Was born in Charleston, S.C. on the 4th day of August, 1810. His father,
William Purvis, was a native of Ross county, in Northumberland, England.
His mother was a free-born woman, of Charleston. His maternal
grandmother was a Moor; and her father was an Israelite, named Baron
Judah. Robert Purvis and his two brothers were brought to the North by
their parents in 1819. In Pennsylvania and New England he received his
scholastic education, finishing it at Amherst College. Since that time
his home has been in Philadelphia, or in the vicinity of that city.
His interest in the Anti-slavery cause began in his childhood, inspired
by such books as "Sandford and Merton," and Dr. Toney's "Portraiture of
Slavery," which his father put into his hands. His father, though
resident in a slave state, was never a slaveholder; but was heartily an
Abolitionist in principle. It was Robert Purvis' good fortune, before he
attained his majority, to make the acquaintance of that earnest and
self-sacrificing pioneer of freedom, Benjamin Lundy; and in conjunction
with him, was an early laborer in the anti-slavery field. He was a
member of the Convention held in Philadelphia in 1833, which formed the
American Anti-slavery Society; and among the signatures to its
Declaration of Sentiments, the name of Robert Purvis is to be seen; a
record of which his posterity to the latest generation may be justly
proud. During the whole period of that Society's existence he was a
member of it; and was also an active member and officer of The
Pennsylvania Anti-slavery Society. To the cause of the slave's freedom
he gave with all his heart his money, his time, his talents. Fervent in
soul, eloquent in speech, most gracious in manner, he was a favorite on
the platform of Anti-slavery meetings. High-toned in moral nature,
keenly sensitive in all matters pertaining to justice and integrity, he
was a most valuable coadjutor with the leaders of an unpopular reform;
and throughout the Anti-slavery conflict, he always received, as he
always deserved, the highest confidence and warm personal regard of his
fellow-laborers.
His faithful labors in aiding fugitive slaves cannot be recorded within
the limits of this sketch. Throughout that long period of peril to all
who dared to "remember those in bonds as bound with them," his house was
a well-known station on the Underground Rail Road; his horses and
carriages, and his personal attendance, were ever at the service of the
travelers upon that road. In those perilous duties his family heartily
sympathized with him, and cheerfully performed their share.
He has lived to witness the triumph of the great cause to which he
devoted his youth and his manhood; to join in the jubilee song of the
American slave; and the thanksgiving of the Abolitionists; and to
testify that the work of his life has been one "whose reward is in
itself."