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[Collection related to U.S. Marshal Watson Freeman] [Decimalized .01-.36]
1803-1857
Various
Freeman was responsible for the arrest of fugitive slave Anthony Burns in Boston 1854. With 29 receipts and related documents.
GLC09028
to Franklin Pierce
3 December 1852
Smith, Albert, fl. 1852
Smith writes to Pierce, the newly elected President of the United States, seeking Watson Freeman's appointment as U.S. Marshal. He lists Freeman's qualifications stating, "Mr. F has been, since he was first permitted to vote - for thirty-five years...
GLC09028.02
to A. B. Baker
February 26, 1853
Hazelton, H.L., fl. 1853
Introduces his friend Watson Freeman, who is seeking the appointment of U.S. Marshal of Massachusetts. States "He is a very deserving man, & I am sorry to say is a Democrat; but still there is a redeeming trait - he is a staunch Union man..."...
GLC09028.03
to James Buchanan
March 1857
Freeman, Watson, fl. 1827-1857
Copy of Watson's letter to Buchanan asking to be reappointed as U.S. Marshal. References his service as marshal for the last four years. Describes the case of fugitive slave Anthony Burns. "...the people of Boston, who witnessed the battering down...
GLC09028.04
14 March 1857
Suttle, Charles F., fl. 1857
Written to President Buchanan to show Southern support for U.S. Marshal Watson Freeman and Massachusetts District Attorney Benjamin F. Hallett. Signed by Suttle, former owner of Anthony Burns, Henry C. Ward, President of the Democratic Association of...
GLC09028.05
to Aaron V. Brown
25 May 1857
Letter to the Postmaster General recommending Colonel Isaac H. Wright to the office of postmaster of Boston. Mentions that Wright upheld the Fugitive Slave law and was one of the first to offer assistance during the arrest of fugitive slave Anthony...
GLC09028.07
[Receipt for payment of wages]
17 November 1809
Eldridge, Simon, fl. 1809
Received $7.60 for payment of "my Blak [sic] boy's wage..." Possibly Eldridge's African American slave or servant.
GLC09028.12
[Receipt for bail money paid]
January 1851
John Knight was arrested by E. Rugg on 26 October 1850. The unknown creator (possibly Watson Freeman) paid bail and "got him away from the mob."
GLC09028.35
[Slave sale letter]
10 June 1860
Battle, Narcissa Caroline, 1824-1906
A woman writes to her child about a slave sale she attended. "I went to town & bought all the negroes except Charity mamma & Charity's four youngest Children... Mamma is down at Watson's very much pestered she never would say before the sale who she...
GLC09039
Book of Military Scraps by John W. Mansfield
1865
Mansfield, John W., fl. 1865
Includes watercolor and pencil and ink drawings of: Sibley tents; Zouaves; shoulder straps by rank (in color); Fort Independence; Fort Winthrop; 'Instrument of Torture for Negroes;' several canon, mortars, and guns, including Winan's steam gun,...
GLC09041
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