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6. Antislavery Aspirations Redirected
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6 / Antislavery Aspirations Redirected On the evening of November 28, 1833, forty-six-year-old Edward Coles stood nervously in the parlor of Philadelphian Roberts Vaux, his good friend and antislavery ally from the Illinois convention contest. The room was crowded with guests, most of whom were prominent residents of the city. To Coles’s delight, the company also included several southerners, among them his brother Tucker, sister-in-law Helen, and his younger sister , Betsy. His only regret was that James and Dolley Madison, not wishing to undertake a long journey in their advanced age, could not witness the events of the day. The candles illuminating the parlor cast a warm light across the room, making the atmosphere contrast sharply with the cold nervousness that caused him to anxiously survey his surroundings . While he remained stationed by the fireplace, everyone else moved through the room freely, pausing occasionally to chat amiably with one another as they awaited the start of the ceremony. Within minutes the guests settled into silence and Coles turned to the entryway only to gaze upon the beautiful Sally Logan Roberts. As she crossed the room and took his arm a calm feeling overtook him. Then, together, they turned to face the minster and took their vows.1 It should hardly be surprising that Coles found a bride and married in Philadelphia. Ever since his year-long sojourn in the city under the care of Dr. Philip S. Physick in 1813, he had felt a strong affection for Philadelphia and its cosmopolitan society. His removal to Illinois and the experience of living in a frontier community had failed to temper those feelings. Indeed, between 1825 and the year of his marriage, Coles spent 166 / antislavery aspirations redirected figure 6.1. Mrs. Edward Coles (Sally Logan Roberts), 1836, by Thomas Sully. (Courtesy of Davidson College.) nearly half of each year east of the Appalachian Mountains, and a significant portion of that time was spent visiting friends in Philadelphia. During these visits, Coles renewed his friendships with Nicholas Biddle, Roberts Vaux, William Short, Peter S. Du Ponceau, Richard Rush, and George Mifflin Dallas, as well as forging new relationships with John Vaughan, Charles J. and Joseph R. Ingersoll, George Cadwalader, George [54.166.223.204] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 14:28 GMT) antislavery aspirations redirected / 167 Roberts Smith, Thomas Sully, Sidney George Fisher, and Dr. Nathaniel Chapman, all members of Philadelphia’s most prominent social circle. As had been the case on the eve of his emigration westward, Coles had been continually haunted by the same dilemma during these years. Should he give in to his desire to enjoy “the pleasures of life” or honor his convictions and remain an “active & useful labourer in the great field of benevolence”? Although he was “ashamed of [his] . . . inclination to yield to such selfish considerations,” Coles’s experiences in the Prairie State and Virginia had led him to doubt his ability to serve the cause of humanity, much less succeed at eradicating the institution of slavery. Whenever he returned to the west, then, he continually experienced a crisis of purpose that led him to crave the company and polite society of Philadelphia.2 His marriage to the twenty-four-year-old Sally Roberts and their decision to reside in Philadelphia ultimately furnished Coles with an opportunity both to satisfy his yearning for society and fulfill his deeply felt sense of duty to fight against slavery. In Sally, Coles found a wife who connected him to one of the city’s oldest and most prominent families. Her great grandfather was Hugh Roberts of Wales, a man of royal decent and a Quaker who immigrated to America with William Penn in the 1680s. Sally’s father had maintained the family’s status by establishing a lucrative iron business and was among the city’s wealthiest residents. Throughout the Early National and Antebellum eras, nearly every Philadelphia social and cultural institution listed a Roberts as a member. When Coles was courting Sally, the family spent most of the year on an expansive estate called Pine Grove, just outside the city limits. Sally’s two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, were also connected to the city’s refined elite. They were married to Dr. William Rush and George Roberts Smith, respectively, both of whom were friends with Coles and regular participants in the city’s vibrant elite social life. Philadelphia was also the center of an emerging benevolent empire where reform-minded public and private...