Shadrach Minkins (c. 1814 – December 13, 1875) was an African-American

fugitive slave In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th century to describe people who fled slavery. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Such people are also called free ...

from Virginia who escaped in 1850 and reached Boston. He also used the pseudonyms Frederick Wilkins and Frederick Jenkins.Collison (1998), p. 1. He is known for being freed from a courtroom in Boston after being captured by United States marshals under the

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern interests in slavery and Northern Free-Soilers. The Act was one of the most co ...

. Members of the

Boston Vigilance Committee The Boston Vigilance Committee (1841–1861) was an abolitionist organization formed in Boston, Massachusetts, to protect escaped slaves from being kidnapped and returned to slavery in the South. The Committee aided hundreds of escapees, most o ...

freed and hid him, helping him get to Canada via the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. Minkins settled in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, where he raised a family. Two men were prosecuted in Boston for helping free him, but they were acquitted by the jury.

Early life

Minkins was born into slavery about 1817 in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

Escape and capture

He escaped from slavery at age 33 in 1850 and reached

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, where he became a waiter. Later that year, Congress enacted 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 ...

, which allowed federal agents to seize escaped slaves living in free states and return them to their owners. It required law enforcement in all states to cooperate in enforcing this federal law.

United States marshals The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a Government agency, bureau within the United States Department of Justice, U.S. Depa ...

, who posed as customers at Taft's Cornhill Coffee House where Minkins worked, arrested him on February 15, 1851."The Ordeal of Shadrach Minkins"
Massachusetts Historical Society. Retrieved April 23, 2013.

Writ of habeas corpus

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

Samuel E. Sewall Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transit ...

, Ellis Gray Loring, Robert Morris and

Richard Henry Dana Jr. Richard Henry Dana Jr. (August 1, 1815 – January 6, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of a colonial family, who gained renown as the author of the classic American memoir ''Two Years Before the Mast''. ...

, offered their services to defend Minkins. Seeking to have Minkins released from police custody, they filed a petition for writ of

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

with the Supreme Judicial Court, which was refused by Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw. Edward G. Walker, Robert Morris, and

Lewis Hayden Lewis Hayden (December 2, 1811 – April 7, 1889) escaped slavery in Kentucky with his family and escaped to Canada. He established a school for African Americans before moving to Boston, Massachusetts to aid in the abolition movement. There h ...

collaborated to obtain Shadrach's release.''Edwin Garrison Walker.''
BlackPast.org. Retrieved April 22, 2013. A group of activists, led by Hayden, entered the courtroom and used force to take Minkins from the marshals. The group has been described variously as "African-American activists";
Massachusetts Historical Society. Retrieved April 23, 2013. "a group of outraged black men"; "a group of black Bostonians" and "a band of blacks and whites." One witness later described the men as having "their faces somewhat disguised by having their hair brushed down over the face, and coats buttoned up around their cheeks." With a few exceptions, according to Gary Lee Collison, white members of the Boston Vigilance Committee tended to be more cautious than black members, preferring to supply legal and financial assistance, while black members were more willing to use force. Minkins was hidden in an attic in Beacon Hill. He escaped Massachusetts with the help of

John J. Smith John James Smith (1820 – 1906) was a barber shop owner, abolitionist, a three-term Massachusetts state representative, and one of the first African-American members of the Boston Common Council. A Republican, he served three terms in the Mas ...

, 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. File:Richard H Dana Jr 1842.jpg,

, attorney and author of the novel ''

Two Years Before the Mast ''Two Years Before the Mast'' is a memoir by the American author Richard Henry Dana Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage from Boston to California on a merchant ship starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the ...

'', represented many fugitive African Americans fighting against being returned to slavery. He refused any fee for his work; in later years he remarked that defending fugitive slaves represented the "one great act" of his life. File:Lewis Hayden.png, Portrait of Lewis Hayden, 19th century, a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee and a conductor on the Underground Railroad File:Edwin Walker.jpg, Edward Garrison Walker, an abolitionist who collaborated in freeing Minkins from custody.

Resulting trials

The rescue of Minkins brought calls for President

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...

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 Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison, ...

, who hoped to be elected president in 1852 with Southern support.Collison (1998), p. 195. File:JP-Hale.jpg, John P. Hale, attorney File:Daniel Webster - circa 1847.jpg, Secretary of State, Daniel Webster File:Fillmore.jpg, President Millard Fillmore

Canada

From Boston, activists helped Minkins reach Canada via stops on the

. He settled in

, in the section of the city known as

Old Montreal Old Montreal (French: ''Vieux-Montréal'') is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on th ...

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

barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

. He married in 1853 or 1854. Minkins died in Montreal in December 1875. He is buried in an unmarked grave near two of his children in

Mount Royal Cemetery Opened in 1852, Mount Royal Cemetery is a terraced cemetery on the north slope of Mount Royal in the borough of Outremont in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Temple Emanu-El Cemetery, a Reform Judaism burial ground, is within the Mount Royal grounds. Th ...

. ''Top Eye Open'', a 2016 play by Dillon Bustin, dramatizes the story of Shadrach Minkins.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minkins, Shadrach 1814 births 1875 deaths People from Norfolk, Virginia Black Canadian people People from Montreal 19th-century American slaves African-American history in Boston Jury nullification Fugitive American slaves Burials at Mount Royal Cemetery Pro-fugitive slave riots and civil disorder in the United States Fugitive American slaves that reached Canada