Parker Pillsbury (September 22, 1809 – July 7, 1898) was an American minister and advocate forabolition andwomen's rights.
Pillsbury was born inHamilton, Massachusetts. He moved toHenniker, New Hampshire where he later farmed and worked as a wagoner.
With the encouragement of his localCongregational church, Pillsbury entered Gilmanton Theological Seminary in 1835, graduating in 1839. He studied an additional year atAndover, and there came under the influence of social reformerJohn A. Collins, before accepting a church inLoudon, New Hampshire. His work in the ministry suffered after he made a number of sharp attacks on the churches' complicity with slavery. His Congregational license to preach was revoked in 1840. However Pillsbury became active in the ecumenicalFree Religious Association and preached to its societies in New York,Ohio, andMichigan.
Pillsbury's hostility toslavery led him into active writing and lecturing for the abolitionist movement and other progressivesocial reform issues. He became a lecturing agent for the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and American antislavery societies, and held these posts for over two decades. He edited theConcord (N.H.)Herald of Freedom in 1840, and again in 1845 and 1846. In 1854, he served as an emissary from theAmerican Anti-Slavery Society to Great Britain. He stayed with the surgeonJohn Estlin and his abolitionist daughterMary Estlin. Both John and Mary became involved in Pillsbury's problematic correspondence with the British activist Louis Chamerovzow.[1]
Pillsbury lectured widely on abolition and social reform, often in the company of fellow abolitionistStephen Symonds Foster. He earned a reputation for successfully dealing with hostile crowds through non-resistance tactics. His support for non-resistance led to service on the executive committee of the New Hampshire Non-Resistance Society.[citation needed] Consequently, Pillsbury was not an active supporter of theUnion (American Civil War) effort. However, he defended the actions ofJohn Brown afterthe raid on Harper's Ferry, and he applaudedLincoln'sEmancipation Proclamation. He was a supporter of the abolitionistRadical Democracy Party, which challenged Lincoln during the1864 presidential election. However, the party refused to endorse some of his more radical proposals regarding black suffrage and land redistribution for freed slaves.
In 1865, Pillsbury broke with longtime associateWilliam Lloyd Garrison over the need for continued activity by the American Anti-Slavery Society. He edited theNational Anti-Slavery Standard in 1866.
Pillsbury helped to draft the constitution of the feministAmerican Equal Rights Association in 1865, and served as vice-president of the New Hampshire Woman Suffrage Association. With feministElizabeth Cady Stanton, Pillsbury served as co-editor for the women's rights newsletterThe Revolution, founded in 1868.
Pillsbury completed his abolition memoirs,Acts of the Anti-Slavery Apostles, in 1883.
His nephew,Albert E. Pillsbury, drafted the bylaws of theNAACP.
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