Rev. Samuel Cox watched one Sunday as his parishioners became irate over the presence of a black minister, Samuel Cornish, sitting with Arthur Tappan in his pew. Like other New York churches, Rev. Cox's was not integrated. Rev. Cox took the pulpit and called for tolerance. He pointed out that Jesus Christ himself may have been dark-skinned. This was more than one local editor could bear. The article written by William Leete Stone helped spark the anti-abolitionist riots of 1834. Rev. Cox's church and home were among the targets. He moved to Auburn Theological Seminary for two years to escape the wrath of people so fiercely opposed to abolition.