He was a pastor for 20 years at a Presbyterian church in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and also taught in elementary school and at a boys' academy.

[1] He taught at several places, including Charleston, South Carolina, where many households held enslaved African Americans.

He was a popular preacher and noted educator, developing the concept of the modern Sunday School curriculum.

Boys were drawn both from the local area and from more distant places, such as Virginia and New York City, to attend this private preparatory academy.

Some abolitionists believed that black people would face better chances for freedom and prosperity in Africa than in the United States.

Also, if there were a colony available to them where they could be resettled, abolitionists hoped to gain more manumissions of slaves and eventually end the institution.

Pioneers suffered extremely high mortality rates in the early years from new tropical diseases and lack of sanitation and infrastructure.

The U.S. did not recognize Liberia's independence until February 5, 1862, during the American Civil War, because of previous opposition by Southern Congressmen.

The Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has sermons and a Latin manuscript from Robert Finley in its collections.