Alison Woitunski
(BHS class of '04)
In 1850, United States
Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law, allowing
Southern slave owners the right to recapture their
escaped property despite any northern relocation.
As a result, Boston, a former haven for free blacks
and a hotbed for abolitionist activity, was in
turmoil. An immediate response to this law arose
by Bostonians in the form of voluntary anti-slavery
associations that aimed to protect black fugitives
from legal kidnappings. Although these organizations
were various in location and membership, one of
the most influential and well-known associations
that was created was The Boston Vigilance Committee.
It is this Vigilance Committee, who, through their
detailed records, has allowed us a rare view of
Boston’s reaction to the Fugitive Slave Law.
Blacks and whites,
males and females were all involved in Bostons
struggle against slavery and the Fugitive Slave
Law. Although men were typically the leaders
of most associations, women were also involved
in the abolitionist cause, as evident by their
prior formation of the Female Anti-Slavery Society
in 1833 [1] . In addition to
this pre-Fugitive Slave Law association, women
also offered their support and services to male
dominated organizations created after 1850.
In the beginning of
my research on this topic, I had only a vague
idea of what such associations actually did.
What were their specific activities? What were
they spending money on? What people were involved?
What race dominated in the abolition cause? These
were all questions that I had yet to find answers
to. It wasn’t until I encountered the invaluable
Treasurer's
Account of the Boston Vigilance Committee
kept by Francis Jackson that I realized the
complexity, organization and business-like operations
of these abolitionist societies. Black men such
as Lewis Hayden and William C. Nell, and white
men such as Austin Bearse and Theodore Parker
along with many other deeply involved activists
powered the Boston Vigilance Committee. In addition
to these well-known names, continuous and significant
contributions were offered by Samuel May Jr.,
L. A. Grimes, L. E. Caswell, R. F. Wallcut, Samuel
E. Sewall, and Mrs. Charles Williams [2] .
Primarily, the services
of the Vigilance Committee included paying the
passage fees for fugitives traveling to Canada
and other areas, boarding/hiding fugitives, providing
legal defense for fugitives, writing/distributing
petitions and warning the public of the arrival
of slave catchers. The Committee was responsible
for sending at
least thirty-four groups of fugitives to Canada,
two to England, and four to other parts of the
United States. In addition to these main
services, the Committee also provided assistance
in the form of clothing, fuel and furniture donations,
small loans, and medical attention. They also
provided aid to fugitives that had previously
been transferred to Canada. The Vigilance Committee
clearly had an extensive and complex system in
place for the protection of fugitives in Boston
[3] .
Although The Vigilance
Committee assisted the Underground Railroad in
its attempts to transport slaves as far north
as Canada, oftentimes blacks that were considered
safe from recapture were assisted by the Committee
in finding homes, jobs and creating a stable life.
This is evident by the reoccurring
names of blacks who received continuous services
from the Committee over the course of four or
more years. These men and women were not escaping
to Canada; rather they were becoming a part of
the tight knit black communities located in the
West End and Beacon Hill. The inhabitants of these
communities were involved with voluntary associations,
such as the Vigilance Committee, in the hopes
of assisting members of their fellow race in the
quest for freedom [4] .
Black Bostonians such
as the aforementioned Lewis
Hayden and Leonard
A. Grimes, James
Scott, James
Martin, Samuel
Flint, Howard
Lewis, John
Oliver, Elizabeth
Peters, Philip
Russell, Burrill
Smith, Samuel
Snowden, John
Taylor, Andrew
J. Burton, Frances
E. Burton, Priscilla
Hatton, James
Williams, Sarah
Ringold, Charles
Williams, Wesley
Bishop, James
Hill, and John
Moore were all present in the census of 1850
as residents of Boston, in particular the West
End and Beacon Hill neighborhoods [5] . These individuals are also described in the records
of Francis Jackson and Harold Schwartz’s Fugitive
Slave Days in Boston as either contributors
or receivers of benefits from the Boston Vigilance
Committee
[6] .
A surprising amount
of Boston blacks were involved with the Vigilance
Committee. The records of the Committee prove
that, contrary to popular belief, the Anti-Slavery
Movement was not dominated by influential whites.
The Vigilance Committee is a perfect example of
this with their racially diverse group of members.
In addition to the previously named, these Boston
blacks were recorded in the records of the Vigilance
Committee as continuous contributors and the Boston
Athenaeum database of black Boston residents during
the 1800s: Caroline Williams, Clara Vaught, Isabella
S. Holmes, Charles Mahoney and Mary Parker. This
group also proves that women were a driving force
in the Abolitionist Movement.
