January 9, 1851

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874

Printed document

Title: Anti-fugitive slave law meeting: at a large meeting of persons from various parts of the state of New York, held in the City of Syracuse January 9th 1851...

[Title continued] and of which Frederick Douglass was president, the following resolutions and address were unanimously adopted. The Address is the same, and, with an inconsiderable exception, the Resolutions are the same, as those, which were reported by Gerrit Smith to the State Convention held in said City, January 7th, 8th, 9th, 1851. Previous documentation suggests this is a first edition. Place of publication is not cited.

GLC00267.143

1851

Pamphlet

Title: The South Bend fugitive slave case, involving the right to a writ of habeas corpus.

Reports on the legal case of Norris vs. Newton. Case pertains to an enslaved person seeking emancipation. Marked for sale at the Anti-slavery office, 48 Beekman Street, 1851.

GLC00267.144

1852

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874

Pamphlet

Title: Freedom national, slavery sectional: Mr. Sumner's speech for the repeal of the fugitive slave bill.

Published by Ticknor, Reed, and Fields.

GLC00267.147

1854

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874

Pamphlet

Title: Defence of Massachusetts. Speeches of Hon. Charles Sumner, on the Boston memorial for the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Bill, ...

Title continues, "... and in reply to Messrs. Jones of Tennessee, Butler of South Carolina, and Mason of Virginia." Delivered in the Senate of the U.S. 26 and 28 June 1854. Printed by Buell & Blanchard.

GLC00267.148

1855

Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884

Pamphlet signed

Title: Argument of Wendell Phillips, Esq. before the Committee on Federal Relations, (of the Massachusetts Legislature,) ...

Title continues "... in support of the petitions for the removal of Edward Greely Loring from the office of Judge of Probate." Inscribed with the initials W.P. to Albert G. Brown. Calls for the removal of Massachusetts probate Judge Loring because he ordered two fugitive slaves to be forced back into slavery under the federal Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Printed by J.B. Yerrinton & Son, Boston. Albert Gallatin Brown was a Democratic senator from Mississippi.

GLC00267.149

5 March 1855

Dana, Richard Henry, 1815-1882

Pamphlet

Title: Remarks of Richard H. Dana, Jr. Esq. before the Committee on Federal Relations on the proposed removal of Edward G. Loring, Esq. from the Office of Judge of Probate.

Dana, despite being an antislavery man, opposes the removal of Loring from his position as a Massachusetts probate judge. Printed in Boston by Alfred Mudge & Son.

GLC00267.150

1854

Clarke, James Freeman, 1810-1888

Pamphlet

Title: The rendition of Anthony Burns. Its causes and consequences. A discourse on Christian politics, delivered in Williams Hall, Boston, on Whitsunday, June 4, 1854.

Concerns the extradition of Anthony Burns, an enslaved person who was captured in Boston and returned to Virginia, while seeking emancipation. The case demonstrates the wide-held belief that the "Slave Power" of the South could control the North and cause Northerners to allow this to happen. Printed by Crosby, Nichols & Co., and Prentiss & Sawyer, Boston. Clarke was the Minister of the Church of the Disciples.

GLC00267.151

1856

Stevens, Charles Emery, 1815-1893

Book

Title: Anthony Burns: a history.

Published by John P. Jewett and Company. Illustrated with "drawings made on the spot" pertaining to the arrest of Anthony Burns in Boston. Stevens offers an "account of the early life of Burns, of his arrest, of his voyage back to Virginia, of his imprisonment, and of his sojourn in North Carolina...." Also analyzes how Burns's case contradicts the ancient laws of Massachusetts.

GLC00267.152

1859

Shipherd, Jacob R. (Jacob Rudd), 1836-1905

Pamphlet

Title: History of the Oberlin-Wellington rescue.

Published by John P. Jewett and Company. Also published in Cleveland, Ohio, by Henry P. B. Jewett, and in New York City by Sheldon and Company.

