray, Charlotte Augusta Burroughs, Charlotte Augusta Burrows, Charlotte Burroughs Ray, Charlotte Burrows Ray
Birth Name:	Charlotte Augusta Burroughs
Birth Place:	Chatham County, Georgia, U.S.
Death Date:	25 October 1891
Death Place:	New York City, U.S.
Children:	7, including Charlotte and Cordelia

Charlotte B. Ray (née Charlotte Augusta Burroughs; 25 October 1891) was an American prominent pastor, suffragist, and abolitionist. Charlotte was the second wife of Charles Bennett Ray a revered African-American journalist. They were an active part of the Underground Railroad in Manhattan.^[1]

Biography

Charlotte Augusta Burroughs was born around 1813, in Chatham County, Georgia, to African American parents Augustus Burroughs and Pacella. Many details of Charlotte's childhood are unknown.^{[2] [3]}

Charlotte was a pastor for the New York's Bethesda Congregational Church.^[4] Her Christian faith fueled her activism to legalize women's right to vote, and protect African-American women who were predisposed to illness and disabilities resulting from slavery. Charlotte was also an active member in the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) and the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Ray died on October 25, 1891.

Marriage and children

Charlotte relocated to New York City, where in 1840 she married Charles Bennett Ray.^{[5] [6] [7]} Together they had seven children. Four survived to adulthood:

• Clarence F. Ray (1848–?).
• Florence Theresa Ray (February 6, 1847 – June 15, 1920); no issue.
• Charlotte E. Ray (January 13, 1850 – January 4, 1911); no issue.^{[8] [9]}
• Henrietta Cordelia Ray (August 30, 1852 – January 5, 1916); no issue.^[10]

All four of her children received a college education. Her daughter Charlotte F. was the first African-American woman to receive a law degree. Her eldest daughter Florence also became an attorney. Her youngest child Henrietta Cordelia became a famous poet.^[11]

See also

• List of African-American abolitionists

Notes and References

1. Book: Snodgrass, Mary Ellen . The Underground Railroad: An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and Operations . 2015-03-26 . . 978-1-317-45416-8 . 675 . en.
2. Web site: Williams-Jones . Daniel . 2018 . Biographical Sketch of Charlotte B. Ray . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201101222128/https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cbibliographic_details%7C3971391 . 2020-11-01 . 9 March 2022 . Alexander Street.
3. "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2W69-VV6 : 2 June 2020), Charlotte A.b. Ray, 25 Oct 1891; citing Death, Manhattan, New York County, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,322,828.
4. Book: Aldermen, New York (N Y.) Board of . Ordinances Resolutions, Etc. Passed by the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York and Approved by the Mayor . 1905 . The Board . en.
5. Book: Penn, Irvine Garland . The Afro-American Press and Its Editors . 1891 . Willey & Company . 9780598582683 . en.
6. Web site: 2008-06-30 . Charles B. Ray (1807-1886) • . 2022-03-10 . en-US.
7. Book: Swift, David E. . Black Prophets of Justice: Activist Clergy Before the Civil War . 1999-03-01 . LSU Press . 978-0-8071-2499-4 . 281 . en.
8. Book: Gates, Henry Louis . Life Upon These Shores: Looking at African American History, 1513-2008 . 2011 . Alfred A. Knopf . 978-0-307-59342-9 . 173 . en.
9. Book: Lamphier . Peg A. . Women in American History: A Social, Political, and Cultural Encyclopedia and Document Collection [4 volumes] ]. Welch . Rosanne . 2017-01-23 . ABC-CLIO . 978-1-61069-603-6 . 346–347 . en.
10. Book: Mance, Ajuan Maria . Before Harlem: An Anthology of African American Literature from the Long Nineteenth Century . 2016-03-15 . Univ. of Tennessee Press . 978-1-62190-202-7 . 321 . en.
11. Web site: 2013-02-06 . Charlotte Ray . 2022-03-10 . History of American Women . en-US.