military, and giving to the Colonel of the regiment the
entire control of the same, was fully shown by different and
highly competent writers, among whom was P.W. Chandler, Esq.,
whose two articles, in the _Boston Advertiser_, deserve to be
remembered with respect. The Mayor's excuse was that he
desired to _keep the peace_. But these Massachusetts troops
received pay for their day's work from the United States
Government. Judge HOAR, in a charge to the Grand Jury,
declared the act of the Mayor, in calling out the militia, to
be an infraction of law.
STEPHEN PEMBROKE, and his two sons, _Robert_ and _Jacob_,
19 and 17 years of age, were arrested in New York almost
simultaneously with the seizure of Burns in Boston; claimed
as the slaves of David Smith and Jacob H. Grove, of
Sharpsburg, Washington County, Maryland. They escaped May
1st, and came to New York, followed closely by their masters,
who discovered their retreat in Thompson Street, and pounced
upon them by night. At 8-1/2 o'clock, next morning, they were
taken before United States Commissioner G.W. Morton, "where
the case came up for the most summary and hasty hearing that
has ever characterized our judicial proceedings." Dunning and
Smith were counsel for the masters, but the fugitives had no
counsel; and the hearing was finished, and a warrant granted
to the slave claimants before the matter became known in the
city. When Mr. Jay and Mr. Culver hastened to the court-room
to offer their services to the prisoners, as counsel, they
were assured by officers, _and by Commissioner Morton
himself_, that the men wanted no counsel, and were not in the
building. On search, however, it was found they were in the
building, locked up in a room. They said they desired counsel
and the aid of friends. A writ of _habeas corpus_ was
obtained, but before it could be served the three men had
been removed from the State, and were on their way to
Baltimore. [See the published. Card of E.D. CULVER, Esq.]
Stephen Pembroke was the brother, and his sons the nephews
of Rev. Dr. Pennington, of New York City, Pastor of a
Presbyterian (colored) Church. Stephen Pembroke was purchased
and brought back to New York, ($1,000 having been contributed
for that purpose,) and related his experience of the slave's
life, at a public meeting, held in the Broadway Tabernacle,
July 17, 1854. His sons had been sold, and remained in
slavery.
JAMES COTES, free man of color, residing in Gibson County,
Indiana, went to Jeffersonville, (Ind.,) to take the cars for
Indianapolis. On going to the depot, at 6, A.M., for the
morning train, he was knocked down, "beat over the head with
a brick-bat, and cut with a bowie-knife, until subdued. He
was then tied, and in open daylight in full view of our
populace, borne off bleeding like a hog." He was undoubtedly
taken to the jail, in Louisville. On crossing the river to
Louisville he met the captain of a steamboat, who knew him to
be a free man. (About June 1, 1854.) The kidnapper was
arrested and held to bail in the sum of $1,000, to take his
trial at next Circuit Court.
_Near Cedarville, Ohio, May 25, 1854_, about noon, "a colored
man, of middle age and respectable appearance, was walking on
the Columbus and Xenia turnpike. He was alone. A man in a
buggy overtook him, and invited him to ride, saying he was a
friend to the colored man, and promising to assist him in
obtaining his liberty." He took the colored man to the house
of one Chapman, "three miles south of Selma, in Greene
county." There Chapman and the other, (whose name was William
McCord,) fell upon the colored man, struck him with a _colt_
upon the head, so that he bled severely, and bound his hands
behind him. "Soon after the negro got loose and ran down the
road; McCord ran after him, crying 'Catch the d----d horse
thief,' &c., Chapman and his son following; negro picked up
a stone, the man a club and struck him on the head, so that
he did not throw the stone. He was then tied, and helped
by McCord and Chapman to walk to the buggy. McCord asked
Chapman, the son, to accompany him to Cincinnati with the
colored man, promising to give him half the reward ($200) if
he would. They then started, driving very fast." "We had not
gone over two or three miles," said Chapman, "before the
negro died, and after taking him two or three miles further,
put him out, and left him as now discovered,"--viz. in a
thick wood, one mile south of Clifton. The above facts are
taken from the testimony given at the coroner's inquest
over the body. "The jury gave in substance the following
verdict:--Deceased came to his death by blows from a colt
and club in the hands of one William McCord, assisted by
the two Chapmans." Chapman, the son, said that McCord made
him a proposition to join and follow kidnapping for a
business, stating that he knew where he could get four
victims immediately. McCord was taken and lodged in Xenia
jail. The Chapmans bound over to take their trial for
kidnapping.--_Wilmington (Ohio) Herald of Freedom_.
