John Gregg Fee facts for kids

Quick facts for kids John Gregg Fee
Born	September 9, 1816 Bracken County, Kentucky, United States
Died	January 11, 1901 (1901-01-12) (aged 84)
Education	Augusta College Miami University Lane Theological Seminary
Occupation	Minister, educator, Berea College (founder)
Spouse(s)	Matilda Hamilton
Children	Several
Parent(s)	John Fee and Elizabeth Bradford Fee

John Gregg Fee (born September 9, 1816 – died January 11, 1901) was an important American abolitionist. This means he worked to end slavery. He was also a minister and an educator.

John G. Fee founded the town of Berea, Kentucky. He also started The Church of Christ, Union in Berea in 1853. Two years later, in 1855, he founded Berea College. This college was special because it was the first in the Southern U.S. to accept both white and Black students, and both boys and girls. Later in his life, he started another church, which became First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1890.

During the American Civil War, Fee helped at Camp Nelson. This was a place where formerly enslaved men joined the Union Army. He helped build schools and homes for these soldiers and their families. He also preached to them.

Early Life and Education

John Gregg Fee was born in Bracken County, Kentucky on September 9, 1816. His father, John Fee, had Irish and Scottish roots. His mother, Elizabeth Bradford, had Scots-Irish ancestors. Her mother was a Quaker from Pennsylvania.

John's father inherited a person who was working to pay off a debt. Later, his father bought enslaved people. He eventually owned thirteen. Even though he saw problems with slavery, he kept his enslaved people. He also disagreed with his son's strong anti-slavery views.

When John Fee was 14, he became a Christian. He wanted to join the Methodist Episcopal Church. A few years later, both he and his father joined the Presbyterian Church.

Fee studied at Augusta College in Kentucky. He also went to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In 1842, he began studying to become a minister at Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. There, he made friends who would be important throughout his life. Young John Fee became a strong abolitionist. He believed deeply in treating everyone equally, following the idea to "Love thy neighbor as thyself."

Starting His Career

After finishing his studies, Fee returned to Kentucky. He began preaching against slavery. However, it was hard for him to find a permanent job. Many people in Kentucky supported slavery. He started preaching in Lewis County, where fewer people owned enslaved people. This meant more people there agreed with his views.

In the 1840s, Fee disagreed with the Presbyterian Synod of Kentucky. The Synod did not like that his church refused to welcome slaveholders. Because of this disagreement, Fee left the Presbyterian Church. He came to believe that Christianity should not be divided into different groups or denominations. He thought it should be for everyone.

Fee began writing about ending slavery. Some of his writings were published by the American Missionary Association (AMA). This group was formed in 1846. By 1848, the AMA hired Fee to travel and preach in Bracken and Lewis counties. In Lewis County, he and his church members built a Free Church of Christ.

Founding Berea

In 1853, a wealthy landowner named Cassius M. Clay donated land. Clay supported the church and wanted slavery to end gradually. On this land, Fee founded the town of Berea, Kentucky. It was in the middle of the state, in Madison County. Other people who shared his beliefs started to move there.

Fee preached in nearby counties. He often faced angry opposition because of his anti-slavery ideas. His own life story tells how dangerous it was in the years before the Civil War. He was often challenged and threatened for his stand against slavery and for equal treatment of Black people.

In 1855, Fee and other members of Union Church founded Berea College. This was a very important step. It was the first college in Kentucky to accept students of all races and both genders. It started as a simple one-room schoolhouse. This building also served as their church.

Fee based the school on Oberlin College in Ohio. He even hired some teachers from Oberlin as his school grew. Many people were interested in the college, even though it was small. In 1859, Governor Salmon P. Chase of Ohio attended the graduation ceremony. Fee, J.A.R. Rogers (who was the principal), and others wrote a plan for the school. They also gave over 100 acres of their own land for the college campus.

Challenges and Exile

In 1859, Fee took his family to Boston, Massachusetts. He attended a meeting for the AMA and raised money for Berea College. Abolitionists also encouraged him to get help from Henry Ward Beecher's church in Brooklyn, New York. People who supported ending slavery and education formed a large network across the country. This network helped support important efforts like Fee's college.

News of Fee seeking help from Beecher reached Kentucky. The news was twisted and made pro-slavery people even angrier at him. Tensions grew in the years before the American Civil War. After John Brown's Raid, things got worse. In December 1859, armed pro-slavery men came to Berea. Fee was still away in the East. They told J.A.R. Rogers and others to leave Kentucky within 10 days. They were angry about Fee, his church, and the college.

The people of Berea asked the state governor for protection. But he said he could not help them. For a time, the townspeople left the village and the school. Abolitionists were also forced out of Lewis and Bracken counties. When Fee returned to Bracken County, where he was staying with his wife's family, a group of 62 respected men told him he and his supporters had to leave.

Fee and his family lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, until 1864. They tried to return to Berea earlier, but strong opposition forced them out of the state again. Matilda Fee, his wife, did return to their house in Berea with two of their children without much trouble. Both Union and Confederate soldiers were in the area. Fee could not get to her, so she had to go back to Cincinnati.

After the Civil War

In 1864, Fee and his wife returned to Berea. He soon began visiting Camp Nelson often. There, he preached and taught formerly enslaved people. These men were joining the Union Army. Their wives and children also came to the camp.

Fee worked with the camp leaders to set up a school. He also pushed for buildings to be constructed for the families. He asked Salmon Chase, who was now working for the national government, for money. The funding was quickly approved. Barracks, a hospital, and school buildings were built at Camp Nelson. Fee helped arrange for teachers for the freed people. He was deeply involved until after the war ended. He and his wife even used their own money to help buy land nearby. This land was divided into home lots. They also helped build a church and school there.

After the war, Fee and Rogers returned to Berea with their families. For many years, Fee had insisted that his work should not be tied to any specific church group. In 1865, the AMA became closely linked with the Congregational Church. Fee felt he could no longer accept their help. He believed that the AMA, like other church groups, would divide the people of the South.

In later years, Fee and others started the Christian Missionary Association of Kentucky. This group was made up of individuals, not churches. He also focused his efforts on Berea College, which grew a lot after the war. The school welcomed both freedmen and freedwomen. It expanded from its single room. In 1873, it gave out its first college degree.

J.A.R. Rogers was the principal of the school from 1858 to 1869. He also led the Board of Trustees. After the war, Fee brought in more teachers from Oberlin College. Later, in the late 1800s, president William Goodell Frost saw that people in Appalachia needed education. He started the school's commitment to helping that region.

John Gregg Fee died on January 9, 1901.

Marriage and Family

John Gregg Fee married Matilda Hamilton on September 26, 1844. She was also from Bracken County, and they had known each other since they were young. Matilda strongly supported his anti-slavery beliefs. They had several children, but sadly, some of them died when they were young.