Josh Brown's new book about Allen Jay

JOSH BROWN SPOKE ABOUT THE STRUGGLES AN EARLY MIDWESTERN QUAKER UNDERTOOK FOR THE BETTERMENT OF HIS LARGER COMMUNITY. BORN IN NORTH CAROLINA, HIS FAMILY MOVED TO MIAMI COUNTY, OHIO WHERE SLAVERY WAS UNLAWFUL. EDUCATED UNDER DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES, HE ENDURED THE TORMENT QUAKERS SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF HIS NEIGHBORS WHO AT TIMES PUT THE LAW OF THE LAND ABOVE THE LAWS OF GOD.
THE REV. BROWN RELATED A POIGNANT STORY ABOUT A RUNAWAY SLAVE WHO WAS AIDED BY THE FAMILY OF ALLEN JAY. THE SLAVE, TREATED WITH UNDERSTANDING AND COMPASSION, WAS ON HIS WAY NORTH AND COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT HE WOULD BE ASSISTED WITH KINDNESS OF WHITE STRANGERS.
BY TODAY'S MEASUREMENTS, JAY WAS RELATIVELY WELL EDUCATED, HAVING OBTAINED A SEMESTER OF COLLEGE AT EARLHAM AND A YEAR AT ANTIOCH. HE LATER MARRIED AND SETTLED IN LAFAYETTE, INDIANA. HE WAS DRAFTED INTO THE SERVICE DURING THE CIVIL WAR, BUT PRESIDENT LINCOLN, AT THE REQUEST OF GOVERNOR MORTON, EXCUSED QUAKERS FROM THE DRAFT.
AFTER THE WAR, JAY TRAVELED TO THE SOUTH TO AID SOUTHERN QUAKERS RE-ESTABLISH THEIR LIVES DURING RECONSTRUCTION, AIDING IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 60 SCHOOLS AS WELL AS BUSINESSES AND AGRICULTURAL PURSUITS. HE THEN RETURNED TO EARLHAM, ASSUMING A TITLE THAT WAS A COMBINATION OF TREASURER AND DEAN. WHILE THERE, HE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN EXPANDING THE COLLEGE FROM ONE WITH ONLY ONE BUILDING TO AN INSTITUTION WITH SIX, WHILE ALSO IMPROVING ACADEMICS AND WIPING OUT PREVIOUS DEBT. HE DIED IN 1910.