possession of Mrs. Rose Cooper, _alias_ Porter, (a woman
admitted by her counsel to be a common prostitute,) was
brought before Judge Duer, of New York City, by a writ of
_habeas corpus_, which had been applied for by Charles
Trainer, the father of the child, (a free colored man, who
had followed the parties from Mobile to New York,) and who
desired that the custody of his daughter's person should be
granted to him. [June, 1853, and previous.] Judge Duer
decided that it was not within his jurisdiction to determine
to whom the custody of the child belonged; the Supreme Court
of New York must decide that. Judge D. proposed to both
parties that the child should be put into his hands, and he
would provide a proper person for her care and education, but
the woman (Porter) would not consent to this. She evidently
designed to train up the child for a life of shame, and
perhaps of slavery also. The case was brought by a writ of
_habeas corpus_, before Judge Barculo, of the Supreme Court,
sitting at Brooklyn. The effort to serve the writ was at
first defeated by the notorious New York bully, Captain
Isaiah Rynders, acting, it was said, under the advice of
James T. Brady, counsel for Mrs. Porter. For this
interference with, the law, Rynders and some others were
arrested and taken before Judge Barculo, who let them off on
their making an apology! The second attempt to serve the writ
on the child was more successful. After hearing counsel,
Judge Barculo adjudged "that the said Charles Trainer is
entitled to the care and custody of said Jane Trainer, and
directing her to be delivered to him as her father," &c. In
giving his decision, Judge B. said, "It is not to be assumed
that a child under fourteen years of age is possessed of
sufficient discretion to choose her own guardian; a house of
ill-fame is not a suitable place, nor one of its inmates a
proper person for the education of such a child." Jane
Trainer's mother was afterwards bought from slavery in
Mobile, Alabama, and enabled to join her husband and child.
In 1854, Charles Trainer obtained a verdict in King's County
Court, New York, for $775 damages, against Rose Cooper.
[N.B. Though not strictly a case under the Fugitive Slave Law, this
is very properly inserted here, as the whole spirit of the woman, of
her counsel, and of the means he took to accomplish his base
designs, was clearly instigated by that Law, and by the malignant
influences it brought into action against the colored people, both
slave and free.]
BASIL WHITE, Philadelphia, was summarily surrendered into
slavery in Maryland, by United States Commissioner Ingraham,
June 1, 1853. He was betrayed into the clutches of the
kidnapper Alberti, by a colored man named John Dorsey.
_Two slaves_ of Sylvester Singleton, living near Burlington,
(Ky.?) escaped and reached Columbus, Ohio; were there
overtaken by their master, who secured them and took them
back with him.--_Cincinnati Enquirer_.
JOHN FREEMAN, a free colored man, seized in Indianapolis, and
claimed as the slave of Pleasant Ellington, a Methodist
church-member, (Summer, 1853,) of Missouri. Freeman pledged
himself to prove that he was not the person he was alleged to
be. The United States Marshal consented to his having time
for this, provided he would go to jail, and pay _three
dollars a day_ for a guard to keep him secure! Bonds to any
amount, to secure the marshal against loss, if Freeman could
go at large, were rejected. Freeman's counsel went to
Georgia, and "after many days returned with a venerable and
highly respectable gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Patillo,
(post-master of the place where he resides,) who had
voluntarily made the long journey for the sole purpose of
testifying to his knowledge of Freeman, and that he was well
known to be free!" But Freeman was still kept in jail. After
several days, Ellington brought witnessess to prove F. to be
his slave. The witnesses, and Liston (counsel for Ellington)
wished to have Freeman strip himself, to be examined naked.
By advise of his counsel he refused. The marshal took him to
his cell, and compelled him to strip. The witnesses then
swore that he was Ellington's property. Freeman's counsel
produced further evidence that he had been known as a free
man _twenty_ years. Ellington claimed that he had escaped
from him _sixteen_ years before. The man who did escape from
Ellington, just sixteen years before, was discovered to be
living near Malden, Canada. Two of the Kentucky witnesses
visited and recognized him. Freeman was then released, but
with a large debt upon him, $1,200, which had grown up by
the unusually heavy expenses of his defence and long
imprisonment, Freeman brought a suit against Ellington for
false imprisonment laying damages at $10,000. A verdict for
$2,000 was given in his favor, which was agreed to by
Ellington's counsel.--_Indiana Free Democrat_, May, 1854.
