A member of the Syracuse Vigilance Committee, May punctuated his sermons with reminders that his home was a station on the underground railroad and requests for clothing and money. Speaking to his congregation about the Fugitive Slave Act, he said, “We must trample this infamous law underfoot, be the consequences what they may. It is not for you to choose whether you will or not obey such a law as this. You are as much under obligation not to obey it, as you are not to lie, steal, or commit murder.”
