Chapter II: Part 2

_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.

The _illegality_ of the Mayor's conduct in ordering out the
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_.

_At Wilson's Corner, Bensalem, Buck's County, Pa._, Dec. 13,
1855, a colored man in the employ of John Henderson was
seized by three men, who tied him, threw him into a wagon,
and drove off at full speed. They were seen, and quickly
followed by men on horseback. After two hours' hard riding,
the kidnappers were overtaken. A fight ensued--the black man
was released; when three pistol-shots were fired by the
kidnappers, killing a horse, and wounding one of the rescuing
party severely. A statement of the facts was published, as
an advertisement, in the _Philadelphia Ledger_, signed by
William Williams and John Henderson.

"_Two very bright mulatto girls_," says the _Staunton (Va.)
Spectator_, "one belonging to Mr. John Churchman, and the
other to the estate of Colonel Crawford, deceased, took the
cars at Staunton, on the morning of December 30, 1855, and
made their way successfully to Baltimore, en route for a free
State. At Baltimore they were detected just as they were
about to take the train for Philadelphia, and information of
their arrest was immediately forwarded to D. Churchman, of
this place." On the following Friday they were taken back to
Virginia. "They were so nearly white that their success in
imposing upon the conductors of the cars is not astonishing,
and the only wonder is that they were detected at all. Since
their return, the negro girls have been sold--Mr. Churchman's
for $1,050, and the other for $950."

FANNY, a colored child of fire years old, was taken from
Chicago, Illinois, into Tennessee, and sold for $250. A man
named F.M. Chapman, with his servant William R. Tracy, were
arrested as the kidnappers, and taken before Justice DeWolf.
Chapman claimed to have owned the child in Arkansas, and to
have brought her to Illinois [thereby making her free.] He
procured Tracy to take the child to Tennessee and sell her.
The result of the case not known. (January, 1856.)

_Two fugitives_, passing through Ohio, (January, 1856,) were
closely pursued and nearly overtaken at Columbus, Ohio. "Ten
minutes previous warning only saved the fugitives from their
pursuers." Deputy Marshal J. Underwood, being called on to
act in the case, refused, and resigned his office, saying, he
did not expect to be "called upon to help execute the odious
Fugitive Slave Law."--_Cincinnati Commercial_.

[--> The following may, not improperly, find a place here.]

The House of Delegates of Virginia, early in 1856, adopted
the following:--"_Be it resolved by the General Assembly_,
That our Representatives in Congress are requested, and our
Senators be and are hereby instructed, to secure the passage
of a law making full compensation to all owners whose slaves
have or may hereafter escape into any of the non-slaveholding
States of this Union, and there be withheld from those to
whom such service or labor may be due."

_Fourteen persons of color_, held at Los Angelos, California,
early in 1856, as the servants of one Robert Smith, were
brought before Judge Benjamin Hays, on a writ of _habeas
corpus_. Smith alleged that he formerly resided in
Mississippi, where he owned these persons; was now about to
remove to Texas, and designed to take these persons with him
as his slaves. Judge Hays decided that they were all free,
and those under twenty-one years of age were placed in the
charge of the sheriff, as their special guardian.--_Los
Angelos Star._ The opinion of Judge Hays (who was said to be
a native of South Carolina,) is a very able one, and under
the circumstances, of much interest. It may be found in the
_Standard_, of April 5, 1856.

_Two colored lads_, named RALLS and LOGAN, living in
Cincinnati, were kidnapped thence by two men, named Orr and
Simpkins, and taken to St. Louis, Missouri, where the men
tried to sell them. The men were arrested as kidnappers.
(March, 1856.)

_The Decatur (Illinois) Chronicle_ states that "a man charged
with being a fugitive slave was recently arrested at that
place and carried off, no one knows where. The sheriff of the
county was the willing instrument in the hands of the
claimants; no attempt to appeal to the law was made, the
negro being carried off as if he were a stray horse or dog."
The _Chicago Tribune_ says: "If this is a true statement of
the affair, that sheriff has laid himself liable to the
charge of kidnapping, and should at once be proceeded against
with such rigor as his offence demands." (April, 1856.)

MARGARET GARNER _and seven others_, at Cincinnati, Ohio, January, 1856. Of this recent and peculiarly painful case we give a somewhat detailed account, mainly taken from the Cincinnati papers of the day.

