The Fugitive Slave Law and Its Victims Part 2

_Madison, Indiana._ George W. Mason, of Davies County, Kentucky, arrested a colored man, named MITCHUM, who, with his wife and children, lived near Vernon. The case was tried before a Justice of the Peace, named Basnett, who was satisfied that Mitchum was Davis's slave, and had left his service _nineteen years before_. The slave was accordingly delivered up, and was taken to Kentucky, (Feb. 1851.)

_Clearfield County, Penn., about 20th January, 1851._ A boy was kidnapped and taken into slavery.--_Mercer (Pa.) Presbyterian_.

_Near Ripley, Ohio._ A fugitive slave, about January 20, killed his pursuer. He was afterwards taken and carried back to slavery.

_Burlington, Lawrence County, Ohio, near the end of February, 1851_, four liberated slaves were kidnapped, re-enslaved, and sold. Efforts were made to bring the perpetrators of this nefarious act to punishment, and restore the victims to freedom.

_At Philadelphia, early in March, 1851_, occurred the case of the colored woman HELEN or HANNAH, and her son, a child of tender years. She was taken before a Commissioner, and thence, by writ of _habeas corpus_, before Judge Kane. An additional question arose from the fact that the woman would soon become the mother of another child. Judge Kane decided that she was the property of John Perdu, of Baltimore, together with her son, and her unborn child, and they were all surrendered accordingly, and taken into slavery.

_Pittsburg, March 13, 1851._ RICHARD GARDINER was arrested in Bridgewater, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, claimed as the property of Miss R. Byers, of Louisville, Kentucky. Judge Irwin, of the United States District Court, "remanded the fugitive back to his owner." He was afterwards bought for $600, and brought into a free State.

_The Wilmington (Del.) Journal_, in March, 1851, says kidnapping has become quite frequent in that State; and speaks of a negro kidnapped in that city, on the previous Wednesday night, by a man who had been one of the city watchmen.

THOMAS SIMS, arrested in _Boston_, April 4, 1851, at first on pretence of a charge of theft. But when he understood it was as a fugitive from slavery, he drew a knife and wounded one of the officers. He was taken before Commissioner George T.

Curtis. To guard against a repet.i.tion of the Shadrach rescue, the United States Marshal, Devens, aided by the Mayor (John P. Bigelow) and City Marshal (Francis Tukey) of Boston, surrounded the Court House, in Boston, with heavy chains, guarded it by a strong extra force of police officers, with a strong body of guards also within the building, where the fugitive was imprisoned as well as tried. Several military companies also were called out by the city authorities, and kept in readiness night and day to act against the people, should they attempt the deliverance of Sims; Faneuil Hall itself being turned into barracks for these hirelings of slavery. Every effort was made by S.E. Sewall, Esq., Hon.

Robert Rantoul, Jr., and Charles G. Loring, Esq., to save Sims from being returned into slavery, and Boston from the eternal and ineffaceable disgrace of the act. But in vain.

The omnipotent Slave Power demanded of Boston a victim for its infernal sacrifices. Millard Fillmore, Daniel Webster, and their numerous tools, on the Bench, in Commissioners'

seats, and other official stations, or in hopes of gaining such stations bye and bye, had fallen upon their faces before the monster idol, and sworn that the victim should be prepared. Thomas Sims was ordered back to slavery by Commissioner G.T. Curtis, and was taken from the Court House, in Boston, early on the morning of April 11th, [1851,] to the Brig Acorn, lying at the end of Long Wharf, and thence in the custody of officers, to Savannah, Georgia.

There, after being lodged in jail, and severely and cruelly whipped, as was reported, he was at length sold, and became merged and lost in the great mult.i.tude of the enslaved population. The surrender of Sims is said to have cost the United States Government $10,000; the City of Boston about as much more; and Mr. Potter, the claimant of Sims, about $2,400, making a total of some $22,000, directly expended on the case.

_Vincennes, Indiana, April, 1851._ Four fugitive slaves were seized, claimed by one Mr. Kirwan, of or near Florence, Alabama. The magistrate, named Robinson, gave up the fugitives, and they were taken into slavery.

_In Salisbury Towns.h.i.+p, Penn., April, 1851_, an elderly man was kidnapped and carried into Maryland.

_Near Sandy Hill, Chester County, Penn., in March, 1851_, a very worthy and estimable colored man, named Thomas Hall, was forcibly seized, his house being broken into by three armed ruffians, who beat him and his wife with clubs. He was kidnapped.

MOSES JOHNSON, _Chicago, Illinois_, brought before a United States Commissioner, discharged as not answering to the description of the man claimed.

CHARLES WEDLEY, kidnapped from _Pittsburg, Pennsylvania_, and taken into Maryland. He was found, and brought back.

_Cincinnati, Ohio, June 3, 1851_, an attempt to arrest a fugitive was made. But a scuffle ensued, in which the man escaped.

