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

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 ...

who escaped in 1850 and reached

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 ...

. 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 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 ...

. Members of the Boston Vigilance Committee freed and hid him, helping him get to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

via the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. Minkins settled in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, 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 (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

Escape and capture

He escaped from slavery at age 33 in May 1850 and reached

Boston, Massachusetts 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 ...

, where he became a waiter. Later that year, Congress enacted the Fugitive Slave Act, 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 Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the United States federal judi ...

, 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 is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venerate ...

, 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'' a ...

, 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 legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

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 reached Canada. He established a school for African Americans before moving to Boston, Massachusetts. There he became an Abolitionism in the United ...

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, 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 Two Years Before the Mast ...

'', 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, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853. He was the last president to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House, and the last to be neither a De ...

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 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...

, 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 (, ) is a historic List of neighbourhoods in Montreal, neighbourhood within the List of municipalities in Quebec, municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is b ...

. 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 hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a barbershop or the barber's. Barbershops have been noted places of social interaction and public discourse ...

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

Legacy

''Top Eye Open'', a 2016 play by Dillon Bustin, dramatizes the story of Shadrach Minkins. On October 17, 2023, a plaque commemorating him was unveiled by the Friends of Mount Royal Cemetery.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minkins, Shadrach 1810s 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