First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia - William Henry Furness

William Henry Furness

The small but growing congregation was lay-led until 1825, when Rev. Dr. William Henry Furness was persuaded to serve as the first minister at the age of 22, where he served for 50 years. Over time, Furness became one of the few abolitionist ministers in the city. Prior to the Civil War, Reverend Furness was a leader of the abolitionist movement in the city. His speeches were so impassioned that both he and the congregation feared reprisals from Southern sympathizers, so several members of the church quietly armed themselves and watched over the pulpit on Sundays. His zeal in attacking the notorious Fugitive Slave Law was such that during one of President Buchanan's cabinet meetings, there was even discussion of indicting the minister for treason. Serving the church from 1825 until his death in 1898, William Furness was a scholar and activist who set the church on its continuing path of social concern known for his anti-slave sermons and Underground Railroad activities starting in the 1830s.