Charles Bennett Ray was born on December 25, 1807 at Falmouth, Massachussets. It was his boast that the blood of the aboriginal Indians, of the English white settlers, and of the first negroes brought to New England mingled in his veins. His parents were Joseph Aspinwall and Annis (Harrington) Ray. His mother was a great reader and very religious, while his father was for twenty-eight years mail carrier between Falmouth and Martha's Vineyard.
The eldest of seven children, Ray was educated at the schools and academies of his native town. He studied at Wesleyan Seminary, Wilbraham, Massachussets, and later attended Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut.
His schooling completed, he worked for the next five years on his grandfather's farm at Westerly, Rhode Island. He next learned the shoemaker's trade at Vineyard Haven but in a short while made up his mind to prepare himself for the ministry.
In 1832, he went to New York and opened a boot and shoe store. In 1833 he joined the American Anti-Slavery Society and through his connection with the Underground Railroad actively furthered the escape of runaway slaves with means furnished by Lewis Tappan and others.
In 1843, after the formation of the committee of vigilance for the protection of those fleeing from bondage, he became its corresponding secretary; in 1850 he was made a member of the executive committee of the New York state vigilance committee. In the meantime, 1837, he had been ordained as a Methodist minister. The same year he was appointed general agent of the Colored American, a recently established negro weekly and the second one of its kind to be published in the United States.
He traveled extensively in the interest of this journal, lectured on its behalf in Eastern and Western cities, and contributed to its columns. In 1838 he became part, and subsequently sole, owner of this paper, and was its only editor from 1839 on. Although he conducted the publication ably and proved himself a terse and vigorous writer, it suspended publication in April 1842 after a checkered career. It served, however, as a prototype for later negro journals. In 1846 he was installed as pastor of the Bethesda Congregational Church, New York, and continued as such until 1868. From 1846 until his death he held the position of city missionary.
He became a prominent promoter of the Underground Railroad. He was also co-founder and director of the New York Vigilance Committee and a member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, assisting runaway slaves. He also traveled throughout the north giving speeches condemning African-American prejudice
He was light in color, of small stature and wiry frame, and polished in manners. He had a gentle disposition, was modest in demeanor, and fair-minded and effective as a speaker.
He was married in 1834 to Henrietta, the daughter of Green Regulus; she died in 1836 as did the infant girl born of this union. In 1840 he married Charlotte Augusta, the daughter of Gustavus J. and Pacella (Cuthbert) Burroughs of Savannah, Georgia; she bore him seven children, of whom only three daughters were living at the time of his death.
