FootNote
The new kid on the block, FootNote is known for digitizing historical
documents... many of which are genealogical gems. With naturalizations,
city directories, war records, newspapers, town records, etc... this new
kid is quickly being recognized as an alternative to Ancestry.
While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
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 shielding 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.
Petersburg, Penn. Two fugitives from Alabama
slavery were overtaken, and taken back,
September, 1852.
John Henry Wilson,
a lad of fourteen years, kidnapped from
Danville, Pennsylvania, and taken to
Baltimore, where he was, offered for sale to
John N. Denning. Kidnappers committed to
jail, October, 1852.
Daniel Webster, the endorser of the
Fugitive Slave Law, died at Marshfield,
Mass., October 24th, 1852, in the very
height of the Law's triumphant operation.
Louisa, a
colored woman, claimed by Mrs. Reese, of San
Francisco, California, was seized by five
armed men, and put on board Steamer Golden
Gate, and carried it is not known whither.
The aid of the Law was not invoked. The
California Christian Advocate, from which
the above is taken, says, "Two colored men,
stewards on the Golden Gate, were sent back
to the States on the last trip under the
State Fugitive Law."
A mulatto woman, in San Francisco, was
ordered to be delivered to her claimant, T.T.
Smith, Jackson Country, Missouri, by
"Justice Shepherd,"—San Francisco Herald—in
Standard, November 4, 1852.
Sandusky, Ohio. Two men, two women, and
several children were arrested and taken
from a steamboat just about to leave for
Detroit. Taken before Mayor Follett, by a
man who claimed to be their owner. R.R.
Sloane, Esq., was employed as counsel for
the slaves. No one claiming custody of the
slaves, or producing any writs or warrants,
Mr. Sloane signified to the crowd present
that there appeared to be no cause for the
detention of the persons. Immediately a rush
was made for the door. A man, who before had
been silent, exclaimed, "Here are the
papers—I own the slaves—I'll hold you
individually responsible for their escape."
The slaves escaped into Canada, October,
1852. Mr. Sloane was afterwards prosecuted
for the value of the slaves, and judgment
given against him to the amount of $3,950.
Thirty slaves, says the Maysville (Ky.)
Eagle, "escaped from Mason and Bracken
Counties, a short time ago. Some of them
were captured in Ohio, by their owners, at a
distance of about forty miles from the
river." "They brought the captured slaves
home without encountering the least
obstacle, or even an unkind word."—Standard,
November 4, 1852.
The Lemmon Slaves.
At New York, eight persons, claimed by
Jonathan Lemmon, of Norfolk, Virginia, as
his slaves, were brought before Judge Paine,
November, 1852. It appeared that they had
been brought to New York by their owner,
with a view of taking them to Texas, as his
slaves. Mr. Louis Napoleon, a respectable
colored man, of New York, procured a writ of
habeas corpus, under which they were brought
before the court. Their liberation was
called for, under the State Law, not being
fugitives, but brought into a free State by
their owner. Said owner appeared, with Henry
D. Lapaugh as his counsel, aided by Mr.
Clinton. At their urgent request, the case
was postponed from time to time, when Judge
Paine, with evident reluctance, decreed the
freedom of the slaves. E.D. Culver and John
Jay, Esqs., were counsel for the slaves. The
merchants and others of New York subscribed
and paid Mr. Lemmon the sum of $5,280, for
loss of his slaves. The New York Journal of
Commerce was very active in raising this
money. The same men were invited to
contribute something for the destitute men,
women, and children claimed by Lemmon. The
whole amount given by them all, was two
dollars. About one thousand dollars were
raised for them among the better disposed
but less wealthy class.
Thomas Brown
alias George Bordley, Philadelphia,
November, 1852, was claimed by one Andrew
Pearce, Cecil County, Maryland. Given up to
claimant by Commissioner Ingraham. The
arrest of the man was made by the notorious
kidnapper, George F. Alberti. Mr. Pettit,
counsel for the claimant.
Transcriber's note:
The following note is inserted after the
next section but does not refer to any
specific reported incident.
Richard Neal, free
colored man, kidnapped in Philadelphia and
carried from the city in a carriage towards
Maryland. A writ of habeas corpus was
obtained, the kidnappers were overtaken, and
Neal brought back after resistance and
various hindrances. The Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania discharged him. February, 1853.
Ten slaves, arrested in Indiana, and taken
back to Tennessee, by W. Carney and others.
Resistance was made, and W. Carney "was very
badly injured during the fracas."—Nashville
----, March 5, 1853. [Transcribers' note:
---- substituted for word cut off on
original page.]
Alton, Illinois. A man claimed to belong to
Walter Carrico, of Warren County, Missouri,
was arrested by police officers from St.
Louis. After being lodged in jail in St.
Louis he made his escape, and again went
into Illinois. He was pursued, found, and
taken back to St. Louis.—St. Louis
Republican, March, 1853.
Amanda, a slave
girl, was brought to St. Louis, from near
Memphis, Tennessee, a year before, by a son
of her master, and by him set free, without
his father's consent. After the father's
death, an attempt was made to seize Amanda,
and take her back to Tennessee without
trial. This was prevented by officers, the
girl taken from the steamboat Cornelia, and
brought before Levi Davis, United States
Commissioner. He decided in favor of the
claimants, (the heirs of the estate, of
course.)—St. Louis Republican, March 17,
1853.
Jane Trainer, a
colored child, about ten years old, in the
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 witnesses 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
defense 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 Visitor.
The
Slaveholders of Kentucky begin forming
associations for mutual protection against
loss of runaway slaves. The preamble of the
plan of association proposed at a meeting at
Minerva Kentucky, held in the winter of
1852-53, is as follows:—"Whereas it has
become absolutely necessary for the
slave-owners of Kentucky to take such steps
as will secure their property, we, the
citizens of Mass. and Bracken counties, do
recommend," &c. [end note]
[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.
