Report of the Proceedings at the Examination of Charles G. Davis, Esq., on the Charge of Aiding and Abetting in the Rescue of a Fugitive Slave Part 1

Report of the Proceedings at the Examination of Charles G. Davis, Esq., on the Charge of Aiding and Abetting in the Rescue of a Fugitive Slave.

by Various.

NOTE.

The following Report is published at the request of numerous persons who are of opinion that all which is known of the operation of the Fugitive Slave Bill, should be spread before the public. To the legal profession it will be of interest, as developing new points in the construction and application of a Statute, destined to be of great political importance now, and in future history. They will be able to judge of the constructions upon the Statute, and of the law of evidence, as laid down and applied by the Commissioner, and contended for by the representative of the Government. Not the profession alone, but the public, can judge of the temper, and manner, as to parties and witnesses, in which the prosecution was pressed, and the judicial duties performed.

It will be well for every reader to bear in mind that this is the tribunal to which the late Act of Congress gives final jurisdiction in deciding whether a man found a free inhabitant of a free state, shall be exiled, and sent into endless slavery.

The Commissioner tries an issue, on the result of which, all the hopes of a fellow man for the life that is, and that which is to come, are suspended; and his judgment is "conclusive on all other tribunals."[A]

[A: See the Opinion of Attorney General Crittenden.]

It will be well for us, as citizens, to remember, that the attempt is making to establish this act, pa.s.sed by the vote of less than half of the Representatives of the people, as the unalterable law of the country; to treat as treason and disaffection to government, all attempts to rouse the public to efforts for its repeal; and, by unprecedented coalitions, that might almost be called conspiracies, of public men, to destroy the character and means of influence of all who lend their aid in these efforts. Even a public discussion of the subject, is cause for suspicion and inquiry.

We would ask every reader, on rising from the examination of this trial, taken in connexion with the President's Proclamation and Message, the late debate in the Senate, and the recent letters and speeches of leading men of both parties, to say, for himself, whether these are not times, not only of danger to the liberty of colored men, but of serious apprehension for our independence and dignity as men, and our rights as citizens.

REPORT.

On the 13th of February, A.D. 1851, one John Caphart, of Norfolk, Va., came to Boston, in pursuit of one Shadrach, alleged to be a fugitive slave and the property of John Debree, a purser in the navy, and attended by Seth J. Thomas, Esq., as counsel, made his complaint, as agent and attorney of the said owner, before George T. Curtis, Esq., U.

S. Commissioner. On the evening of the 14th, the following warrant was placed in the hands of special marshal Sawin, and served, Shadrach offering no resistance, about half-past 11 on Sat.u.r.day forenoon, the 15th, at the Cornhill Coffee House, where Shadrach had been employed for some months as a waiter:--

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

_Ma.s.sachusetts District, ss._

To the Marshal of our District of Ma.s.sachusetts, or either of his deputies.

[Seal]

Greeting:

These are, in the name of the President of the United States of America, to command you, the said marshal or deputies, and each of you, forthwith to apprehend one Shadrach, now commorant in Boston, in said district, a colored person, who is alleged to be a fugitive from service or labor, and who has escaped from service or labor in the state of Virginia, (if he may be found in your precinct), and have him forthwith before me, one of the commissioners of the circuit court of the United States for the Ma.s.sachusetts district, at the court house in Boston aforesaid, then and there to answer to the complaint of John Caphart, attorney of John De Bree, of Norfolk, in the state of Virginia, alleging under oath, that the said Shadrach owes service or labor to the said De Bree, in the said state of Virginia, and while held to service there under the laws of the said state of Virginia, escaped into the state of Ma.s.sachusetts aforesaid, and praying for the restoration of the said Shadrach to the said De Bree, and then and there before me to be dealt with according to law.

Hereof fail not, and make due return of this with your doings thereon, before me.

Witness my hand and seal at Boston, in the said district, on this fourteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and fifty one.

(Signed) GEO. T. CURTIS,

Commissioner of the Circuit Court of the United States, for Ma.s.sachusetts District.

The following return was endorsed upon the warrant:--

BOSTON, February 15th, 1851.

In obedience to the warrant to me directed, I have this day arrested the within named Shadrach, and now have him before the commissioner within named.

P. RILEY, U. S. Deputy Marshal.

A hearing was had in the U. S. court room, and several papers, being affidavits and certificates of a record, were exhibited by the complainant's counsel, as the evidence under the 10th section of the Fugitive Slave Law so called, that Shadrach was a slave in Virginia, that he was owned by said De Bree, and that he escaped on the 3d of May, 1850. At the request of counsel these papers were read and admitted as evidence in the case, subject to such objections as might be made to their admissibility as legal evidence thereafter.

There were present as counsel for Shadrach, S. E. Sewall, Ellis G.

Loring, Charles G. Davis, and Charles List, and as they had not had an opportunity to examine the doc.u.ments produced by the complainant, and were therefore not satisfied of their sufficiency, they asked for a postponement, to February 18th, and the commissioner adjourned the further hearing of the matter until 10 o'clock, on Tuesday, February 18th, and pa.s.sed the following order:--

United States of America, District of Ma.s.sachusetts, February 15th, 1851.--And now the hearing of this case being adjourned to Tuesday the eighteenth day of February instant, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, the said deputy marshal, who has made return of this warrant, is hereby ordered to retain the said Shadrach in his custody, and have him before me at the time last mentioned, at the court house in Boston, for the further hearing of the complaint on which this warrant is issued.

