USA > Wisconsin > Racine County > Racine > Racine, belle city of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. I > Part 38
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While slavery was the underlying cause of the war. its immediate exciting cause was the threat of disunion, which came soon after the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency. This event was recognized by the South as sounding the doom of their pet institution, and with it of their most cherished hope of dominion. The slave states seceded. one after another. and thus furnished a clear-ent issue on which the North could unite. "The Union must and shall be preserved," was the battle cry on which the war was begun and fought to a successful conchi- sion, the emancipation of the slaves being an incidental, though inevitable, emergency war measure.
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SLAVERY IN WISONSIN
The first concerted move in Racine County against slavery was the presentation to Congress in 1845 of the following memorial, most of the signers of which were citizens of Racine. It is evidence of the fact that the early settlers here understood the nature of the "institution" and wished to take no chance of its getting a foothold in the territory:
"To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representa- tives of the U. S., in Congress assembled :
"The undersigned, inhabitants of the Territory of Wiskon- sin. having learned that a number of slaves are reported from this territory in the census of 1840, and believing that it is the purpose of same, who regard not the natural rights of our fellow men, the true interests of our territory, and our general welfare, to inthet upon us the terrible curse of slavery; and believing that the introduction of slavery into this territory would be in violation of the ordinance for the goverment of the Northwest- ern territory, and the constitution of the United States;
"Respectfully pray your honorable body to take measures for the muconditional liberation of the said slaves, and to free ns from the odium now resting upon us as slave-holders, and also effectually to protect, forever, this territory from the intro- duction of slavery, and the consequent evils and curses of that evil system.
"Jacob Ly Brand, Edwin A. Roby, Amaziah Stebbins, Joel R. Carpenter, F. W. DeBerard, Joseph Adams, H. W. Fuller, 1. Parmelee, John P. Flynn, E. S. Capron, Anson Jones, Reuben Chadwick, George S. Wright, W. H. Gillespie, S. W. Wilson, Samuel W. Hill, Thomas E. Parmelee, A. T. Briggs, J. W. Vail, A. G. Young, William F. Cole, Edward S. Blake, Chester Bush, Henry Hewitt, H. H. H. Briggs, W. H. Lathrop, Albert H. Blake, Henry S. Durand, George H1. Carpenter, E. S. Capron, Ira A. Rice, Hiram Foote, James O. Bartlett, J. B. Jillson."
The above and thirty-five other names were signed to the memorial.
Previous to the war there was interminable controversy between the North and the South about many things, all of them related, directly or indirectly, to the "institution." One of the dramatie, tragie phases of that controversy was that connected with the capture and return of fugitive slaves. For many years
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prior to the war an increasing number of these unfortunates were making their way through the Northern States to Canada, where, under the British flag, they were free. There grew up among the abolitionists of the North an organized assistance to this movement - animated by humanitarian motives alone - by means of which the rimaway slaves were secreted, fed. clothed, transported, and in every possible way forwarded in their flight. Their Sonthern masters could easily follow the fugitives to certain points in the free states, when all trace of them would be suddenly lost. "There must be an underground railroad." was their conclusion, and from that time "under- ground railroad" was the name by which that system of help for fugitive slaves was known.
The passengers on the "underground railroad" were above the average in intelligence and in physical prowess. They were men and women who were determined to have liberty. even though they lost their lives in the attempt, as they frequently did. The slaveholders did all that they could to put the fear of the consequences into their slaves. When one of them ran away from the plantation, those remaining were never permitted to know the result of the dash for liberty. If those who took up the chase returned without him, they never reported a fail- ure, but always success. "They had canght the runaway and had sold him south": or, "they had killed him," was reported. so that those remaining would be impressed with the wisdom of staying where they were.
Of course this organized effort to free the slaves enraged the slave owners, and in 1850 they procured the passage through Congress of a "fugitive slave law," by the terms of which it became the duty of United States marshals to arrest and return runaway slaves wherever found, upon a warrant issued by a United States Court. It provided, also, that anyone hindering the arrest of a slave, or attempting the reseue or concealment of a fugitive, became subject to a fine not exceeding one thou- sand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding six months, and was also liable for civil damages to the party injured, in the sium of one thousand dollars for each slave so lost.