_Three slaves_, two men and a girl, fled from near Maysville,
Kentucky, into Ohio. Were pursued by their owners and
assistants, five men armed, and were overtaken, says the
Maysville _Weekly Express_, "at the bridge over Rattlesnake
Creek, on the Petersburg and Greenfield road, about ten
o'clock at night," the slaves being, armed, and accompanied
by a white man. Both parties fired, the negro girl was
wounded, but still fled; one of the negro men was also
wounded, and, says the Maysville paper, they "were tracked a
mile and a half by the blood." The other slave was secured
and taken back to Kentucky, "much bruised and cut in the
affray." "The white man," says the same paper, "was also
caught and beaten in a very severe manner with a club, and
strong hopes are entertained that he will die."--_Wilmington
(Ohio) Republican_, July, 22, 1853.
_A colored girl_, between four and five years old, suddenly
disappeared from Providence, R.I., July 13, 1853; at the same
time, a mulatto woman, who had been heard to make inquiries
about the child, was missing also. Believed to be a case of
kidnapping.
_A negro boy_, says the Memphis _Inquirer_, "left his owner
in this city," and went on board the steamboat Aurilla Wood,
bound for Cincinnati. By a telegraphic message he was
intercepted, taken from the boat at Cairo, Illinois, and
taken back to Memphis. (Summer, 1853.)
GEORGE W. MCQUERRY, _Cincinnati, Ohio_. A colored man, who
had resided three or four years in Ohio, and married a free
woman, by whom he had three children, was remanded to slavery
by Judge McLean (August, 1853.) The man was taken by the
United States Marshal, with a posse, across the river to
Covington, Kentucky, and there delivered to his _master_!
_Two men kidnapped_ from Chicago, and taken to St. Louis. See
_Chicago_ Tribune, quoted in _Standard_, Aug. 27, 1853.
_Three Slaves_ taken by _Habeas Corpus_, from steamboat
Tropic, and brought before Judge Flinn, at Cincinnati,
August, 1853. The woman Hannah expressed a wish to return to
her master in the boat. Judge Flinn ordered her into the
custody of the claimants without investigation. Judge F.
asked Hannah if she had the custody of the child Susan, to
which she answered that she had. Whereupon the Judge also
ordered her back into the custody of the claimants, without
examination. Mr. Jolliffe protested against ordering the
child back without examination. The Court said they would
take the responsibility. The examination then proceeded in
the case of the man Edward. It appeared that they were
purchased in Virginia, to be conveyed to Mississippi. The
boat stopped at Cincinnati, and the slaves were twice taken
by the agent of the owners on shore, and upon the territory
of Ohio. Mr. Jolliffe commenced his argument at 7, P.M., and
argued that the slaves, being brought by their owners upon
free territory, were legally free. Mr. J., before finishing,
was taken ill, and obliged to leave the court-room; he first
begged the Court to adjourn until morning, which was refused
by Judge Flinn. Judge Keys said the Ohio river was a highway
for all States bordering on it, whose citizens had a right
also to use the adjacent shores for purposes necessary to
navigation. Mr. Zinn stated that Mr. Jolliffe had been
obliged to retire, in consequence of illness, and had
requested him to urge the Court to continue the case. Judge
Flinn said--"The case will he decided to-night; that is
decided on. We have not been silting here four or five hours
to determine whether we will decide the case or not. It will
be decided, and you may come up to it sideways or square; or
any way you please; you must come to it." Mr. Zinn said he
was not going to argue. He had made the request out of
courtesy to a professional brother. He doubted the power of
the Court to deliver the boy into slavery. Judge Flinn
said--"I do not wish to hear any arguments of that nature."
The man was then ordered to be taken by the Sheriff, and
delivered to claimant on board the boat,--which was
done.--_Cincinnati Gazette_, 27th August, 1853.
PATRICK SNEED, a colored waiter in the Cataract House,
Niagara Falls, arrested on the pretended charge of murder
committed in Savannah, Georgia. He was brought, by _Habeas
Corpus_, before Judge Sheldon, at Buffalo, (September, 1853,)
and by him ordered to be "fully discharged."
BILL, [or WILLIAM THOMAS,] a colored waiter at the
Phenix Hotel, Wilkesbarre, Penn., described as a "tall,
noble-looking, intelligent, and active mulatto, nearly
white," was attacked by "Deputy Marshal Wynkoop," Sept. 3,
1853, and four other persons, (three of them from Virginia.)
These men came "suddenly, from behind, knocked him down with
a mace, and partially shackled him." He struggled hard
against the five, shook them off, and with the handcuff,
which had been secured to his right wrist only "inflicted
some hard wounds on the countenances" of his assailants.