_Cincinnati, Ohio._ About the same time, some slaves, (number not stated,) belonging to Rev. Mr. Perry and others, of Covington, Kentucky, were taken in Cincinnati, and carried back to Kentucky.

_Philadelphia, end of June, 1851_, a colored man was taken away as a slave, by steamboat. A writ of _Habeas Corpus_ was got out but the officer could not find the man. This is probably the same case with that of JESSE WHITMAN, arrested at Wilkesbarre.

FRANK JACKSON, a free colored man in _Mercer, Penn._, was taken, early in 1851, by a man named Charles May, into Virginia, and sold as a slave. He tried to escape, but was taken and lodged in Fincastle jail, Virginia.

THOMAS SCOTT JOHNSON, free colored man, of _New Bedford_, was arrested near Portsmouth, Virginia, and was about to be sold as a slave; but, by the strenuous interposition of Capt.

Card, certificates were obtained from New Bedford, and he was set at liberty.

ELIZABETH WILLIAMS, _West Chester County, Penn._, delivered into slavery by Commissioner Jones. (July, 1851.)

DANIEL HAWKINS, of _Lancaster County, Penn._, (July, 1851,) was brought before Commissioner Ingraham, Philadelphia, and by him delivered to his claimant, and he was taken into slavery.

_New Athens, Ohio, July 8, 1851._ Eighteen slaves, who had escaped from Lewis County, Kentucky, were discovered in an old building in Adams County, Ohio. Some white men, professing to be friendly, misled them, and brought them to a house, where they were imprisoned, bound one by one, and carried back to Kentucky. [The enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law is the direct stimulating cause of all these cases of kidnapping.]

_Buffalo, August, 1851._ Case of DANIEL ----. D. was a cook on board the steamer "Buckeye State." He was engaged in his avocation, when Benj. S. Rust, with a warrant from United States Commissioner H.K. Smith, went on board the boat.

Daniel was called up from below, and as his head appeared above the deck, Rust struck him a heavy blow, upon the head, with a large billet of wood, which knocked him back into the cook-room, where he fell upon the stove and was badly burned.

In this state, he was brought before the Commissioner, "bleeding profusely at the back, of the head, and at the nose, and was moreover so stupefied by the a.s.sault, that he fell asleep several times during the brief and very summary proceedings." For most of the time he was unable to converse with his counsel, and "sat dozing, with the blood slowly oozing out of his mouth and nostrils." After a very hurried form, and mockery of a trial, Daniel was ordered to be delivered to Rust, the Agent of George H. Moore, of Louisville, Kentucky. By a writ of _Habeas Corpus_, Daniel was brought before Judge Coakling, of the United States Court, at Auburn, who gave a decision that set Daniel at liberty, and he was immediately hurried by his friends into Canada. Rust was indicted, in Buffalo, for his brutal a.s.sault on Daniel. It was fully proved; he afterwards plead guilty, and; was let off with the paltry fine of fifty dollars.

JOHN BOLDING, _arrested in Poughkeepsie, New York_, claimed as the property of Barret Anderson, of Columbia, S.C. Bolding was a young man, of good character, recently married, and had a small tailor's shop in P. He said he was told, when a boy, that he was the son of a white man. He was tried before United States Commissioner Nelson, who ordered him to be delivered up to his claimants, and he was taken quietly from the city to Columbia, S.C. The sum of $2,000 was raised in New York, and paid to Bolding's owner, who had consented to take that sum for him, and Bolding returned to his family in Poughkeepsie.

_Christiana, Lancaster County, Penn., Sept. 1851._ Edward Gorsuch, (represented as a very pious member of a Methodist Church in Baltimore,) with his son d.i.c.kinson, accompanied by the Sheriff of Lancaster County, Pa., and by a Philadelphia officer named _Henry Kline_, went to Christiana to arrest certain slaves of his, who, (as he had been privately informed by a wretch, named Wm. M. Padgett,) were living there. An attack was made upon the house, the slave-holder declaring (as was said) that he "would not leave the place alive without his slaves." "Then," replied one of them, "you will not leave here alive." Many shots were fired on both sides, and the slave-hunter, Edward Gorsuch, was killed.

At a subsequent trial, a number of persons (nearly forty) were committed to take their trial for "treason against the United States, by levying war against the same, in resisting by force of arms the execution of the Fugitive Slave Law." CASTNER HANWAY was of the number. After suffering imprisonment and being subjected to great loss of time and heavy expenses, they were all discharged.

_Syracuse, October 1, 1851._ JERRY, claimed as the slave of John McReynolds, of Marion County, Missouri, was brought to trial before Commissioner J.F. Sabine. He was rescued by a large body of men from the officers who had him in custody, and was next heard of in Canada.

_James R. Lawrence_, a lawyer of Syracuse, acted as counsel for _James Lear_, attorney of McReynolds.