About ten o'clock on Sunday, 27th January, 1856, a
party of eight slaves--two men, two women, and four
children--belonging to Archibald K. Gaines and John Marshall,
of Richwood Station, Boone County, Kentucky, about sixteen
miles from Covington, escaped from their owners. Three of the
party are father, mother, and son, whose names are Simon,
Mary, and Simon, Jr.; the others are Margaret, wife of Simon,
Jr., and her four children. The three first are the property
of Marshall, and the others of Gaines.

They took a sleigh and two horses belonging to Mr. Marshall,
and drove to the river bank, opposite Cincinnati, and crossed
over to the city on the ice. They were missed a few hours
after their flight, and Mr. Gaines, springing on a horse,
followed in pursuit. On reaching the river shore, he learned
that a resident had found the horses standing in the road. He
then crossed over to the City, and after a few hours diligent
inquiry, he learned that his slaves were in a house about a
quarter of a mile below the Mill Creek Bridge, on the river
road, occupied by a colored man named Kite.

He proceeded to the office of United States Commissioner John
L. Pendery, and procuring the necessary warrants, with United
States Deputy Marshal Ellis, and a large body of assistants,
went on Monday to the place where his fugitives were
concealed. Arriving at the premises, word was sent to the
fugitives to surrender. A firm and decided negative was the
response. The officers, backed by a large crowd, then made a
descent. Breaking open the doors, they were assailed by the
negroes with cudgels and pistols. Several shots were fired,
but only one took effect, so far as we could ascertain. A
bullet struck a man named John Patterson, one of the
Marshal's deputies; tearing off a finger of his right hand,
and dislocating several of his teeth. No other of the
officers were injured, the negroes being rendered powerless
before they could reload their weapons.

On looking around, horrible was the sight which met the
officers' eyes. In one corner of the room was a nearly white
child, bleeding to death. Her throat was cut from ear to ear,
and the blood was spouting out profusely, showing that the
deed was but recently committed. Scarcely was this fact
noticed, when a scream issuing from an adjoining room drew
their attention thither. A glance into the apartment revealed
a negro woman holding in her hand a knife literally dripping
with gore, over the heads of two little negro children, who
were crouched to the floor, and uttering the cries whose
agonized peals had first startled them. Quickly the knife was
wrested from the hand of the excited woman, and a more close
investigation instituted as to the condition, of the infants.
They were discovered to be cut across the head and
shoulders, but not very seriously injured, although the blood
trickled down their backs and upon their clothes.

The woman avowed herself the mother of the children, and said
that she had killed one and would like to kill the three
others, rather than see them again reduced to slavery! By
this time the crowd about the premises had become prodigious,
and it was with no inconsiderable difficulty that the negroes
were secured in carriages, and brought to the United States
District Court-rooms, on Fourth Street. The populace followed
the vehicle closely, but evinced no active desire to effect a
rescue. Rumors of the story soon circulated all over the
city. Nor were they exaggerated, as is usually the case. For
once, reality surpassed the wildest thought of fiction.

The slaves, on reaching the marshal's office, seated
themselves around the stove with dejected countenances, and
preserved a moody silence, answering all questions propounded
to them in monosyllables, or refusing to answer at all. Simon
is apparently about fifty-five years of age, and Mary about
fifty. The son of Mr. Marshall, who is here, in order, if
possible, to recover the property of his father, says that
they have always been faithful servants, and have frequently
been on this side of the river. Simon, Jr., is a young man,
about twenty-two years old, of a very lithe and active form,
and rather a mild and pleasant countenance. Margaret is a
dark mulatto, twenty-three years of age; her countenance is
far from being vicious, and her senses, yesterday, appeared
partially stultified from the exciting trials she had
endured. After remaining about two hours at the marshal's
office, Commissioner Pendery announced that the slaves would
be removed to the custody of the United States Marshal until
nine o'clock Tuesday morning, when the case would come up for
examination.

The slaves were then taken down stairs to the street-door,
when a wild and exciting scene presented itself; the
sidewalks and the middle of the street were thronged with
people, and a couple of coaches were at the door in order to
convey the captives to the station-house. The slaves were
guarded by a strong posse of officers, and as they made their
appearance on the street, it was evident that there was a
strong sympathy in their favor. When they were led to the
carriage-doors, there were loud cries of "Drive on!" "Don't
take them!" The coachmen, either from alarm or from a
sympathetic feeling, put the whip to their horses, and drove
rapidly off, leaving the officers with their fugitives on the
sidewalk. They started on foot with their charge to the
Hammond Street station-house, where they secured their
prisoners for the night.

The slaves claimed that they had been on this side of the
river frequently, by consent of their masters.