Shadrach Minkins

1814 (age 61)

He is known for being freed from a courtroom in Boston after being captured by United States marshals under the Fugitive Slave Acting of 1850. Minkins settled in Montreal, where he raised a family. Two men were prosecuted in Boston for helping free him, but they were acquitted by the jury. He escaped from slavery as a young man in 1850 and reached Boston, Massachusetts, where he became a waiter. Later that year, Congress enacted the Fugitive Slave Acting, which allowed federal agents to seize escaped slaves living in free states and return them to their owners. lieutenant required law enforcement in all states to cooperate in enforcing this federal law. United States marshals, who posed as customers at Taft’s Cornhill Coffee House where Minkins worked, arrested him on February 15, 1851. Writ of habeas corpus Minkins was taken to a hearing at the Boston federal courthouse. Seeking to have Minkins released from police custody, they filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus with the Supreme Judicial Court, which was refused by Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw. Edward G. Walker, Morris and activist Lewis Hayden collaborated to obtain Shadrach"s release. He was hidden in an attic in Beacon Hill. Minkins escaped Massachusetts with the help of John Jay Smith, Lewis Hayden and others Nine abolitionists were indicted in the affair, but charges were dismissed for some of the individuals. Morris and Hayden were tried and acquitted. Resulting trials The rescue of Minkins brought calls for President Millard Fillmore to use federal troops to help marshals enforce the Fugitive Slave Law. Fillmore cautiously called on the citizens of Boston to respect the law and aid in recapturing Minkins. Fillmore ordered Minkins" liberators to be prosecuted. John P. Hale served as defense counsel in the resulting trials. This incident in his home state deeply embarrassed Secretary of State Daniel Webster, who hoped to be elected President in 1852 with Southern support. From Boston, activists helped Minkins reach via stops on the Underground Railroad. He settled in Montreal, in the section of the city known as Old Montreal. There he made a living first as a waiter, then operating restaurants of his own and, finally, as a barber. Minkins died in Montreal in December 1875.

Shadrach Minkins

Edit Profile

Background

Minkins was born into slavery about 1814 in Norfolk, Virginia.

Career

He is known for being freed from a courtroom in Boston after being captured by United States marshals under the Fugitive Slave Acting of 1850. Minkins settled in Montreal, where he raised a family. Two men were prosecuted in Boston for helping free him, but they were acquitted by the jury.

He escaped from slavery as a young man in 1850 and reached Boston, Massachusetts, where he became a waiter.

Later that year, Congress enacted the Fugitive Slave Acting, which allowed federal agents to seize escaped slaves living in free states and return them to their owners. lieutenant required law enforcement in all states to cooperate in enforcing this federal law.

United States marshals, who posed as customers at Taft’s Cornhill Coffee House where Minkins worked, arrested him on February 15, 1851. Writ of habeas corpus

Minkins was taken to a hearing at the Boston federal courthouse.

Seeking to have Minkins released from police custody, they filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus with the Supreme Judicial Court, which was refused by Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw.

Edward G. Walker, Morris and activist Lewis Hayden collaborated to obtain Shadrach"s release. He was hidden in an attic in Beacon Hill. Minkins escaped Massachusetts with the help of John Jay Smith, Lewis Hayden and others

Nine abolitionists were indicted in the affair, but charges were dismissed for some of the individuals.

Morris and Hayden were tried and acquitted. Resulting trials

The rescue of Minkins brought calls for President Millard Fillmore to use federal troops to help marshals enforce the Fugitive Slave Law.

Fillmore cautiously called on the citizens of Boston to respect the law and aid in recapturing Minkins. Fillmore ordered Minkins" liberators to be prosecuted.

John P. Hale served as defense counsel in the resulting trials.

This incident in his home state deeply embarrassed Secretary of State Daniel Webster, who hoped to be elected President in 1852 with Southern support. From Boston, activists helped Minkins reach via stops on the Underground Railroad. He settled in Montreal, in the section of the city known as Old Montreal.

There he made a living first as a waiter, then operating restaurants of his own and, finally, as a barber.

Minkins died in Montreal in December 1875.

Views

Attorneys, including Samuel East. Sewall, Ellis Gray Loring, Robert Morris and Richard Henry Dana, Junior., offered their services to defend Minkins.

Membership

White and black members of the Boston Vigilance Committee freed and hid him, helping him get to via the Underground Railroad. White and black members of the anti-slavery Boston Vigilance Committee, including Hayden, entered the courtroom and used force to take Minkins from the marshals.

Main Photo