GLC00267.153

February 16, 1847

Missouri, Legislature

Printed document

Title: Memorial of the general assembly of Missouri, requesting that efforts be made by negotiation with the British government, to procure the restoration of fugitive slaves.

29th Congress, 2d session. Senate document no. 150. Missouri requests a measure for negotiations with England to prevent slaves escaping to Canada. Printed by Ritchie & Heiss, printers.

GLC00267.137

May 28, 1854

Furness, William Henry, 1802-1896

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas Dawes Eliot

Reverend Furness, a prominent abolitionist and Unitarian clergyman, thanks Congressman Eliot for a speech he gave. Writes about a fugitive slave (possibly Anthony Burns, who was arrested on May 24, 1854 in Boston): "That Slave must not be sent back. I don't like the volunteer companies coming out for the accursed Fugitive Slave Law which violates the fundamental laws & liberties of the noblest Commonwealth on God's Earth, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She is to be obeyed first before the U.S. God save her! If she goes down then Hope for a season bade the World farewell..."

GLC00468.01

November 7, 1851

Buchanan, James, 1791-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Ezra B. Chase

Buchanan states his position on slavery and the legal implications of enslaved people seeking emancipation. Buchanan strongly supports the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act, and believes it will reduce sectional strife. He is "decidedly in favor of 'the finality' of the compromise measures" and finds that the Compromise favors the North, except for the Fugitive Slave Law. Mentions the Democrats of Pennsylvania repealed a law preventing jails providing shelter to enslaved people on the run. He has received many congratulations from the South for his work on this cause. He concludes…

GLC00529.06

April 27, 1820

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Letter signed

Title: to John C. Calhoun

One letter from by Major General Andrew Jackson to John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War dated April 27, 1820. Jackson notes that he is sending documents (not included) from General Gaines related to the illegal enslavement of Black people and freed people in Georgia. Also sending along a letter (not included) from Major James Bankhead, commander at Fernandina, Florida on the same subject. Says he will take any measures Calhoun directs him to.

GLC00639.13

July 24, 1839

Dresser, Amos, 1812-1904

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Hiram Wilson

Dresser writes to Reverend Wilson who is expecting two enslaved people seeking emancipation in Canada through the underground railroad. He writes, "I rejoice in the privilege of handing over to you two more Daughters of affliction who can tell you their own tale of suffering. They are in pursuit of a home which I trust they will find in Queen Victoria's Dominions. The young girl is very quick... in almost any kind of business & with the right kind of training I hope may be brot to Christ & made useful in the world Perhaps you will want her in your family." He asks for the names of…

GLC00867

24 April 1863

Sandoz, Joel H., fl. 1840-1864

Newspaper

Title: The Opelousas courier. [Vol. 11, no. 23 (April 24, 1863)]

Union occupation newspaper published by Opelousa. Telegrams describe changing conditions of who is winning the battle in Jackson. Poem dedicated to the Union Army and Navy. Fugitive slave ad. Gray floral and tile pattern on wallpaper verso.

GLC00899

28 August 1787

Butler, Pierce, 1744-1822

Autograph document

Title: [Wheresoever any person bound to service...]

Draft. States that "the legislatures of the several states shall make provision for the recovering of such persons." No mention is made by name of slaves, apprentices or servants. Pencil note on back concerning a meeting at "Clifton at the Blue Bell Wharf." Date from Hutson. Not in Butler's hand.

GLC00819.17

14 - 15 September 1787

Butler, Pierce, 1744-1822

Autograph manuscript

Title: Free persons, those bound to servitude for a term of years...

