Celia Burleigh: First Female Unitarian Minister and William's Second Wife

Celia Tibbits Burleigh Basics

b. September 18, 1826, Cazenovia, New York 

d. July 26, 1875, Syracuse, New York

m1. Cordon Bryum Kellum (1814-1881), 1844; divorced 1850

m2. Charles Chauncey Burr (1817-1883), 1851; divorced 1853

m3. William Henry Burleigh (1812-1871), Troy, New York, September 7, 1865

lived in New York, Ohio, and Connecticut

William Henry Burleigh's second wife, was also the first woman Unitarian minister to hold a pulpit - in Brooklyn, Connecticut. This was the same congregation led by Samuel J. May during the Canterbury controversies. Quite an achievement for a church that, for a long time, was the sole Unitarian body in the state!

Celia Burleigh was a strong women's rights advocate, who helped organize Sorosis, a club for intellectual feminist women. She spoke for the rights of children, too.

When William died she edited a second edition of his poems, and wrote a short sketch of his life. 

Breast cancer cut her life short, but what a life!