_Columbus, Indiana._ A Kentuckian endeavored to entice a
little negro boy to go with him, and both were waiting to
take the cars, when mischief was suspected, and a crowd of
people proceeded to the depot, and made the kidnapper
release his intended victim. (June, 1854.)--_Indiana Free
Democrat_.
---- BROWN, a resident of Henderson, Kentucky, was arrested
for aiding four female slaves to escape from Union County,
Kentucky, to Canada. United States Marshal Ward and Sheriff
Gavitt, of Indiana, made the arrest. He was lodged in
Henderson jail.--_Evansville (Ind.) Journal_, June 2, 1854.
Several Kentucky planters, among them Archibald Dixon, raised
$500 in order to secure Brown's conviction and sentence to
penitentiary.
[Transcriber's note: The following note appears as a footnote
to this section without specific reference to any of the
cited cases.]
--> The case of SOLOMON NORTHUP, though not under the
Fugitive Law, is so striking an illustration of the power
which created that law, and of the constant danger which
impends over every colored citizen of the Northern States,
fast threatening to include white citizens also, that it must
not he passed over without mention. He was kidnapped in 1841,
from the State of New York, and kept in slavery twelve years.
Two men, named Merrill and Russell, were arrested and tried
as his kidnappers, and the fact fully proven. But the case
was got into the United States Courts, and the criminals went
unpunished. [end of note]
_Nine slaves_ left their masters in Boone County, Kentucky,
on Sunday, June 11, 1854, having three horses with them.
Arrived at the river, they turned the horses back, and taking
a skiff crossed at midnight to the Ohio shore. After
travelling two or three miles, they hid during Monday in a
clump of bushes. At night they started northward again. A
man, named John Gyser, met them and promised to assist them.
He took them to a stable, where they were to remain until
night. He immediately went to Covington, Kentucky, learned
that $1,000 reward was offered for their apprehension, and
gave information of their place of concealment. At evening a
strong band of Kentuckians, with United States Deputy Marshal
George Thayer, assisted by three Cincinnati officers,
surrounded the stable and took the nine prisoners, on a
warrant issued by United States Commissioner Pendery. They
were all given up to their claimants, and taken back to
Kentucky.
_A New Orleans correspondent of the New York Tribune_, in a
letter dated July 3, 1854, writes, "During a recent trip up
the river I was on several steamers, and on every boat they
had one or more runaway slaves, who had been caught and were
being taken in _irons_ to their _masters_."
_On the Steamer Alvin Adams_, at Madison, Indiana, a man was
arrested as a fugitive and taken to Louisville, Kentucky.
He was claimed as the slave of John H. Page, of Bowling
Green. The _Louisville Journal_, edited by a Northern man,
stigmatised him as a "rascal," for his attempt to be free.
(July, 1854.)
_Two colored men_, on their way to Chicago, were seized and
taken from the cars at Lasalle, Illinois, by three men, who
said they were not officers. The colored men were known to
be free; one was "a respectable resident of Chicago." Some of
the passengers interfered; but it being night, and very dark,
and the cars starting on the colored men were left in the
hands of their kidnappers.
_Chicago, Illinois._ Three men from Missouri, with a warrant
from the Governor of that State, to take a certain fugitive
slave, seized a man whom they met in the street, bound him
with a handkerchief, and to quicken his steps beat him with
the butt of a pistol. He succeeded in shaking off his captors
and fled, a pistol-bullet being sent after him, which did not
hit him. He made good his escape. The men were arrested and
held to trial for assault with deadly weapons. By an
extraordinary conspiracy on the part of District Attorney
Hoyne, Sheriff Bradley, and others, these men were taken from
jail to be carried to Springfield, Illinois, two hundred
miles distant, to appear before Chief Justice Treat, that he
might inquire "whether said alleged kidnappers were justly
held to bail and imprisoned." It was so suddenly done that
the counsel for the kidnapped man and for the State of
Illinois had not time to reach Springfield before the men
were discharged and on their way to Missouri. The Grand Jury
of the County (in which Chicago is) had found a true bill
against them, of which the Sheriff professed to be ignorant,
(which was deemed hardly possible,)--under which bill they
would probably have been convicted and sentenced to the State
Prison. Thus the omnipotent Slave Power reaches forth its
hand into our most Northern cities, end saves its minions
from the punishment which their lawless acts have justly
merited.--_Chicago Daily Tribune_, Sept. 21, 1854.