"In aiding fugitive slaves, the abolitionist was making the most effective protest against the continuance of slavery; but he was also doing something more tangible, he was helping the
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oppressed - he was eluding the oppressor, and at the same time he was enjoying the most romantic and exciting amusement open to men who had high moral standards. He was taking risks. defying laws, and making himself liable to punishment, and yet could glow with the healthful pleasure of duty donc."* "Social disdain was brought on the 'railroad' workers. "Black abolitionist,' 'Niggerite,' 'Amalgamationist' and 'Nigger thief' were some of the epithets used."
Notwithstanding the dangers involved, the names are known of 3,200 persons in the North and East who were engaged in this work, among whom are listed the following from Racine County: James O. Bartlett, William L. Utley, A. P. Dutton, William H. Waterman. S. B. Peek, George S. Wright, Charles Bunce, Elder Fitch. General Reed, Dr. Secor, Dr. E. G. Dyer of Burlington. Captain Steele and Mr. Peffer, and there were certainly others. These men were known as those who could be trusted with infor- mation concerning the operation of the "road," and who conkl be depended upon to do all in their power to help along a fugi- tive slave. Few people knew at the time that they were so engaged. for "the penalties of the law, the contempt of neigh- bors, and the espionage of persons interested in the return of fugitives to slavery made secrecy necessary." Their names now constitute a roll of honor for their children and for the City and County of Racine.
A common method of getting these fugitives to Canada was by means of steam and sail boats on the Great Lakes, and all of the ports on the west shore of Lake Michigan were made use of, more or less, as stations of the "underground railroad." A. P. Dutton bad a grain warehouse and knew all of the captains who made this port. Among them were the following who were friends of fugitives and who transported them free to Canadian harbors of refuge: Capt. Steele, of the propeller Galena; Capt. Kelsey. of the Chesapeake; Capt. Appleby, of the Sultana. The boats of General Reed, touching at Racine, also received them . without fare, as did the Madison, the Missouri, the Niagara and the Keystone State. "Mr. Dutton knew these vessels and their
*Albert Bushnell Hart, in introduction to "The Underground Railroad," by W. H. Siebert.
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officers and for twenty years shipped mimaway slaves as well as cargoes of grain from his dock in Racine."*
FIRST "UNDERGROUND" PASSENGER
The first passenger on the "road" through Wisconsin Ter- ritory was Caroline, a young woman fugitive slave, whose patronymie was never disclosed, if it were known. She was snecessfully "coudneted" on this trip by Lyman Goodnow of Waukesha, and it was a journey full of hardship and peril last- ing five weeks, during the summer of 1842. They were hunted and followed all the way by United States officers and other slave chasers, but eluded them all. Dr. E. G. Dyer of Burling- ton, father of Charles E. Dyer of Raeine, was one of the agents of the "road" who contributed time and money in assisting Mr. Goodnow in his humane, but illegal, undertaking. Dr. Dyer might properly have been called one of the general officers of the "'underground" in this section, for he was enthusiastic, resource- ful. courageous and unremitting in his labors in behalf of the fugitives.
THE GLOVER CASE
Although slave-hunters had at different times been in Ra- eine in pursuit of their detestable business and incidentally of their black vietims, only once were their hands laid on a negro in this town, with the purpose of returning him to slavery, and that attempt failed. About the year 1852, a negro named JJoshua Glover appeared in Raeine and soon found a home up the river near the saw-mill of Rice & Sinclair, abont four miles from town. In the winter of '53-54 he worked in the mill. On the evening of March 10, 1854. a little before dusk, eight men, in two wagons, drove from Racine to within about one hundred vards of Glover's cabin, where they left their outfit and pro- ceeded on foot. These men were Deputy Marshals Charles Cot- ton of Milwaukee and John Kearney of Racine, a man named Garland from St. Louis, who claimed he owned the negro, Glover, and five other men. Cotton alleged that he had a warrant for Glover's arrest. issued by Judge Miller of the United States Court, Milwaukee, but he did not serve the paper.
Through the connivance of a colored man named Turner,
* "The Underground Railroad," by W. H. Siebert.
