Edward Greely Loring (January 28, 1802 – June 18, 1890) was a Judge of Probate in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, a United States Commissioner of the

United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (in case citations, D. Mass.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose Jurisdiction (area), territorial jurisdiction is the Commonwealth (U.S. state), C ...

and a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

of the Court of Claims. He was reviled in Massachusetts and much of the North for his ordering the return of fugitive slaves Thomas Sims and

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 incre ...

to slavery in compliance with the

Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was a law passed by the 31st 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 ...

. His action would result in his being removed as Judge of Probate.

Education and career

Born on January 28, 1802, in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Loring received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1821 from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and

read law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...

with Charles Greely Loring in Boston in 1824. He entered private practice and concurrently served as a master in chancery in

Suffolk County, Massachusetts Suffolk County ( ) is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in Massachusetts. The county comprises the cities of Boston ...

, starting in 1824. He was a United States Commissioner for the

from 1840 to 1855. He was a Judge of Probate for Suffolk County from 1847 to 1858. He was a lecturer for Dane Law School (now

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

) at Harvard University from 1852 to 1855.

Fugitive slave ruling and aftermath

As United States Commissioner of the United States District Court, Loring was responsible for issuing warrants for arrest and ruling in cases under the

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was a law passed by the 31st 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 ...

, which was widely opposed in Boston and the North. In 1851, an escaped slave named Thomas Sims was captured in Boston; Loring ordered his return to slavery in the South, as required by the new law. Boston

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

s were outraged. It was not Loring but

George Ticknor Curtis George Ticknor Curtis (November 28, 1812 – March 28, 1894) was an American historian, lawyer, and writer. Biography Curtis was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard University in 1832 and then Harvard Law School. After ...

who oversaw the legal proceedings that followed and ultimately ruled that Sims would be sent back to the South. In 1854, Loring ordered another escaped slave,

, returned to slavery in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. During the prosecution of this case there was an attack on the courthouse in which James Batchelder, a 24-year-old police officer temporarily employed by the

United States Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the United States federal judi ...

, was stabbed to death. Widespread protests marked the trial and its aftermath. President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

felt obliged to send United States troops to ensure that the ruling be carried out. Following the Burns decision, abolitionists led by

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was an Abolitionism in the United States, American abolitionist, journalist, and reformism (historical), social reformer. He is best known for his widely read anti-slavery newspaper ''The ...

and

Wendell Phillips Wendell Phillips (November 29, 1811 – February 2, 1884) was an American abolitionist, labor reformer, temperance activist, advocate for Native Americans, orator, and attorney. According to George Lewis Ruffin, a black attorney, Phillip ...

agitated for Loring to be removed from his office as probate judge. Forming a

vigilance committee A vigilance committee is a group of private citizens who take it upon themselves to administer law and order or exercise power in places where they consider the governmental structures or actions inadequate. Prominent historical examples of vigi ...

to monitor judges' activities under the law, they circulated petitions and lobbied against Loring with the

Massachusetts legislature The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. The name "General Court" is a holdover from the earliest days o ...

. Though he had assisted Burns in his court case, attorney

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'' a ...

defended Loring before the legislature. Under pressure from an increasingly antislavery public, the legislature made two unsuccessful attempts to remove Loring from office by passing
Bill of Address
in 1855 and 1856. Governor

Henry J. Gardner Henry Joseph Gardner (June 14, 1819 – July 21, 1892) was the 23rd Governor of Massachusetts, serving from 1855 to 1858. Gardner, a Know Nothing, was elected governor as part of the sweeping victory of Know Nothing candidates in the Ma ...

, elected as a candidate of the

Know-Nothing Party The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock nativist political movement in the United States in the 1850s. Members of the m ...

, declined to remove him. In 1857, after

Nathaniel Prentice Banks Nathaniel Prentice (or Prentiss) Banks (January 30, 1816 – September 1, 1894) was an American politician from Massachusetts and a Union general during the Civil War. A millworker, Banks became prominent in local debating societies and entered ...

, a Republican, was elected

Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...

, the legislature passed another Bill of Address against Loring. The new governor complied and removed Loring from office.

Federal judicial service

Loring was nominated by President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

on May 3, 1858, to a seat on the Court of Claims (later the

United States Court of Claims The Court of Claims was a federal court that heard claims against the United States government. It was established in 1855, renamed in 1948 to the United States Court of Claims (), and abolished in 1982. Then, its jurisdiction was assumed by the n ...

) vacated by Judge John Gilchrist. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on May 6, 1858, by a vote of 27 to 13, and received his commission the same day. He served as Presiding Judge from 1859 to 1863. His service terminated on December 14, 1877, due to his resignation.

Personal life

Loring was a fourth great-grandson of New England pioneer

Thomas Loring Thomas Loring was an early settler of Hingham and Hull, Massachusetts. He was present at some of the key moments in the earliest history of Hingham, Massachusetts. But later " e large Loring families were prominent in the town f Hull and remai ...

. His

double cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, c ...

Charles Greely Loring (with whom Edward Loring had read law) was one of the lawyers defending Thomas Sims in the 1851 action. Loring died on June 19, 1890, in

Winthrop, Massachusetts Winthrop is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,316 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Winthrop is an ocean-side suburban town in Greater Boston situated at the ...

References

Sources

* William E. Cain (1995), ''William Lloyd Garrison and the Fight against Slavery: Selections from The Liberator''. Boston: Bedford Books. 150, note. * Charles Emery Stevens (1855)
''Anthony Burns: A History''
*

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon sim ...

(July 4, 1854)
"Slavery in Massachusetts"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Loring, Edward G. Judges of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court Slavery in the United States Judges of the United States Court of Claims Harvard University alumni 1802 births 1890 deaths United States Article I federal judges appointed by James Buchanan 19th-century Massachusetts state court judges