--> The three kidnappers published a statement in the _St. Louis
Republican_ of September 26.
HENRY MASSEY, at Philadelphia, September, 1854, was brought
before United States Commissioner E.D. Ingraham, claimed by
Franklin Bright, of Queen Anne's County, Maryland, as his
slave. Arrested in Harrisburg.
HARVEY, arrested near Cumminsville, Ohio,--escaped,--taken
again in Goshen, about ten miles from Cincinnati, and lodged
in the jail of that city. An investigation of the case was
had before United States Commissioner Pendery, and the
slave remanded to the custody of his master.--_Cincinnati
Commercial_, September 22, 1854.
_Byberry, Pennsylvania, September 18, 1854._ A carriage load
of suspicious looking men came to this place in the
afternoon. They waited until nightfall, when they burst into
the house of a colored family, "seized the man in presence of
his wife and another woman, threatening to shoot them if they
interfered--dragged him out, beating him over the head with a
mace. The poor fellow continued to scream for help until his
voice was stifled by his groans; they forced him into their
carriage and drove off, before any effectual assistance
could be offered." He was a sober and industrious man, and
much respected. His wife was left heartbroken, with one
child.--_Norristown (Pa.) Olive Branch_.
_The Frankfort (Ky.) Yeoman_, of November 18, 1854,
said:--"Kidnapping free negroes in Ohio, and deluding our
slaves from their masters to recapture and sell them, is an
established profession of a gang located upon the borders of
the Ohio River, combining with negro-traders in the interior
of this State." The names of some employed in this business
are given, two of whom, having been arrested and imprisoned,
threatened to burn the city of Frankfort for interrupting
their business.
JANE MOORE, a free colored woman, at Cincinnati, November,
1854, seized in the house of her sister, (Sycamore Street,)
beaten, and with the help of a deputy marshal from Covington,
Kentucky, carried over to Covington, and lodged in jail,
on pretence of her being a fugitive slave. She was taken
before the Mayor of Covington, "who heard the case with
impartiality." Her freedom was established, and she released.
_At Indianapolis, Indiana, December, 1854_, Benjamin B.
Waterhouse was indicted for harboring fugitive slaves,
contrary to the provisions of the Fugitive Law. He was found
guilty, but the jury recommended him "to the favorable
consideration of the Court, and stated that the evidence was
barely sufficient to convict." He was fined fifty dollars and
to be imprisoned one hour, and the government to pay the
costs.---_Chicago Tribune_.
_A Proposition for Kidnapping_, on a large scale, was made by
John H. Pope, "police officer and constable," in a letter
dated "Frederick, Maryland, United States of America, January
1, 1855," and addressed to Mr. Hays, Sheriff of Montreal,
Canada. "Vast numbers of slaves," says Mr. Pope, "escaping
from their masters or owners, succeed in reaching your
Provinces, and are, therefore, without the pale of the
'Fugitive Slave Law,' and can only be restored by cunning,
together with skill. Large rewards are offered and will be
paid for their return, and could I find an efficient person
to act with me, a great deal of money could be made, as I
would equally divide. * * * The only apprehension we have in
approaching too far into Canada is the fear of being
arrested; and had I a good assistant in your city, who would
induce the negroes to the frontier, I would be there to pay
the cash. On your answer, I can furnish names and
descriptions of negroes."
This letter was published, doubtless at the Montreal Sheriff's
request, in the _Montreal Gazette_, January 13, 1855.
--> The _Montreal Gazette_, of February 3, published a second letter
from J.H. Pope.
_A warrant was issued in Boston_, January 10, 1855, by United
States Commissioner Charles Levi Woodbury, for the arrest of
JOHN JACKSON, as a fugitive from service and labor in
Georgia. Mr. Jackson, who had been for some time in the city,
was nowhere to be found.
ROSETTA ARMSTEAD, a colored girl, was taken by writ of
_habeas corpus_ before Judge Jamison, at Columbus, Ohio.
Rosetta formerly belonged to Ex-President John Tyler, who
_gave her_ to his daughter, the wife of Rev. Henry M.
Dennison, an Episcopal clergyman of Louisville, Kentucky.