Covered with blood, he broke from them, rushed from the
house, and plunged in the river close by, exclaiming, "I will
be drowned rather than taken alive." He was pursued, fired
upon repeatedly, ordered to come out of the water, where he
stood immersed to his neck, or "they would blow his brains
out." He replied, "I will die first." They then deliberately
fired at him four or five different times, the last ball
supposed to have struck on his head, for his face was
instantly covered with blood, and he sprang up and shrieked.
The by-standers began to cry "shame" and the kidnappers
retired a short distance for consultation. Bill came out of
the water and lay down on the shore. His pursuers, supposing
him dying, said, "Dead niggers are not worth taking South."
Some one brought and put on him a pair of pantaloons. He was
helped to his feet by a colored man named Rex; on seeing
which, Wynkoop and party headed him and presented their
revolvers, when BILL again ran into the river, "where he
remained upwards of an hour, nothing but his head above
water, covered with blood, and in full view of hundreds who
lined the banks." His claimants dared not follow him into
the water; for, as he said afterward, "he would have died
contented, could he have carried two or three of them down
with him." Preparations [rather slow it would appear,] were
made to arrest the murderous gang, but they had departed
from the place. BILL then waded some distance up the stream,
and "was found by some women flat on his face in a
corn-field. They carried him to a place of safety, dressed
his wounds," and the suffering man was seen no more in
Wilkesbarre.--_Correspondence of New York Tribune_.
Wynkoop and another were afterwards arrested in Philadelphia, on a
charge of riot, the warrant issuing from a State magistrate of
Wilkesbarre, on the complaint of William C. Gildersleeve, of the
place. Mr. Jackson, the constable who held them in custody, was
brought before Judge Grier, of the United States Supreme Court, by
_habeas corpus_. Judge Grier, during the examination, said:--
"I will not have the officers of the United States harassed
at every step in the performance of their duties by every
petty magistrate who chooses to harass them, or by any
unprincipled interloper who chooses to make complaints
against them--for I know something of the man who makes this
complaint." "If this man Gildersleeve fails to make out the
facts set forth in the warrant of arrest, I will request the
Prosecuting Attorney of Luzerne County to prosecute him
for perjury. * * * If any tuppenny magistrate, or any
unprincipled interloper can come in, and cause to be arrested
the officers of the United States, whenever they please, it
is a sad affair. * * * If _habeas corpuses_ are to be taken
out alter that manner, I will have an indictment sent to the
United States Grand Jury against the person who applies for
the writ, or assists in getting it, the lawyer who defends
it, and the sheriff who serves the writ. * * * I will see
that my officers are protected." On a subsequent day, Judge
Grier gave an elaborate opinion, reciting the facts in the
case, _as stated by the prisoners_, and ordering them to be
_discharged_! He said:--"We are unable to perceive, in this
transaction, anything worthy of blame in the conduct of these
officers in their unsuccessful endeavors to fulfil a most
dangerous and disgusting duty; except, perhaps, a want of
sufficient courage and perseverance in the attempt to execute
the writ!"
Wynkoop and the other were discharged by Judge Kane on the ground that
they did only what their duty, under the Law, required. (May, 1854.)
_A family of colored persons_, at Uniontown, Pa., were
claimed as slaves by a man in Virginia. They admitted that
they had been his slaves, but declared that they had come
into Pennsylvania with their master's consent and knowledge,
on a visit to some friends in Fayette County, and were not,
therefore, _fugitives_. This was overruled, and the negroes
were sent back by a United States Commissioner, name not
given. (September, 1853.)[A]--_Pittsburgh Saturday Visiter_.
[Footnote A: _A correspondent_ of the _New York Evening
Post_, writing from Columbus, Ohio, September 1, 1853, states
that a very large number of fugitive slaves are continually
passing through that State; that they are generally armed;
and that they find increasing sympathy among the people on
the road, and the boatmen on the lakes.]
_A desperate fight_ between a party of four fugitives and
about double the number of whites, took place in Carroll
County, Maryland. Four white men shot--none dangerously. Two
of the slaves wounded, one severely. They were captured.
(October, 1853.)--_Westminster (Md.) Democrat_.
_Washington, Indiana._ In April, 1853, GEORGE, a negro man,
was arrested and claimed by a Mr. Rice, of Kentucky, as his
slave. Judge Clemens ordered his surrender to Rice, who took
him to Louisville, and there sold him to a slave-trader, who
took him to Memphis, Tennessee. Here a man from Mississippi
claimed that George was _his_ slave, obtained a writ of
replevin, and took possession of him.
JOSHUA GLOVER, colored man, claimed as the slave of B.S.
