Among the ministers were three who did valuable service in the cause of freedom. Rev. John Rankin’s work as an anti-slavery leader has been noticed in another connection. He was one of the pioneers in the cause. Rev. Dr. David Nelson, a native of Washington County, and brother-in-law of Chief Justice James W. Frederick, was one of the most determined anti-slavery men in the country.[153] He had to be saved from a mob for proposing to his congregation to take a subscription with which to buy and colonize slaves. He was eloquent in promoting colonization.[154] Rev. E. T. Brantley, a West Tennessee Presbyterian minister, said of him: “He cordially disapproved of slavery. He found no justification of it anywhere. All look forward to the extinction of slavery.... If the North could be aware of the progress of anti-slavery sentiment at the South, particularly among Christians, they would think the day of emancipation had already dawned.”[155] Rev. Dr. Ross, of Tennessee, was one of the most able leaders in Presbyterianism in the South. He was the spokesman of Southern Presbyterianism in the general assembly, which met at Buffalo in May, 1853. It was in this assembly that the committee on slavery recommended that a committee consisting of one member from each of the synods of Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Virginia, be appointed to investigate the slaveholding members of the church on the following points, and report to the next general assembly: 1. The number of slaveholders in connection with the churches, and the number of slaves held by them. 2. The extent to which slaves are held, from an unavoidable necessity imposed by the laws of the States, the obligation of guardianship, and the demands of humanity. 3. Whether the Southern churches regard the sacredness of the marriage relation as it exists among the slaves; whether baptism is duly administered to the children of the slaves professing Christianity; and, in general, to what extent, and in what manner, provision is made for the religious well-being of the enslaved.[156] Dr. Ross warmly opposed this action, asserting emphatically that the South never submitted to a scrutiny. He proposed a substitute motion to the effect that “a committee from each of the Northern synods ... be appointed to report to the next general assembly on the following points: 1. The number of Northern church members who traffic with slaveholders, and are seeking to make money by selling them negro clothing, handcuffs, and cowhides. 2. How many Northern church members are concerned, directly or indirectly, in building and fitting out ships for the African slave trade, and the slave-trade between the States? 3. How many Northern church members have sent orders to New Orleans and other Southern cities, to have slaves sold, to pay debts coming to them from the South? (See Uncle Tom’s Cabin.)