The Underground Railroad
pro-slavery elements of Philadelphia were brought into action, and
matters looked for a time as though Slavery in this instance would have
everything its own way. Passmore was locked up in prison on the flimsy
pretext of contempt of court, and true bills were found against him and
half a dozen colored men, charging them with "riot," "forcible
abduction," and "assault and battery," and there was no lack of hard
swearing on the part of Col. Wheeler and his pro-slavery sympathizers in
substantiation of these grave charges. But the pro-slaveryites had
counted without their host--Passmore would not yield an inch, but stood
as firmly by his principles in prison, as he did on the boat. Indeed, it
was soon evident, that his resolute course was bringing floods of
sympathy from the ablest and best minds throughout the North. On the
other hand, the occasion was rapidly awakening thousands daily, who had
hitherto manifested little or no interest at all on the subject, to the
wrongs of the slave.
It was soon discovered by the "chivalry" that keeping Mr. Williamson in
prison would indirectly greatly aid the cause of Freedom--that every day
he remained would make numerous converts to the cause of liberty; that
Mr. Williamson was doing ten-fold more in prison for the cause of
universal liberty than he could possibly do while pursuing his ordinary
vocation.
With regard to the colored men under bonds, Col. Wheeler and his
satellites felt very confident that there was no room for them to
escape. They must have had reason so to think, judging from the hard
swearing they did, before the committing magistrate. Consequently, in
the order of events, while Passmore was still in prison, receiving
visits from hosts of friends, and letters of sympathy from all parts of
the North, William Still, William Curtis, James P. Braddock, John
Ballard, James Martin and Isaiah Moore, were brought into court for
trial. The first name on the list in the proceedings of the court was
called up first.
Against this individual, it was pretty well understood by the friends of
the slave, that no lack of pains and false swearing would be resorted to
on the part of Wheeler and his witnesses, to gain a verdict.
Mr. McKim and other noted abolitionists managing the defense, were
equally alive to the importance of overwhelming the enemy in this
particular issue. The Hon. Charles Gibbons, was engaged to defend
William Still, and William S. Pierce, Esq., and William B. Birney, Esq.,
the other five colored defendants.
In order to make the victory complete, the anti-slavery friends deemed
it of the highest importance to have Jane Johnson in court, to face her
master, and under oath to sweep away his "refuge of lies," with regard
to her being "abducted," and her unwillingness to "leave her master,"
etc. So Mr. McKim and the friends very privately arranged to have Jane
Johnson on hand at the opening of the defense.
Mrs. Lucretia Mott, Mrs. McKim, Miss Sarah Pugh and Mrs. Plumly,
volunteered to accompany this poor slave mother to the court-house and
to occupy seats by her side, while she should face her master, and
boldly, on oath, contradict all his hard swearing. A better subject for
the occasion than Jane, could not have been desired. She entered the
court room veiled, and of course was not known by the crowd, as pains
had been taken to keep the public in ignorance of the fact, that she was
to be brought on to bear witness. So that, at the conclusion of the
second witness on the part of the defense, "Jane Johnson" was called
for, in a shrill voice. Deliberately, Jane arose and answered, in a
lady-like manner to her name, and was then the observed of all
observers. Never before had such a scene been witnessed in Philadelphia.
It was indescribable. Substantially, her testimony on this occasion, was
in keeping with the subjoined affidavit, which was as follows--
"_State of New York, City and County of New York_.
"Jane Johnson being sworn, makes oath and says--
"My name is Jane--Jane Johnson; I was the slave of Mr. Wheeler
of Washington; he bought me and my two children, about two years
ago, of Mr. Cornelius Crew, of Richmond, Va.; my youngest child
is between six and seven years old, the other between ten and
eleven; I have one other child only, and he is in Richmond; I
have not seen him for about two years; never expect to see him
again; Mr. Wheeler brought me and my two children to
Philadelphia, on the way to Nicaragua, to wait on his wife; I
didn't want to go without my two children, and he consented to
take them; we came to Philadelphia by the cars; stopped at Mr.
Sully's, Mr. Wheeler's father-in-law, a few moments; then went
to the steamboat for New York at 2 o'clock, but were too late;
we went into Bloodgood's Hotel; Mr. Wheeler went to dinner; Mr.
Wheeler had told me in Washington to have nothing to say to
colored persons, and if any of them spoke to me, to say I was a
free woman traveling with a minister; we staid at Bloodgood's
till 5 o'clock; Mr. Wheeler kept his eye on me all the time
except when he was at dinner; he left his dinner to come and see
if I was safe, and then went back again; while he was at dinner,
I saw a colored woman and told her I was a slave woman, that my
master had told me not to speak to colored people, and that if
any of them spoke to me to say that I was free; but I am not
free; but I want to be free; she said: 'poor thing, I pity you;'
after that I saw a colored man and said the same thing to him,
he said he would telegraph to New York, and two men would meet
me at 9 o'clock and take me with them; after that we went on
board the boat, Mr. Wheeler sat beside me on the deck; I saw a
colored gentleman come on board, he beckoned to me; I nodded my
head, and could not go; Mr. Wheeler was beside me and I was
afraid; a white gentleman then came and said to Mr. Wheeler, 'I
want to speak to your servant, and tell her of her rights;' Mr.