Other associations in
Massachusetts were doing equally important work
during the mid-1800s to protest the Fugitive Slave
Law. The New England Freedom Association (NEFA)
was founded on July 4th 1842 in hopes of raising
money to aid fugitive slaves. Much like the Boston
Vigilance Committee, the members of the NEFA turned
to the people of Beacon Hill and the West End
for support. An advertisement appearing in The
Liberator, in January of 1845 stated that
a meeting would be:
"…held
in the Tremont Chapel… for the benefit
of the New-England Freedom Association. Tickets,
fifty cents-to be had at the following places,
namely:-Henry Forman,…Patten Stewart, Endicott-street;
Henry Watson and James L. Giles, Southack-street;
Charles Mahony, Fruit-street place; John J.
Smith, Wilson's Lane, Robert Wood, Fruit-street.
The object of this Association is to afford
relief to all destitute fugitives that come
to Boston; and it is hoped that all the friends
of humanity will be present."
[7] .
Another advertisement
appearing earlier in The Liberator reveals
that the organization was struggling due to a
lack of financial support:
"Fugitive
slaves are constantly presenting themselves
for assistance which we are at times unable
to afford, in consequence of the lack of means.
We…solicit…in the name of the panting
fugitive, the countenance and support of all
who 'remember those in bonds as bound with them.'"
[8] .
These two advertisements
are clear evidence of the New England Freedom
Association's involvement in the fight against
slavery. The members listed in the first advertisement
are all names of blacks living in or around the
Beacon Hill and West End neighborhoods. This all-black
association had a strong hold on the African American
communities of Boston.
Through discovering
the racial and gender diversity of the Boston
Vigilance Committee, I came to the conclusion
that for the association to be as successful as
it was, diversity was a necessity. Black males
and females contributed a love for their race
and a deep-seeded desire for freedom that could
not be replicated by any other race. Whites were
equally important to the struggle, because they
had the means and access to things that the average
black citizen did not. Connections with sea captains
such as Austin Bearse played an important role
in the emancipation of many fugitives. Each group
involved in the movement-whites, blacks, males
and females-brought something different to the
mix, resulting in the incredible success of the
Committee.
In addition to their
involvement with the black communities of Boston,
the members of the Vigilance Committee were also
responsible for various influential petitions
presented to the Massachusetts Senate and House
of Representatives, both before and after Congress’s
passing of the Fugitive Slave Law. An example
of this early involvement in the abolitionist
cause is the case of George Latimer in 1842.
A runaway slave from Norfolk, Virginia, Latimer
came to Massachusetts by way of the Underground
Railroad. His owner, James B. Gray, eventually
located the fugitive in Boston and had him arrested
while he simultaneously planned for Latimer’s
return to the south [7] .
Outraged by the idea
of a black man being taken back to slavery after
having successfully traveled to the free states,
thousands of Bostonians, black and white, showcased
their abolitionist beliefs through literary publications,
protests and petitions. Future Vigilance Committee
supporters, Samuel E. Sewall, William Lloyd Garrison
and others created a petition (see
document) calling for:
"A law [to be] passed, forbidding all
persons who hold office under the government
of Massachusetts, from aiding in or abetting
the arrest or detention of any person who may
be claimed as a fugitive from slavery...If a
man is claimed by another as his slave, escaped
from bondage, were to be considered a criminal,
he would be entitled by the seventh amendment
above quoted, to a public trial, by an impartial
jury. If he were regarded as a mere piece of
property above the value of twenty dollars,
still, by the seventh amendment, the fact of
ownership would require the judgment of a jury.
It is not enough that he is ‘claimed’ under
the second section of the fourth article, to
strip him of almost every privilege." [8]
Despite the introduction
of the Fugitive Slave Law seven years later, this
petition acquired more than 65,000 signatures
and was widely supported by the public.
[9]
In addition to the earlier
petitions created by Committee members are the
petitions formed after 1850. In 1851,
William C. Nell presented his petition to the
House of Representatives, calling for funds
to erect a statue in memory of Crispus Attucks.
"The petitioners ask the appropriation,
on the ground that Crispus Attucks, a colored
man, who was killed in the Boston Massacre,
on the 5th of March, 1770, was the
first martyr to the struggle which terminated
in the separation of the American colonies from
the mother country."
[10]
Although a monument
was not erected to honor Crispus Attucks until
thirty years later after the submission of William
C. Nell’s petition, each petition nonetheless
exhibits a profound involvement in the abolitionist
and equal rights movements.
Through
legal defense, medical aid, personal loans, petitions,
literature, boarding, paying passage fees and
numerous other services, the Boston Vigilance
Committee was a powerhouse in the fight against
slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act. The involvement
and settlement of blacks in the West End and Beacon
Hill neighborhoods created a tight-knit, abolitionist
community, out of which came influential movement
leaders such as Lewis Hayden. By working on both
macro and microscopic scales, the Boston Vigilance
Committee left a lasting impression on the History
of Boston and the entire United States.