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who had ingratiated himself into the confidence of Glover, and who. with another colored man named Alby, was in Glover's cabin on that evening, the door was unbolted at once at the knock of that marshal. Glover was promptly knocked down and, after a desperate struggle, manacles were placed on him. Alby fled. Turner was an interested spectator. Glover was put into one of the wagons and the party started toward town. One wagon was put up at the M. G. Armour livery, where it had been hired, and the other, containing Glover, Garland and the deputy marshal, was soon surrounded by indignant citizens who had learned of the attempt. There was not time enough for the indignation to develop into concerted action before the officers got out of town on their way to Milwaukee, where they did not arrive until the following (Saturday) morning at 8 o'clock, having lost their way in the night, which resulted in their traveling many miles in the wrong direction. At 9 o'clock on Saturday morning word came by wire from Milwaukee that Glover had been placed in jail there. It is evident that the indignation and excitement must have increased over night, for on receipt of this news the court-house bell was rung to call the people together and the largest assembly that ever had gathered in the town up to that time filled the court-house.
T. E. Parmelee was made chairman and R. W. Rowe, secre- tary. Gen. C. S. Chase stated that the object of the meeting was "to consult in the matter of the abduction of Joshua Glover from the premises of Duncan Sinclair, and who was now in Milwaukee jail, and to adopt measures to secure for him a fair trial." D. Sinclair, C. S. Chase and Win. H. Waterman were appointed a committee on resolutions. In the absence of this committee addresses were made by Rev. C. D. Pillsbury, Charles Clement, Dr. S. W. Wilson, and later by Wm. H. Waterman and (. S. Chase, in which the opinions of the people of Racine on the fugitive slave law and the slave chasers, with their high- handed methods, were given free and full expression. Men of all parties and creeds were there, and the votes on the resolu- tions adopted, and on every motion put, were unanimous, not a dissenting voice being heard in the meeting.
The following resolutions were then read and adopted:
"Whereas, A colored man by the name of Joshua Glover was kidnaped four miles from our city last night about 8 o'clock.
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He has been and was at work for one of our citizens (a faithful laborer, and an honest man).
"Resolved, That we look upon the arrest of said Glover as an outrage upon the peaceful rights of this assembly, it having been made without the exhibition of any papers, by first clan- destinely knocking him down with a club, and then binding him by brute force and carrying him off.
"Resolved, That we, as citizens of Racine, demand for said Glover a fair and impartial jury trial, in this, the state where he has been arrested, and that we will attend in person to aid him, by all honorable means, to secure his unconditional release, adopting as our motto the Golden Rule.
"Resolved, That, inasmuch as the Senate of the United States has repealed all compromises heretofore adopted by the Congress of the United States, we, as citizens of Wisconsin, are justified in declaring, and do hereby declare, the slave-catching law of 1850 disgraceful and also repealed."
A finance committee was next appointed, consisting of W. H. Waterman, E. R. Roby, N. S. Storrs and Mr. Burnham. An adjourment was then taken until 1 o'clock, at which time the meeting reassembled and resolved to send a delegation to Mil- waukee to carry into effect the resolutions adopted. The delega- tion consisted of one hundred men, who, with Mr. Waterman as leader, took the afternoon boat* and arrived in Milwaukee at 5 o'clock. They were at once escorted to the mass meeting which was in session in the court-house square. They had been there but a little while when an attack on the jail was made, the doors battered down, and Glover released and spirited away.
A writ of habeas corpus had been issued by Judge Charles E. Jenkins of the County Court, but neither the sheriff nor the United States marshal would obey the writ and produce the prisoner. "The great writ of freedom had failed indeed, but a power more effective than any spirit, the righteous wrath of an outraged people, had accomplished its purpose.t
Entrance to the jail was effected by the use of a long, heavy
*No railroad was in operation here at that time. except the "Underground." " John B. Winslow, in "The Story of a Great Court."
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piece of timber, which was lifted on the shoulders of as many men as could get under it and used as a ram, being driven end- wise with as much speed as could be made, into the doors, and of course they yielded.
There was a high state of feeling all day Saturday in Racine and when, in the evening, dispatches were received telling of Glover's escape, "bonfires were lit, canon were fired, bands of music paraded the streets, and every other sort of demon- stration in evidence of the gratification of the people at the tri- umph of humanity over brutality and the slave-driver" was indulged in.