Mrs. D. having deceased, Rosetta was to be sent back to
Virginia in care of an infant child, both being placed in
charge of a Dr. Miller, a friend of Mr. Dennison. Passing
through Ohio, the above writ was obtained. Rosetta expressed
her desire to remain in freedom in Ohio. The case was removed
to Cincinnati, and was delayed until Mr. Dennison could
arrive from Louisville. (_Ohio State Journal_, March 12,
1855.) The girl was set free; "but was again arrested by the
United States Marshal upon the same warrant which Judge
Parker had declared illegal; thereupon another _habeas
corpus_ was issued, which the Marshal refused to obey; when
he was fined $50, and imprisoned for contempt." Even United
States Commissioner Pendery, before whom the case was brought
as that of a fugitive slave, pronounced the girl free, and
she was placed in the care of a guardian. The United States
Marshal being taken by _habeas corpus_ before Judge McLean,
of the United States Supreme Court, was set at liberty, Judge
McL. alleging that the proceedings in the State Court were
null and void!
GEORGE CLARK, a colored boy, eighteen years of age, in
Pennsylvania, was decoyed into the house of one Thompson,
(February 23, 1855,) where he was seized by three men, one of
whom was Solomon Snyders, a well known ruffian and kidnapper
in the neighborhood, who said to him, "Now, George, I am
going to take you to your master." The screams of George
fortunately brought deliverance to him. The three men were
arrested, tried, and sentenced to imprisonment for
kidnapping, by the Court of Dauphin County.--_Norristown
(Penn.) Olive Branch_.
_The Norristown (Penn.) Olive Branch_, (in connection with
the last named case,) speaks of a case which had occurred a
short time before, under the Fugitive Law, before United
States Commissioner McAllister, at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
and which has not yet been mentioned in this record. A
colored man and his wife, with their infant child, were
taken, "one morning, very early," before Commissioner Richard
McAllister, and before any counsel could reach the spot the
case had been decided against the man and woman; but the
babe, having been born in Pennsylvania, they did not "dare to
send that" into slavery; "so the only alternative was to take
it away from its mother," which was done, and that evening
the man and woman were taken South. No time had been allowed
to bring forward witnesses in their behalf, and there was
only a single witness against them, and he a boy about
seventeen years old, and a relative of the slave-claimant.
The woman's sufferings, on account of the separation from
her child, seemed greater than for her own fate. The article
from the Norristown paper is in the _National Anti-Slavery
Standard_, June 2, 1855.
GEORGE MITCHELL, a young colored man, at San Jose,
California, arrested and taken before Justice Allen, April,
1855, "charged with owing service and labor to one Jesse C.
Cooper, of Tennessee." Mitchell was brought into California
by his then owner, in 1849, the year before the enactment of
the Fugitive Slave Law. His arrest was made, under a Fugitive
Slave Law of California. By _habeas corpus_ the case was
carried before Judge C.P. Hester, of the District Court.
Mitchell was discharged on the ground (we believe) that the
California Law was unconstitutional; also that the
proceedings were "absolutely void." On the 21st April (or
May) "another attempt was made to reduce George to slavery at
San Francisco." He was brought before the United States
District Court, Judge Hoffman presiding, claimed under the
United States Fugitive Law as the property of the above-named
Cooper. [The result of the trial not known.]--_San Jose
Telegraph_.
_At Dayville, Connecticut_, June 13, 1855, an attempt was
made to seize a fugitive slave; "but the citizens interfered
and the fugitive escaped." He was claimed by a resident of
Pomfret, who said he had bought him in Cuba.--_Hartford
Religious Herald_.
_At Burlington, Iowa_, a colored man, called DICK, was
arrested and taken before United States Commissioner Frazee.
"Much excitement was caused." He was claimed as belonging to
Thomas Ruthford, Clark County, Missouri. Dick was discharged
as not being the man claimed. (June, 1855.)
_A white girl_, fourteen years of age, daughter of Mr. Samuel
Godshall, of Downingtown, Chester County, Pennsylvania, while
walking upon the road, was seized by two men, a plaster put
upon her mouth, and she taken in a close carriage in the
direction of Maryland. After going twelve miles, they put her
out of the carriage, "in a secluded and woody portion of the
country, threatening to kill her if she made any alarm, when
they drove away as fast as they could." Some colored people
met her, got the plaster off her mouth, and aided her
home. It was supposed the kidnappers mistook her for a
mulatto girl; but discovering their blunder dismissed
her.--_Philadelphia Ledger_, July 9, 1855.
