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= Charlotta Gordon Pyles = Charlotta Gordon Pyles (c. 1790~1806-1880) was a notable abolitionist and a lecturer. Born in Tennessee Charlotta was born into slavery. Charlotta lived on a plantation near Bardstown, KY along with her children. After the death of the plantation owner, Charlotta and her family were inherited by Francis Gordon, who, after a legal battle took the Pyles family from Kentucky to the north, settling in Iowa with aim of freeing them, except for Charlotta’s son Benjamin and two of Charlotta’s sons-in-law who also remained in slavery. Charlotta then went from city to city speaking to raise $3,000 to purchase their freedom. Along with this, Charlotta also helped runaway slaves on their journey to Canada and was an activist for Women's suffrage.


 * 1) Journey to Freedom
 * 2) Lecturing and Activist career
 * 3) Notable Family Tree
 * 4) See also
 * 5) References
 * 6) Further Reading
 * 7) External Links

Journey to Freedom
Due to birth records of slaves being rarely kept there are conflicting reports of Charlotta's Birthdate. Some sources say she was born in April of 1790 while others say she was born in 1804 or 1806. Despite the uncertainty of her birth, Charlotta’s mother was a Seminole Indian and her father was a slave so Charlotta was born into Slavery. She lived on a plantation in Bardstown, Kentucky. Charlotta and her family were inherited by Francis Gordon after the death of Hugh Gordon, Francis’ father. Francis planned to free the Pyles family from slavery due to the Wesleyan Methodist rule of manumission. Despite Francis and her father's wishes, the other children of Hugh Gordon didn’t share their ideas of manumission and twice contested Hugh’s will once in 1853 and again in 1854 claiming that Francis was incompetent as she was 80 years old and slightly crippled. Francis Gordon defended herself in court against her siblings and Judge Col. W.H. Hays and the jury sided with Francis. Francis took the Pyles family to the north seeking freedom except for Charlotta’s son Benjamin who was kidnapped and sold. The group would eventually settle in Keokuk, Iowa.⁶

Lecturing and Activist Career
Along with Charlotta’s son, Benjamin two of Charlotta’s sons-in-law also remained in slavery. Charlotta decided to buy their freedom, but to do so, she would have to raise $1500 each for a total of $3,000. To do this, she would have public lectures in cities like Philadelphia and New York. Despite having no formal education her public speaking was very profound and she was able to raise the money within 6 months and go back to Kentucky and buy the freedom of her sons-in-law. On her lecture tour, she caught the attention of fellow abolitionist Fredrick Douglas along with women's suffrage activist Susan B. Anthony. Douglas even wrote a poem about Pyles in his Fredrick Douglas Paper on December 14th, 1855. After her lectures, she continued to fight against slavery as her home in Keokuk became a haven for runaway slaves on their escape to Canada. Charlotta was also an activist in the women's suffrage movement as many historians say that the suffrage movement grew from the abolitionist movement. Charlotta Gordon Pyles passed away on January 19th, 1880, and was buried in Keokuk, Iowa.

Notable Family Tree
Charlotta Gordon Pyles’ family tree is full of notable black women throughout history. Charlotta’s daughter Charlotta Smith was also an activist. She challenged the segregation of schools and after winning a Supreme court case was able to enroll her son in school. Charlotta’s granddaughter Grace Morris Allen Jones was the first African American to graduate from Burlington Highschool in Burlington, Iowa. She then graduated from the University of Iowa and became an educator and after her teaching career, she would become a public speaker for education. Grace Morris Allen Jones also wrote a series of papers and articles one of which was featured in The Palimpsest, a magazine for the State Historical Society of Iowa named “The Desire for Freedom”. In this article, she detailed her Grandmothers journey to freedom along with her activism. Charlotta’s great-great-great-granddaughter Mignon Barker Richmond was also an activist and community leader along with being the first black woman to graduate from a university in Utah when she graduated from Utah State University.