“The eldest known ancestor of Mr. Tyson was a German Quaker, converted to the faith of Fox by the preaching of William Penn.  Persecuted by the government of his native country for his religion, he gathered up his all and followed Penn to England; with whom, and at whose request, he afterwards embarked for America, and was among the first settlers of Pennsylvania.  He established himself within what are now called the environs of Philadelphia, married the daughter of an English settler, and became the happy father of sons and daughters.  From these, many descendants have been derived.

“Elisha Tyson was one of the great grandsons in direct descent of the German Quaker, and was born on the spot which he had chosen for his residence.  The religion and virtues of this ancestor were instilled into the minds of his children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation—­not by transmission of blood, but by the force of a guarded and a Christian education.  In the subject of this memoir, they blazed forth with superior lustre.  From his infancy he was conspicuous in his neighborhood for that benevolence of heart and intrepidity of soul, which so highly distinguished him in after life.”

In his early manhood he removed to Baltimore, in the slave State of Maryland.  Here, from his first residence, he took an active part in various benevolent and public spirited enterprises, although he had to struggle with early difficulties, having no resources for his support but honesty, industry, and perseverance.  The cause of the oppressed slaves very soon engaged his attention, and his unwearied exertions in their behalf ceased not till the close of a long and energetic life.  In the following quotation, describing the American slave trade, although the past tense is employed by his biographer, yet if Louisiana be substituted for Georgia, the whole representation is true of the present time.  That dreadful traffic has increased many fold since the date here alluded to, at which E. Tyson’s career of benevolence commenced.

“Even the most creditable merchants felt no compunction in speculating in the flesh and blood of their own species.  These articles of merchandize were as common as wheat and tobacco, and ranked with these as a staple of Maryland.  This state of things was naturally productive of scenes of cruelty.  Georgia was then the great receptacle of that portion of these unfortunate beings, who were exported beyond the limits of their native soil; and the worst name given to Tartarus itself could not be more appalling to their imaginations than the name of that sister State.  And when we consider the dreadful consequences suffered by the victims of this traffic; a separation like that of death between the nearest and dearest relatives; a banishment for ever from the land of their nativity and the scenes of their youth; the painful inflictions by the hands of slave drivers, to whom