GEO. T. CURTIS, Commissioner.

On the following Tuesday, P. Riley, Esq., Deputy U. S. Marshal, appeared before the Commissioner, George T. Curtis, Esq., and offered the following return which was annexed to the above order.

BOSTON, Tuesday, February 18th, 1851.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

_Ma.s.sachusetts District, ss._

I hereby certify, in pursuance of law and the foregoing order, the said "Shadrach" named in the foregoing warrant and order, was being detained in my custody in the Court Room of the United States, in the Court House, in said Boston, when the door of said room, which was being used as a prison, was forced open by a mob, and the said "Shadrach" forcibly rescued from my custody. I also annex hereto, and make part of my return an original [printed] deposition, of the circ.u.mstances attending the arrest and rescue, and have not been able to retake said Shadrach, and cannot now have him before said Commissioner for reasons above stated.

P. RILEY, U. S. Deputy Marshal.

COMMONWEALTH OF Ma.s.sACHUSETTS.

_Suffolk County._

I, Patrick Riley, of Boston, in the said county, counsellor at law, having been duly sworn, depose and say, that I am, and have been, for fourteen years past, the princ.i.p.al deputy of the United States Marshal for the District of Ma.s.sachusetts.

That on Sat.u.r.day morning, February 15th, 1851, about twenty minutes before 8 o'clock, A.M., I was called upon at my residence, by Frederick Warren, one of the U. S. deputy marshals, who informed me that there was a negro man, an alleged fugitive, to be arrested at 8 o'clock, who was supposed to be at Taft's Cornhill Coffee House, near the Court House, and desired to know where the negro should be put in case he should be arrested before I reached the office; that I told him to place him in the United States Court Room,--and that I would come to the office immediately,--that I came down almost immediately to the office, where I arrived shortly after 8 o'clock, and there found Mr. Warren, who informed me that the negro was unknown to Mr. Sawin, deputy marshal, to whom the warrant was handed on the night previous, as I have been informed, though no notice of it had been given to any occupant of the marshal's office,--and that the negro was unknown to any one of the marshal's deputies or a.s.sistants,--that Mr. Warren informed me that Mr.

Sawin had gone to find the man, who by previous arrangement was to point out the negro, and who had not shown himself as agreed; that I remained in the court giving directions, and making preparations to secure the negro when arrested, and awaiting the return of Mr.

Sawin; that I saw him after ten o'clock, and he informed me that he had seen the parties in interest, and that it had been arranged not to attempt the arrest until 11 o'clock,--that I told him that it should not be delayed one moment, and directed him to notify the man who was to point him out to come instantly; that he left for that purpose, and at ten minutes before 11 returned, and said that the parties were about Taft's Coffee House, and that the men engaged were also in readiness in that neighborhood; that I went immediately with Mr. Warren, Mr. John H. Riley, and other deputies to the said coffee-house, and there found all our men, nine in number, stationed in and about the place,--that there were several negroes in and about the house, and I inquired for the man who was to point out the alleged fugitive, and was informed that he had not arrived; that Mr. Warren and myself went immediately into the dining hall at the coffee-house, and to avoid suspicion, ordered some coffee, and were waited upon by a negro, who subsequently proved to be the alleged fugitive; that, not hearing any thing from our a.s.sistants, we took our coffee and rose to go out and learn why we had not heard from them; that the negro went before us to the bar-room, with the money to pay for the coffee, and in the pa.s.sage between the bar-room and hall, Mr. Sawin and Mr. Byrnes came up, and each took the negro by an arm, and walked him out of the back pa.s.sage way through a building between the coffee-house and the square beside the court house to the court-room as by me directed.

That I immediately, while he was entering the court house, went to the office of the city marshal, in the city hall, in the same square with the court house, and there saw Mr. Francis Tukey, the city marshal, told him what had been done, and stated, that as there would probably be a great crowd, his presence with the police would be needed to preserve order, and keep the peace in and about the court house, which is owned by the city, and in which all the courts of the commonwealth for Suffolk county are held. That Mr.

Tukey stated that it should be attended to,--that I told him that I should notify the mayor instantly, and proceeded up stairs to the mayor's office, where I found Hon. John P. Bigelow, mayor of the city, and made the same communication and request to him, which I had made to Mr. Tukey. To which the mayor said,--"Mr. Riley, I am sorry for it." That I then left the office, at which time it was just half past 11 o'clock.

That I went immediately to the court-house, and found the negro in the United States court room, with the officers, and found all the doors closed, and was admitted by the usual inside entrance,--that George T. Curtis, Esq., the United States commissioner, was called, and came, and the claimant's counsel were sent for,--that all the doors were kept closed excepting the usual entrance, which was kept guarded by officers,--that the commissioner informed the fugitive, who was named "Shadrach" in the warrant, of the character of the business, and asked him if he wanted counsel,--to which he said that he did, and that his friends had gone for counsel,--that while waiting for the counsel to come, the room began to be filled with negroes and whites,--that the counsel for the prisoner appeared, and claimed a delay, to give them opportunity to consult with their client, pending which I desired Mr. Warren, the deputy marshal, to go to the navy yard at Charlestown, about two miles distant, and ask Commodore Downes whether, should a delay or adjournment take place, the navy yard might be used as a place of detention, the United States not being permitted by the law of the state to use the jails, and having none of their own. That the examination proceeded, and after the reading of certain doc.u.ments presented by the claimant's attorney, and some discussion, the commissioner decided to grant the delay until Tuesday following the 18th inst.