Garland, of St. Louis County, Missouri, was arrested near
Racine, Wisconsin, about the 10th of March, 1854. Arrest made
by five men, who burst suddenly into his shanty, put a pistol
to his head, felled him to the ground, handcuffed him, and
took him in a wagon to Milwaukee jail, a distance of
twenty-five miles. They swore that if he shouted or made the
least noise, they would kill him instantly. When visited,
says the _Milwaukee Sentinel_, "We found him in his cell. He
was cut in two places on the head; the front of his shirt and
vest were soaking and stiff with his own blood." A writ of
_habeas corpus_ was immediately issued; also a warrant for
the arrest of the five men who assaulted and beat him in his
shanty. Thousands of people collected around the jail and
court-house, "the excitement being intense." A vigilance
committee of twenty-five persons was appointed to watch the
jail at night and see that Glover was not secretly taken
away. The next day, at about five o'clock, P.M., a
considerable accession of persons being made to the crowd,
and it appearing that every attempt to save Glover by the
laws of Wisconsin had been overruled by United States Judge
Miller, a demand was made for the man. This being refused, an
attack was made upon the door with axes, planks, &c. It was
broken in, the inner door and wall broken through, and Glover
taken from his keepers, brought out, placed in a wagon, and
driven off at great speed.
S.M. Booth, editor of the _Milwaukee Free Democrat_, Charles
Clement, of the _Racine Advocate_, W.H. Waterman, and George
S. Wright were arrested for aiding and abetting the rescue of
Glover. Booth was subsequently discharged by the Supreme
Court of Wisconsin, on the ground that the Fugitive Slave Law
is unconstitutional. He was, however, re-arrested, and held
to answer in the United States Courts, on the same charge;
the offered bail was refused, and he was lodged in jail. The
case was subsequently tried before the District Court of the
United States, at Milwaukee, on the question as to the right
of a State judiciary to release prisoners under a writ of
_habeas corpus_, who may be in the lawful custody of United
States officers; and also to determine the constitutionality
of the Fugitive Slave Law. (_Washington Star_, September 20,
1854.) The Attorney General, Caleb Cushing, made himself very
active in pushing forward this case. Mr. Booth, early in
1855, was fined one thousand dollars and sentenced to one
month's imprisonment. John Ryecraft, for same offence, was
sentenced in a fine of two hundred dollars and imprisonment
for ten days. All for acts such as Christianity and Humanity
enjoin. On a writ of _habeas corpus_, Messrs. Booth and
Ryecraft were taken before the Wisconsin Supreme Court,
sitting at Madison, and discharged from imprisonment. This,
however, did not relieve them from the fines imposed by the
United States Court. The owner of the slave brought a civil
suit against Mr. Booth, claiming $1,000 damages for the loss
of his slave. Judge Miller decided, July, 1855, that the
$1,000 must be paid.
EDWARD DAVIS, _March, 1854_. As the steamboat Keystone State,
Captain Hardie, from Savannah, was entering Delaware Bay,
bound to Philadelphia, the men engaged in heaving the lead
heard a voice from under the guards of the boat, calling for
help. A rope was thrown, and a man caught it and was drawn
into the boat in a greatly exhausted state. He had remained
in that place from the time of leaving Savannah, the water
frequently sweeping over him. Some bread in his pocket was
saturated with salt water and dissolved to a pulp. The
captain ordered the vessel to be put in to Newcastle,
Delaware, where the fugitive, hardly able to stand, was taken
on shore and put in jail, to await the orders of his owner,
in Savannah. DAVIS claimed to be a free man, and a native of
Philadelphia, and described many localities there. Before
Judge Bradford, at Newcastle, Davis's freedom was fully
proved, and he was discharged. He was again arrested and
placed in jail on the oath of Captain Hardie, that he
believed him to be a fugitive slave and a fugitive from
justice. After some weeks' delay, he was brought to trial
before United States Commissioner Samuel Guthrie, who ordered
him to be delivered up to his claimant on the ground that he
was legally a slave, though free-born. It appeared in
evidence that Davis had formerly gone from Pennsylvania to
reside in Maryland, contrary to the laws of that State; which
forbid free colored persons from other States to come there
to reside; and being unable to pay the fine imposed for this
offence (!) by the Orphan's (!) Court of Harford County, was
committed to jail and sold as a slave for life, by Robert
McGaw, Sheriff of the County, to Dr. John G. Archer, of
Louisiana, from whom he was sold to B.M. Campbell, who sold
him to William A. Dean, of Macon, Georgia, the present
claimant. Thus a free-born citizen of Pennsylvania was
consigned, _by law_ to slavery for life:
[-->In May, 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was enacted.]