_The Norristown (Penn.) Herald_ relates a case similar to the
preceding. Benjamin Johnson, a white lad of fifteen, on his
way from his father's, at Evansburg, to S. Jarrett's, near
Jeffersonville, was invited to ride by a man in a carriage.
The man took him by an unusual route; night coming on, the
boy was alarmed and attempted to escape, "when the villain
caught him and drove off at full speed, and by threats and
blows prevented him from making any alarm." He drove to a
distance of fifteen miles beyond Jeffersonville, when the boy
succeeded in making his escape. (July, 1855.)
JANE JOHNSON, and her two sons, (colored,) brought into
Philadelphia (on their way to New York and thence to
Nicaragua) by John H. Wheeler. Stopped to dine at Bloodgood's
Hotel. Jane there made known her desire to be free.
Information of the same was conveyed to Passmore Williamson,
Secretary of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, an old
association founded by Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Rush, and
others. Mr. Williamson went to the hotel, and found that the
party had gone to the steamboat, at the foot of Walnut
Street. He proceeded thither, found them, and told the mother
that she and her sons had been legally made free by being
brought by their master into a free State. After some delay,
Jane rose to leave the boat. Wheeler endeavored to detain
her. Williamson held Wheeler back, and the woman went on
shore, a number of colored persons taking up the boys and
carrying them from the boat. They were enabled to escape.
(July 18, 1855.)
The celebrated case of PASSMORE WILLIAMSON followed, before
Judge Kane, of the United States District Court. (See "Case
of Passmore Williamson," reported in full, and published in
Philadelphia, by Uriah Hunt & Son, 1856.) On the 27th July,
Mr. Williamson was committed to Moyamensing Prison, by Judge
Kane, "for a contempt of the court in refusing to answer to
the writ of _habeas corpus_;" Mr. W. _having answered_ that
he had not, and never had had, the custody of the three
alleged slaves, and therefore could not produce them in
court. Mr. Williamson was kept in prison until November 3d,
when he was discharged by Judge Kane, the technical
"contempt" having been removed.
CELESTE, a mulatto woman, claimed as a slave, before Judge
Burgoyne, Cincinnati, Ohio. It appeared that she was
brought to Cincinnati by her master, and she was set
free.--_Cincinnati Gazette_, July 7, 1855.
_Two fugitives_, in Indiana, (September, 1855,) requested aid
of the conductor of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad.
The aid given was to take them back to Madison, whence they
were conveyed over the river to Kentucky. Before leaving that
State they had been hunted and attacked by dogs. These they
had despatched with their knives. The conductor was dismissed
from his position. An agent of the express company was said
to have aided him in the surrender of the men.--_Madison
Courier_.
JACK, a colored boy, nine years of age, "claimed by Joseph
Tucker, of Mobile, as his slave, was sent back to his master
from Boston, in the brig Selma, Captain Rogers, on the 18th
inst." (October, 1855.)--_Boston Times_.
JACOB GREEN, a colored man, was seized near Hollidaysburg,
Pennsylvania, by one Parsons, as a fugitive slave.
Parsons could show no authority for detaining Green, who,
with the help of some bystanders, released himself and
escaped.--_Hollidaysburg Standard_, October 24, 1855.
_Four men indicted for kidnapping_ at Greensburg, Indiana,
in the Spring of 1855. Their names--David and Thomas Maple,
Morrison, and McCloskey. Charged with kidnapping two men,
whom they conveyed to a slave state, and sold as slaves. The
two Maples, fearing the indictment, absconded. The other two
were arrested, and brought to trial in October, 1855, at the
State Court, before Judge Logan. "Defendants' counsel moved
to quash the indictment, for the reason that the section of
the statute of Indiana against kidnapping was in violation of
the acts of Congress, and, therefore, void; and the Court
accordingly quashed the indictment"--_Indianapolis Journal_.
_Eight fugitives from Kentucky_ reached Adams County, Ohio,
closely followed by several Kentuckians, who attempted to
search the houses of several of the citizens. "The people,
indignant at this outrage, assembled with arms, and placed an
injunction upon these summary proceedings." "The men-hunters
then offered $2,000 to any traitor who would betray the
fugitives into their hands. But, so far as we have learned,
the bribe was as unsuccessful as the attempted search."
(November, 1855.)--_Carroll Free Press_.