Wheeler rose and said, 'If you have anything to say, say it to
me--she knows her rights;' the white gentleman asked me if I
wanted to be free; I said 'I do, but I belong to this gentleman
and I can't have it;' he replied, 'Yes, you can, come with us,
you are as free as your master, if you want your freedom come
now; if you go back to Washington you may never get it;' I rose
to go, Mr. Wheeler spoke, and said, 'I will give you your
freedom,' but he had never promised it before, and I knew he
would never give it to me; the white gentleman held out his hand
and I went toward him; I was ready for the word before it was
given me; I took the children by the hands, who both cried, for
they were frightened, but both stopped when they got on shore; a
colored man carried the little one, I led the other by the hand.
We walked down the street till we got to a hack; nobody forced
me away; nobody pulled me, and nobody led me; I went away of my
own free will; I always wished to be free and meant to be free
when I came North; I hardly expected it in Philadelphia, but I
thought I should get free in New York; I have been comfortable
and happy since I left Mr. Wheeler, and so are the children; I
don't want to go back; I could have gone in Philadelphia if I
had wanted to; I could go now; but I had rather die than go
back. I wish to make this statement before a magistrate, because
I understand that Mr. Williamson is in prison on my account, and
I hope the truth may be of benefit to him."
JANE [her X mark.] JOHNSON.
It might have been supposed that her honest and straightforward
testimony would have been sufficient to cause even the most relentless
slaveholder to abandon at once a pursuit so monstrous and utterly
hopeless as Wheeler's was. But although he was sadly confused and put to
shame, he hung on to the "lost cause" tenaciously. And his counsel,
David Webster, Esq., and the United States District Attorney, Vandyke,
completely imbued with the pro-slavery spirit, were equally as
unyielding. And thus, with a zeal befitting the most worthy object
imaginable, they labored with untiring effort to convict the colored
men.
By this policy, however, the counsel for the defense was doubly aroused.
Mr. Gibbons, in the most eloquent and indignant strains, perfectly
annihilated the "distinguished Colonel John H. Wheeler, United States
Minister Plenipotentiary near the Island of Nicaragua," taking special
pains to ring the changes repeatedly on his long appellations. Mr.
Gibbons appeared to be precisely in the right mood to make himself
surpassingly forcible and eloquent, on whatever point of law he chose to
touch bearing on the case; or in whatever direction he chose to glance
at the injustice and cruelty of the South. Most vividly did he draw the
contrast between the States of "Georgia" and "Pennsylvania," with regard
to the atrocious laws of Georgia. Scarcely less vivid is the impression
after a lapse of sixteen years, than when this eloquent speech was made.
With the District Attorney, Wm. B. Mann, Esq., and his Honor, Judge
Kelley, the defendants had no cause to complain. Throughout the entire
proceedings, they had reason to feel, that neither of these officials
sympathized in the least with Wheeler or Slavery. Indeed in the Judge's
charge and also in the District Attorney's closing speech the ring of
freedom could be distinctly heard--much more so than was agreeable to
Wheeler and his Pro-Slavery sympathizers. The case of Wm. Still ended in
his acquittal; the other five colored men were taken up in order. And it
is scarcely necessary to say that Messrs. Peirce and Birney did full
justice to all concerned. Mr. Peirce, especially, was one of the oldest,
ablest and most faithful lawyers to the slave of the Philadelphia Bar.
He never was known, it may safely be said, to hesitate in the darkest
days of Slavery to give his time and talents to the fugitive, even in
the most hopeless cases, and when, from the unpopularity of such a
course, serious sacrifices would be likely to result. Consequently he
was but at home in this case, and most nobly did he defend his clients,
with the same earnestness that a man would defend his fireside against
the approach of burglars. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury
returned a verdict of "not guilty," as to all the persons in the first
count, charging them with riot. In the second count, charging them with
"Assault and Battery" (on Col. Wheeler) Ballard and Curtis were found
"guilty," the rest "not guilty." The guilty were given about a week in
jail. Thus ended this act in the Wheeler drama.
The following extract is taken from the correspondence of the New York
Tribune touching Jane Johnson's presence in the court, and will be
interesting on that account:
"But it was a bold and perilous move on the part of her friends,
and the deepest apprehensions were felt for a while, for the
result. The United States Marshal was there with his warrant and
an extra force to execute it. The officers of the court and
other State officers were there to protect the witness and
vindicate the laws of the State. Vandyke, the United States
District Attorney, swore he would take her. The State officers
swore he should not, and for a while it seemed that nothing
could avert a bloody scene. It was expected that the conflict
would take place at the door, when she should leave the room, so
that when she and her friends went out, and for some time after,
the most intense suspense pervaded the court-room. She was,