ANTHONY BURNS, arrested in Boston, May 24, 1854, as the slave
of Charles F. Suttle, of Alexandria, Virginia, who was
present to claim him, accompanied by a witness from Richmond,
Virginia, named William Brent. Burns was arrested on a
warrant granted by United States Commissioner Edward Greeley
Loring, taken to the court-house in Boston, ironed, and
placed in an upper story room under a strong guard. The
hearing commenced the next morning before Mr. Loring, but was
adjourned until Saturday; May 27, to give the counsel for A.
Burns time to examine the case. On Friday evening, (26th,) an
attack was made upon the court-house by a body of men, with
the evident design of rescuing Burns; a door was forced in,
and one of the marshal's special guard, (named Batchelder,)
was killed, whether by the assailants or by one of his own
party is uncertain, it being quite dark; upon the cry of
Batchelder that he was killed, the attacking party retreated
and made no further attempt. The trial of the case proceeded
on Saturday, again on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, when
the Commissioner said he would give his decision on Friday.
During the trial, Burns was continually surrounded by a
numerous body-guard, (said to be at least one hundred and
twenty-five men,) selected by Watson Freeman, United States
Marshal, from the vilest sinks of scoundrelism, corruption,
and crime in the city to be Deputy Marshals for the occasion.
These men, with every form of loathsome impurity and
hardened villainy stamped upon their faces, sat constantly
around the prisoner while in the court-room, the handles of
pistols and revolvers visibly protruding from their breast
pockets. A company of United States troops, from the Navy
Yard, occupied the court-house, and guarded all avenues to
the United States court-room. The testimony of numerous
highly respectable witnesses was adduced to show that Anthony
Burns was in Boston a month earlier than the time at which he
was said to have left Richmond. R.H. Dana, Jr. and Charles M.
Ellis, counsel for Burns, made very eloquent and able
arguments in his behalf. Seth J. Thomas and E.G. Parker were
the counsel for Suttle, the case being constantly watched and
aided by the United States District Attorney, Benjamin F.
Hallett, who was in regular telegraphic communication with
the President of the United States, (F. Pierce,) at
Washington. An effort was made, and followed up with much
patience, to buy Burns's freedom, Suttle having offered to
sell him for $1,200. The money was raised and tendered to
Suttle, when difficulties were interposed, especially by Mr.
Attorney Hallett, and the attempt failed. Suttle afterwards
declared he would not sell Burns for any sum, but that he
should go back to Virginia. On Friday morning, June 2d,
Commissioner Loring gave his decision, overriding all the
testimony in Burns's favor, using certain expressions which
fell from Burns in the first heat and confusion of his
arrest, as testimony against him, and concluding with
ordering him to be delivered up to the claimant. Some four
hours were consumed in getting Court Street, State Street,
&c., in a state of readiness for the removal of the prisoner.
A regiment of Massachusetts Infantry had been posted on
Boston Common, under command of Col. Benjamin Franklin (!)
Edmands, from an early hour of the day, in anticipation of
the Commissioner's decision. These troops, which had been
called out by the Mayor, Jerome V.C. Smith, were marched to
the scene of the kidnapping, and so placed as to guard every
street, lane, and other avenue leading to State Street, &c.,
the route through which the slave procession was to pass. No
individual was suffered to pass within these guards; but acts
of violence were committed by them on several individuals.
Court Square was occupied by two companies of United States
troops, (chiefly Irishmen,) and a large field-piece was drawn
into the centre. All preparations being made, Watson Freeman
(United States Marshal) issued forth from the court-house
with his prisoner, who walked with a firm step, surrounded by
the body-guard of criminals before mentioned, with drawn
United States sabres in their hands, and followed by United
States troops with the aforesaid piece of artillery. Preceded
by a company of Massachusetts mounted troops, under command
of Colonel Isaac H. Wright, this infamous procession took its
way down Court Street, State Street and Commerce Street, (for
the proprietors of Long Wharf refused to allow them to march
upon their premises, through a public highway in all ordinary
cases,) to the T Wharf, where the prisoner was taken on board
a steam tow-boat, and conveyed down the harbor to the United
States Revenue Cutter Morris; in which he was transported to
Virginia.
It may not be amiss to have given, in a single instance, this
somewhat detailed account of the process of seizing, trying,
and delivering up a man into slavery, whose only crime was
that he had fled from a bondage "one hour of which is fraught
with more misery than ages of that which our fathers rose in
rebellion to throw off," Thomas Jefferson, the Virginian
slaveholder, himself being witness.
Anthony Burns, having been sold into North Carolina, was
afterwards purchased with money subscribed in Boston and
vicinity, for the purpose, and returned to Boston.