William Ellery Channing’s was the founder of “Unitarianism” and as an abolitionist may have been influenced by Duchess Quamino’s presence in his early life as his nanny and their lifelong friendship thereafter.

Charity “Duchess” Quamino was born into a family on the Gold Coast of Africa, in Senegal or Ghana, and was taken captive, sold into slavery, and transported on the slave ship Elizabeth to Newport where she became the property of William Ellery and his wife. Quamino grew into an entrusted nanny and excelled in baking, a skill that would sustain her in later years.