James Batchelder (1830–1854) was the third United States Marshal to be killed in the line of duty. Batchelder was a truckman employed by the Marshals, and assigned to stand guard at the Boston Court House, where

Anthony Burns Anthony Burns (May 31, 1834 – July 17, 1862) was an African-American man who escaped from slavery in Virginia in 1854. His capture and trial in Boston, and transport back to Virginia, generated wide-scale public outrage in the North and ...

, an escaped

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

captured by slave-hunters, was imprisoned. President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

was determined to turn over an escaped slave from Boston - a center of abolitionist activity - in order to show Southern politicians that Northern states would enforce the

Fugitive Slave Act A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also kno ...

, a key provision of the Compromise of 1850. On the night of May 26, 1854, a crowd of black and white Bostonians, planning to rescue Burns, tried to force the doors of the Court House with axes, and a long plank used as a battering ram. There was a confused struggle as the crowd was turned back by the guards at the Court House. Gunfire broke out between the guards and the crowd. James Batchelder was mortally wounded by a blade of some kind. Accounts vary as to whether he was stabbed more than once. In one account, Batchelder was killed by a

blunderbuss The blunderbuss is a firearm with a short, large caliber barrel which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity or caliber. The blunderbuss is commonly consid ...

. The marshals physically blocked the crowd from forcing their way into the Court House, until Boston police and a military patrol arrived to disperse the crowd and make arrests. Burns was ultimately forced back into slavery in Virginia, with Pierce deploying federal artillery and United States Marines to ensure the enforcement of the law. In his autobiography '' Cheerful Yesterdays'',

Thomas Wentworth Higginson Thomas Wentworth Higginson (December 22, 1823May 9, 1911) was an American Unitarian minister, author, abolitionist, politician, and soldier. He was active in the American Abolitionism movement during the 1840s and 1850s, identifying himself with ...

, one of the leaders of the rescue party commented "There had been other fugitive slave rescues in different parts of the country, but this was the first drop of blood actually shed. In all the long procession of events which led the nation through the Kansas struggle, past the

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

foray and up to the

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...

, the killing of Batchelder was the first act of violence. It was like the firing on Fort Sumter, a proof that war had begun."

Criminal Investigation

Numerous men were arrested during the Friday night riot in Court Square where Batchelder was killed and nine of these were arraigned, charged with his murder. The next day, a black by the name of Nelson Hopewell was arrested and found to be in the possession of a bloodstained knife, and he was also charged with the murder. Two more men, John C. Cluer and John Morrison, were subsequently arrested and also charged with the murder. Ultimately, some of these men were indicted, but a large group of prominent, abolitionist lawyers rushed to their defence with the result that the indictments were abandoned and the men were never brought to trial. Later, one of these lawyers, Theodore C. Parker published a polemic entitled "Defence" which he described as the argument he had planned to give if a trial had occurred.

References

*Willard, Joseph A. ''Half A Century With Judges and Lawyers.'' Wm. S. Hein Publishing, . *Runyon, Randolph Paul. '' Delia Webster and the Underground Railroad'' University Press of Kentucky, 1999. *Commager, Henry Steele. ''Theodore Parker.'' Kessinger Publishing, 2005. *Higginson, Thomas Wentworth. ''Cheerful Yesterdays.'' Houghton, Mifflin, 1899.

External links

ODMP Memorial page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batchelder, James 1830 births 1854 deaths American murder victims People from Boston United States Marshals People murdered in Massachusetts 19th century in Boston Deaths by stabbing in Massachusetts American police officers killed in the line of duty