[N.B. Daniel Webster's prophecy was not fulfilled.]

_Columbia, Penn._, (fall of 1851.) Man named HENRY, arrested as the slave of Dr. Duvall, of Prince George's County, Maryland,--taken to _Harrisburg_, before United States Commissioner McAllister and by him consigned to slavery.

_Judge Denning_, of Illinois, discharged a negro brought before him as a fugitive slave, on the ground that the Fugitive Slave Law was unconst.i.tutional.

_Two alleged slaves arrested_ at _Columbia, Penn._, on warrant of United States Commissioner McAllister,--claimed as property of W.T. McDermott, of Baltimore. One was carried into slavery, one escaped. (November, 1851.)

_Near New Philadelphia, Maryland_, a woman, married to a free colored man, with whom she had lived ten years, was arrested as the slave of a Mr. Shreve, of Louisville, Kentucky. She was taken back to Kentucky.

RACHEL PARKER, free colored girl, kidnapped from house of Joseph S. Miller, West Nottingham, Penn., by the "notorious Elkton Kidnapper, McCreary," Dec. 31, 1851. Mr. Miller tracked the kidnappers to Baltimore, and tried to recover the girl, but in vain. On his way home, he was induced to leave the cars, and was undoubtedly murdered,--it was supposed in revenge of the death of Gorsuch at Christiana. Mr. Miller's body was found suspended from a tree. A suit was brought in the Circuit Court of Baltimore County, for the freedom of Rachel Parker, Jan. 1853. Over sixty witnesses, from Pennsylvania, attended to testify to her being free-born, and that she was not the person she was claimed to be; although, in great bodily terror, she had, after her capture, confessed herself the alleged slave! So complete and strong was the evidence in her favor, that, after an eight days' trial, the claimants abandoned the case, and a verdict was rendered for the freedom of Rachel, and also of her sister, Elizabeth Parker, who had been previously kidnapped, and conveyed to New Orleans.

--> McCreary was demanded by Gov. Bigler, of Pennsylvania, to be delivered up for trial on a charge of kidnapping; but Gov. Lowe, of Maryland, refused to surrender him. See _Standard_, July 2, 1853.

JAMES TASKER, _New York City_, (Feb. 1852,) arrested through the treachery of Police Officer Martin, and brought before United States Commissioner George W. Morton, as the slave of Jonathan Pinckney, of Maryland. He was given up, and taken back to slavery.

HORACE PRESTON, arrested in _Williamsburg, New York_, as the slave of William Reese, of Baltimore, Maryland;--Richard Busteed, of New York, being Attorney for the slaveholder. He was brought before United States Commissioner Morton, 1st April, 1852; for several days previous he had been kept a prisoner, and his wife knew not what had become of him. He was given up by the Commissioner, and was carried into slavery. The same policeman, Martin, (who acted in the case of James Tasker,) was active in this case; being, doubtless, the original informant.

Preston was afterwards bought for about $1,200, and brought back.

_Columbia, Penn._, (end of March, 1852;) a colored man, named WILLIAM SMITH, was arrested as a fugitive slave in the lumber yard of Mr. Gottlieb, by Deputy Marshal Snyder, of Harrisburg, and police officer Ridgeley, of Baltimore, under a warrant from Commissioner McAllister. Smith endeavored to escape, when Ridgeley drew a pistol and shot him dead!

Ridgeley was demanded by the Governor of Pennsylvania, of the Governor of Maryland, and the demand was referred to the Maryland Legislature.

Hon. J.R. Giddings proposed the erection of a monument to Smith.

JAMES PHILLIPS, who had resided in _Harrisburg, Penn._, for fourteen years, was arrested May 24, 1852, as the former slave of Dennis Hudson, of Culpepper County, Virginia, afterwards bought by Henry T. Fant, of Fauquier County. He was brought before United States Commissioner McAllister.

Judge McKinney volunteered his services to defend the alleged fugitive. The Commissioner, as soon as possible, ordered the man to be delivered up; and, after fourteen years' liberty, he was taken back to slavery in Virginia. Afterwards, bought for $900, and taken back to Harrisburg.

_Wilkesbarre, Penn._, (Summer of 1852.) Mr. Harvey arrested and fined for s.h.i.+elding a slave.

_Sacramento, California_; a man named Lathrop claimed another as his slave, and Judge Fry decided that the claim was good, and ordered the slave to be surrendered. Mr. Lathrop left, with his slave, for the Atlantic States.

_A beautiful young woman_, nearly white, was pursued by her owner [and father] to New York, (end of June, 1852.) There a large reward was offered to a police officer to discover her, place of residence. It was discovered, and measures taken for her apprehension; but the alarm had been taken, and she escaped.

_Sacramento, California_; three men were seized by a Mr.

Perkins, of Mississippi. The Court decided them to be his property and they were carried back to Mississippi.--_Standard_, July 29, 1852.