In commenting on these occurrences, The Daily Morning Advocate of March 13, 1854, said, among other things:
"The fugitive slave law is not the law of Wisconsin; a higher and better rule of conduct governs us here.
"The fugitive slave law cannot be enforced in Wisconsin; this the minions of the slave power may as well learn sooner as later; the people will not suffer it; they understand too well that great charter of rights which is the birthright of every man."
Charles Clement was editor of The Advocate and he and William II. Waterman and George Wright were arrested for their part in this affair, but there is no evidence that they re- ceived any punishment.
Commenting on his arrest, Mr. Clement said, in his paper: "We have not been alarmed or unhappy on account of it for a moment. We must be permitted, however, to express our pro- found, unmitigated and sovereign contempt for the law which we are charged with violating, and the puppets who are tinkling their bells in hopes to annoy us."
Garland, the slave-owner, was also arrested on a warrant issued in Racine, on a charge of assault, but managed also to escape punishment, being released on a writ of habeas corpus, issued by Federal Judge Miller of Milwaukee. Sherman M. Booth of Milwaukee, who, it was alleged, instigated the attack on the jail, was convicted of the charge and sent to a federal prison, where he was confined, more or less continuously, until the spring of 1861, when he was pardoned by President Buchan-
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an, which deed of merey was abont the last act of his admini- stration .*
In his address to the court in the summing up of his case, after denying the charge (of unlawfully aiding and abetting the escape of Glover), Mr. Booth said:
"I am frank to say - and the prosecution may make the most of it - that I sympathize with the rescuers of Glover, and I rejoice at his escape. I rejoice that in the first attempt of the slave hunters to convert our jail into a slave pen, they have been signally foiled, and that it has been decided, by the spon- taneous uprising and sovereign voice of the people, that no human being can be dragged into bondage from Milwaukee. And I am bold to say that rather than have the great constitutional safeguards and rights of the people - the writ of habeas corpus and the right of trial by jury - stricken down by this fugitive slave law, I would prefer to see every Federal officer in Wisconsin hanged on a gallows fifty cubits higher than Haman's."
The sentiment was loudly cheered by the spectators in the court room, though the speech and the demonstration scandalized the court.
The refusal of the sheriff of Milwaukee County to recognize the writ of habeas corpus, or to permit its execution, in the case of Glover, was the legal exeuse of the leaders of the mob which made the riotous demonstration at the Milwaukee jail, and released the negro. There was a well-grounded fear, based on a previous experience in that city, that should the fugitive not be freed before Sunday, when Monday morning dawned he and his alleged owner would be well out of the state and beyond the jurisdiction of our courts, and the hope of help from our citizens.
On Saturday morning Mayor MeDonald telegraphed to S. M. Booth at Milwaukee a brief account of the affair at Racine. Booth soon learned that Glover was in jail there, which news he in turn telegraphed to Racine. He also issued an "extra," detailing the facts, and advising the citizens to watch the jail, the marshal and the court, to make sure that Glover was not
* Sherman M. Booth was editor of the "Wisconsin Freeman," afterward called the "Free Democrat," an abolition paper. He rode on horseback through the streets of Milwaukee that day, calling the people "to the rescue," and announcing the gather- ing in the court-house square.
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spirited away. At 12 M. another message was sent to Booth, telling of the great meeting held here and the strong resolutions adopted, whereupon he issued another "extra." Then it was reported that Glover was to be brought before Judge Miller at 2 o'clock and delivered up to Garland, so it was thought best to have a publie meeting, and as there was no other way to advertise it in time, Booth rode through the streets on a horse announcing the meeting and calling the people "to the rescue."
The meeting was held in the Court House Square, with Dr. E. B. Wolcott, chairman, and A. H. Bidfield, secretary, where Booth in an impassioned speech explained the state of affairs, read the telegrams from Racine, and urged all to stand firm in their determination to see justice done to the poor fugitive. The meeting then adjourned, subject to call by the ringing of bells. At 5 o'clock the Racine delegation arrived, and with them Sheriff Murrison with warrants for the arrest of Garland and Cotton on the charge of assault and battery. The bells were rung, the people reassembled and before they dispersed again Glover was free.
