March 1857

Freeman, Watson, fl. 1827-1857

Manuscript letter

Title: to James Buchanan

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 the door of the Court House, & the murder of one of my deputies, standing by my side, by a mob of two thousand abolitionists in their attempt to rescue from my custody the Slave Burns." States he did not leave his post for eight days and that he has received anonymous death threats. Mentions that his father, a merchant in Boston, invested all…

GLC09028.04

25 May 1857

Freeman, Watson, fl. 1827-1857

Manuscript letter

Title: to Aaron V. Brown

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 Burns in 1854. Writes "On the day of the rendition, the 2d of June, Col. Wright's cavalry corps constituted the head of the Brigade column, and by his judicious conduct and unremitted energy he did much to preserve the peace, and prevent the fanatical mob from breaking forth into acts of violence against the posse under my direction." Marked as a…

GLC09028.07