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Benjamin Lay (January 26, 1682 – February 8, 1759) was an English-born writer, farmer and activist. Born in Copford, Essex into a Quakers family, he underwent an apprenticeship as a before running away to London and finding work as a sailor. In 1718, Lay moved to the British colony of Barbados, which operated a plantation economy dependent on slave labour. While working as a merchant, his shock at the brutal treatment of slaves in Barbados led Lay to develop lifelong Abolitionism, which were reinforced by his humanitarian ideals and Quaker beliefs.
Lay subsequently moved to the Province of Pennsylvania, living in Philadelphia before settling in Abington with his wife, Sarah Smith Lay, who was also a Quaker and shared his humanitarian and abolitionist beliefs. Operating a small farm, which produced fruit, flax and wool, he refused to consume any product made from slave or animal labour and lived a frugal, vegetarian lifestyle, which continued after Sarah died in 1735. A Kyphosis with a Pectus carinatum, Lay was roughly four feet tall and referred to himself as "Little Benjamin".
Lay was also a prolific writer, writing books and pamphlets that advocated the abolition of slavery. His 1737 book All Slave-Keepers That Keep the Innocent in Bondage: Apostates was one of the first abolitionist works published in the Thirteen Colonies. Lay developed a hostile relationship with American Quakers, many of whom owned slaves, frequently disrupting their meetings with demonstrations to protest against slavery. Lay died in early 1759, and his anti-slavery views would go on to inspire successive American abolitionists.
In 1718 Lay moved to Barbados as a merchant. Soon his abolitionist principles, fueled by his Quaker radicalism, made him unpopular with those fellow residents who profited from slavery and human trafficking. In 1731 Lay emigrated to the Province of Pennsylvania, settling first in Philadelphia (in what is now the Olney neighborhood), and later in Abington. In Abington he was one of the earliest and most zealous opponents of slavery, at a time when Quakers were not yet organized in opposition to slavery. On one occasion Lay carried an animal bladder filled with red pokeberry juice under his coat in order to stage a protest.
Lay stood barely tall, referring to himself as "Little Benjamin". He was a hunchback with a protruding chest, and his arms were as long as his legs. Lay became a vegetarian after killing a groundhog that had ravaged his garden. He had nailed its body parts to the corners of his garden. He felt remorse over the incident and, after reading the works of Thomas Tryon, declared himself a vegetarian and recommended a quiet, rural life based on "harmony and unity" with the world. Lay came to view a divine Pantheism presence of God in all living things; he opposed the death penalty in all instances.
As a vegetarian he ate fruits, honey and vegetables, and drank only milk and water. He planted apple, peach and walnut trees and managed a large apiary. Honey was a staple of his diet; he never killed the bees. He also grew potatoes, radishes and squash. His favourite meal was "turnips boiled, and afterwards roasted".
Lay created his own clothes to boycott all commodities produced by the exploitation of others, including animals. He refused to use the wool of sheep and wore only flax-made garments. Refusing to participate in what he described in his tracts as a degraded, hypocritical, tyrannical, and even demonic society, Lay was committed to a lifestyle of almost complete self-sustenance after his beloved wife died. Dwelling in the Pennsylvania countryside in a cave with outside entryway attached, Lay farmed fruit trees and spun the flax he grew into clothing for himself. Inside the cave he stowed his library: two hundred books of theology, biography, history and poetry.
He published more than 200 pamphlets, most of which were impassioned polemics against various social institutions of the time, particularly slavery, capital punishment, the prison system, and the wealthy Pennsylvania Quaker elite.
In 1738, Lay attended the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Quakers in Burlington, New Jersey. Dressed as a soldier, he delivered a diatribe against slavery, invoking the Bible, saying that all men should be equal under God. He ended by plunging a sword into a Bible containing a bladder of blood-red pokeberry juice, which spattered over those nearby. "Thus shall God shed the blood of those persons who enslave their fellowcreatures," he said.[1]
As a gift to her husband, Franklin's wife, Deborah Read, commissioned William Williams to paint a portrait of Benjamin Lay (portrayed above). This portrait was known in the 18th century but disappeared until it was sold at auction in 1977 for four dollars, restored by conservators at the Winterthur Museum and subsequently sold to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
Four Quaker meetings disowned Lay for his inconvenient campaigning. In 2018, Southern East Anglia Area Meeting, part of Britain Yearly Meeting, became the last of the four to "undisown" him. The others were Abington Monthly Meeting and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in the US and North London Area Meeting in Britain.
The Benjamin Lay room at Friends House, London, UK, is named after him.
is a book about Lay written by Marcus Rediker and published by Verso Books on September 1, 2017. The Return of Benjamin Lay, a play by Naomi Wallace and Redicker, starring Mark Povinelli, opened in London in 2023. The production will be mounted in Philadelphia in May 2025. Lay serves as inspiration for DJ Quakes in Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert
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contains an online edition of Benjamin Lay's 1738 book, All Slave-Keepers: Apostates!
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