Two fragments written on front and back of a quarter sheet of paper. The front has part of the 3/5's clause. On verso begins "Prov'd that no Monopoly be granted"

GLC00819.22

26 July 1782

Smith, Paschal Nelson, ?-1805

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Knox

Written by Smith, who seems to be a merchant in Boston, to Major General Knox. References Knox's letter of 10 July (which was an answer to Smith's letter at GLC02437.01468). Thanks him for the trouble he took in looking for his "Servant Boy" Prince. From late information, Smith believes he is not with the army, but "is lurking about at Salem, or some where in this neighbourhood, you will therefore please to take no further trouble about him, only if you hear anything of his being in the Army from the measures you have taken you will please to advise me of it, & I will take the necessary…

GLC02437.01505

27 June 1782

Smith, Paschal Nelson, ?-1805

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Knox

Smith, who appears to be a Boston merchant, writes to Major General Knox about a missing servant. Says about 3 weeks ago, while he was on a tour of Connecticut, "a Molatto Servant Boy of mine named Prince, 18 Years of Age went off, & by the best information I can get he is gone to the Army, as a Recruit & I imagine some officer has persuaded him away as a waiter." Says Knox might remember Prince from his last visit to Boston. Describes him as "5 feet 9 Inches tall, & very Slender, & black Woolly Hair." Says other officers from Boston will remember him. Asks that if Prince is…

GLC02437.01468

9 January 1851

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874

Printed document

Title: Anti-Fugitive Slave Law Meeting. At a large meeting of persons from various parts of the State of New York, held in the City of Syracuse...

(title continues)... January 9th 1851, and of which Frederick Douglass was President, the following resolutions and address were unanimously adopted. The address is the same, and, with an inconsiderable exception, the Resolutions are the same, as those, which were reported by Gerrit Smith to the State Convention held in said City, January 7th, 8th, 9th, 1851.

GLC04717.16

13 March 1855

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874

Printed letter

Title: to William Henry Seward

Smith writes to Seward, a United States Senator from New York. Praises Seward's intellectualism and philanthropic spirit. Notes that Seward's recent speech on the Fugitive Slave Act "does not, in all respects, come up to my expectation of what would fall from you on such as occasion." Questions Seward's dedication to abolition. In closing, writes "I own, that you stand, as an antislavery man, very far above most of our statesmen. But I would have you stand still farther above them."

GLC04717.21

1 October 1857

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874

Printed document

Title: Address reported by Gerrit Smith to the Jerry Rescue Convention, held in Syracuse October 1, 1857.

Regarding William "Jerry" Henry, who had been arrested under the Fugitive Slave Law in Syracuse in 1851, and rescued by local citizens. Smith commends the rescue, claiming no Christian can disapprove of the rescue. Discusses his disappointment in the Republican party's lack of adherence to abolition. Asks "whether we all recognize the obligation to rescue every Jerry."

GLC04717.26

March 1859

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874

Printed document

Title: Personal Liberty Bill

Begins with a list of the foremost duties of the New York Legislature: to close the dramshops, to prevent withholding suffrage from Black men, and to protect the "weary and heart-broken fugitive slaves" within State limits. Includes an excerpt of a speech by Smith, arguing that the Constitution of the United States should not be interpreted as a pro-slavery document: "The Constitution is not for Slavery unless they who adopted it meant it to be for Slavery. But there can be no evidence that they so meant, unless there is evidence that they saw Slavery in the Constitution."

GLC04717.27

27 August 1859

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874

Printed letter

Title: to John Thomas, Esq.

Smith declines Thomas's invitation to preside at the anniversary of the Rescue of Jerry, who had been arrested in Syracuse under the Fugitive Slave Law and freed by local citizens in 1851. Informs Thomas, Chairman of Jerry Rescue Committee: "The Rescue of Jerry was a great and glorious event... But those who achieved it, and I include in this number all who cheered it on and rejoiced in every step of its progress, have, with few exception, proved themselves unworthy of the work of their own hands." Worn through in the upper left corner.

GLC04717.29

January 21, 1863

Magie, James K., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mary Magie

Writes from Headquarters of the 78th Regiment, Illinois Volunteers. He asks her to write at least once a week. They have received marching orders, but heavy rains made the river rise and they may not be able to move. He spent last night playing a game "with a very pretty young lady. You must not yet be jealous about it, although I begin to think I have some right to go about among the girls as you have almost [quit] writing to me." A runaway slave from Spencer County is employed by the Colonel. He does odd jobs, dances and makes speeches. Plans to stay with the regiment and go back to…

GLC05241.06