John A. Messinger, a staunch Democrat, was out driving that day, and, it is said, happened along near the jail just as Glover was taken out - his face and hair streaked and matted with blood. Messinger's sympathy was aroused and he offered to take him away. Hle had a good horse and started for Wau- kesha, and, although followed by officers and other men on foot, horseback and in carriages, he ont-distanced and eluded them all. Arriving at Waukesha late at night, he drove to the home of Winchef D. Bacon, an abolitionist, who secreted Glover in a room in his house, but, fearing that it would be unsafe to keep the fugitive in the village, Mr. Bacon called Vernon Tichenor, Dr. W. D. Holbrook, Charles Blackwell and one or two others in consultation. It was decided to take the fugitive to the home of Moses Tichenor, father of Vernon Tichenor, who lived about two miles south of town. Glover was entrusted to Vernon Tichenor, who took him across the fields, in the dead of night, followed at a little distance by several men, to make sure that they were not molested, to his father's barn, where he was hidden until Chauncey C. Olin had made arrangements to convey
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him to Racine, from which place, in proper disguise, he took a boat and escaped to Canada, never to be recaptured .*
The house of Winchel D. Bacon at Wankesha, where Glover spent the "first night after," was later a portion of the famous Mansion House of that city. Judge Miller, who did everything in his power to deliver Glover to his master, and to punish Booth and Rycraft, visited this room in 1873, in company with Salmon P. Chase. Hle then admitted that twenty years had modified his opinion of slave-holding and slave-hunting, and that men's loy- alty to party was often stronger than their love for the right .*
John A. Messinger, after delivering Glover in Waukesha, was overwhelmed with anxiety over the possible results to himself of his impulsive action. He did not know then, what later proved to be the fact, that no one but his close friends had recognized him when he got away with the fugitive. He drove from Waukesha to Racine, where he stayed a day or two with friends, who could not understand his disturbed mental con- dition, for he walked the floor all night. His death, which oc- curred five months later, August 17, was hastened, without doubt, by his mental sufferings.
The kind of opposition that abolitionists were "up against" in Wisconsin in those days, and its extent, may be understood when it is stated that on March 15, a few days after the release of Glover, Sherman M. Booth was publicly burned in effigy in Milwaukee by pro-slavery men.
The interest in the Glover case was widespread, and the feeling became so intense that during the weeks immediately following, public meetings were held in many towns of the county and all over the North, in enthusiastic approval of Mil- waukee's and Racine's successful defiance of the Federal at- tempt to enforce the fugitive slave law in Wisconsin, and in sympathetic greeting and in assurance of support and assist-
* After this account was put into print, the writer received the following state- ment from Mrs. Walter Derthiek, a pioneer settler of Spring Prairie:
"Glover was brought to Spring Prairie, where he staid about four weeks. His head was bandaged. He was taken first to Deacon Britton's, and from there to Jesse Mills' house, and put in the west room upstairs. Jesse Mills was my uncle. From there he was taken to David Pratt's, after which I don't know what became of him."
* This account of the Glover escape was made up from the story in the "History of Milwaukee."
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ance to those in the hands of the law, or likely to be, for such defiance.
On the evening of March 17, a large meeting held at the Free Church, Burlington, with Mr. Z. Bliss, chairman, and W. P. Lyon, secretary, was addressed by Rev. H. H. Amringe and others, and adopted a series of strong resolutions of thanks and sympathy for citizens of Racine and Milwaukee. It was also "resolved, that the fugitive slave act of 1850 is a violation of the rights of the citizens guaranteed by the constitution, and is not the law of the land: and the resene of Glover demonstrates that the law cannot be enforced, and is therefore virtually re- pealed in Wisconsin."
A meeting was held in the Congregational Church at Union Grove on the 17th of March, and one at Raymond on April 6, at both of which meetings resolutions in condemnation of the fugi- tive slave law, and in commendation of the "rebels" who foiled the officers in its enforcement, were adopted.
In Syracuse, New York, where they had had a similar ex- perience, a large public meeting was held, presided over by the president of the council, which sent greeting and congratulations to Racine and Milwaukee, and heartily thanked them "for the summary, vet truly lawful, art by which they applied the only remedy that could meet the case," and wished to join with those cities in a solemn pledge that never again shall a friendless and broken-hearted fugitive be consigned to slavery from the North "under the accursed act of 1850."
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