Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1846-08-06
From the Western Citizen.
Letter from VIM I. Allan.
GENEsEE. June 7th. 1916.

GENEsEE, June 7th 1916
BIZ. EASTMAN Permit me to give a little
narrative by way of personal experience. 1t re-
ates to some of the statutes of III nois and may
serve to show their exceeding biackncss 1t is
known to my friends generally that | came from
The South and that my father was stakeholder.
II is also known that at his death he liberated
his slaves. Out of six heirs, five reside in this
Slate-one in Alabama. We all consented to
EN- in ally were allowed to choose their lace of
They chose Illinois, where the
children" las they call us) live. Accordingly,
my brother-in-aw, Louis Wyeth, Esq, who isl
executor Of the will sent an agent with them to
Jacksonville, in this State, where they now re-
side, with one exception. The name of that one
is Richmond, a man fifty years of age. lie has
leen in our family ever since my remembrance.
He is an inoffensive, faithful old man, worthy of
all confidence as a friend and servant He ask
ed me to let him ride with me from Morgan Co.
to Henry He wanted to have more Of visit
with me, whom he had not seen for thirteen
years, and he wanted to see my brother, whom
he had not seen for ten years Three weeks a
go we stopped to spend the Sabbath in Peoria
On Saturday morning, while the old man was at
work in the stable, he was dragged off by ruff
fan This name is not worth knowingly to mag
strate's office, and thence to the custody of the
Sheriff as a runaway slave My testimony, as
to the facts was not admitted, because, torsooth,
| was party interested When the wisc and
patriotic Justice ~ had signalized himself by
committing the poor old man to prison, they pro-
ceeded to arrest me on the charge of harborng
and seCreting fugitive slave. And the same
Justice bound me over in the penal sum of $500
to appear on the LIST day of Court to be tried,
&c. Well, appeared accordingly, and after
ten days the Grand Jury found bill against
me, charging me with & the crime Of harborng
a slave" gave security and am now under
bonds to appear, and be tried next October, I'M
der the statute Of Illinois, for the crime of rid
ing in buggy with an old friend A summons
was also served on Inc to appear and answer to
Alfred Todd and the people Of Peoria county,
for the sum of $500 by me unawfuIly detained.
They are striving both by civil and criminal law
to punish me for that same worthy Cause,
Richmond (he colored many is now with my
brother in this place. | sent for copy of my
fathers WILL and obtained some other testmo-
ny, which were entirely satisfactory to all candid
minds. But the Sheriff did not feel authorized
to let him go. We then brought him before
Judge KGrner by a writ Of Habeas Corpus
the Judge decided that he had no jurisdiction in
the case He said that it devolved wholly on
the Sheriff. We told him that the evidence had
already been presented to the Sheriff. and that
he declined liberating him. But the Judge still
waived the matter, presuming that the Sheriff
would liberate him, &c. We then furnished
the Sheriff with still further evidence touching
Rchmond's freedom. He hesitated, counselled
with the lawyers, and finally let him 90 with my
brother on condition that he would hold him
subject to his order, in case any Opncr should
come and prove property, and be liable to meet
any expenses that he (he Sheriff. might incur
in consequence of letting him 60 They SEEM
ed terribly afraid that the lars OF alabama
might not consent to his liberation; and that
possibly, minor heir, by and by, might claim
sixth part of the old WORKOUT negro as prop
erty. These weighty considerations were duly
appreciated by these legal gentlemen and officers
of Peoria. 1t is but justice to say of Mr. Frye,
the Sheriff, that he did not put Richmond in
Jail, but treated him kindly at his own house
And now, what do all these things prove o.
They prove that the black laws of Illinois are as
wicked and unrighteous as the wretch that seiz-
ed old Richmond. These things prove that the
legislators of Illinois and all who sustain them
are mere tools of the slave power. They show
that slavery has much to do with us-that Hi
nois is mere appendage to slave states, sort
of dependency on Missouri and Kentucky
There is something tolerable in a genuine, bona
hide stakeholder But shareholders tool in a
northern State, sort of toOO-tegged bloodhound
that barks on the track of an old negro or his
trend, dirty cats paw, despicable minion
OF :yrants-language can't describe him. Shall
Illinois continue to sustain such a relation to
slavery Shall her statute book continue to be