Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1849-11-17

The following letter of DR.. Brooke, which VIC
copy from the A. s. Standard, adds another to
the evidences which have been almost daily dis
played OF the value and character Of the Clio
rious Union":
LETTER FROM DIR. BROOKE.
4 Case under the " Compromises. "-PcnaRy for
hiding The outcaSt.' Mclean a Stare
holder.
To illustrate the power which Slavery pos
scsscs in the States called free, and the manner
of its exercise, and for an additional purpose
which will appear in the sequel, 1 wish to give
to the public a brief relation OF facts which re-
Gently came to my knowledge.
About two years since a slavc-catchcr, named
Clark, residing in Decatur county, Indiana,
seized upon a mother and four children, all
nearly white, whom he found in his neighbor-
hood, and forcibly detained them without the
authority of any legal process. A neighbor of
his, named Luther A. Donncll, was bcsought
by certain colorcd persons, privy to the circum-
stances, to do something in their behalf, and ac-
cordingly he obtained a writ of habcas corpus,
and with another man, named Hamilton, pro-
cccdcd with an officer to Clark's house to see it
served upon them. The latter having got wind
of the movement had run them off and secreted
them III a foddcr-house belonging to his on
Finding themselves thus foiled, and not know
ing MlClc " sCuICn lOI lncln III inc UlSul, DOn-
neil and Hamilton returned to the housa of the
former, and the officer to his house, WITHOUT
even having seen the tugitivcs. The mother be-
ing encieafe, and supposed incapable OF travelling
without assistance, and trusting somewhat, per-
haps, to the thought that she would not scpar-
ate from her four small children, these human
blood-hounds sought their own beds, and left
their prey unguarded. Soon as she had hushcd
her charge to sleep in their chilly lair, she was
norved by that love of liberty which had bro't
her thus far to creep forth, and seek for help
nor did she seek i'll vain. Falling i'll with some
colorcd persons in the road, who were on the
look out to discover her place of conccalmcnt,
she and her children were assisted to a place of
safety, and conveyed eventually to Canada,
where they arc now doing well.
The same night the slave claimant arrived in
the ncighborhood in pursuit, offering a reward
for their rccapturc. III prey having escaped,
the mcn-stcalers turned their attack upon the
man who had shown a disposition to bofriend
them, and an indictment i'll the court of Deca-
tur County was sustained against Luther y.
Donncll, and he was fined $50 and the costs,
amounting to 1922 moro. The slave-claimant,
Ray, of kentucky, now commenced an action
against him in the District Court of the United
States, under the law of Congress of 1898, and
the State trial having developed the fact that
Donncll could prove by the young man Hamil-
ton that he had not even seen the ~fugitivcs on
the night in question, the suit was made to in
cludc Hamilton also, to prevent the benefit OF
his testimony. This trial was had ut lndianop-
oils, in May, 1919, and the Cla1ks sworc they
had seen Donnell and Hamilton remove the tu-
gitivcs from the foddcr-housc. Judge Mclean
made the usual gloriiication OF the United States
Constitution in his charge to the jury, declaring
its compromises must be sustained, md that If
they believed the defendants had removed the
f~ugitivcs from the foddcr-housc, they must find
damages in the amount alledgcd by Ray. The
verdict was for $1,000 against the defendants,
and costs, amounting to about $1,000 moro
Here, then, are two men assessed in fines, costs,
and lawyers fees, about $4,000, for the suspi-
cion of an act which they did not commit. l
am acquainted with L. A. Donnell, and have no
hesitation i'll believing his averment that he new
or saw either of the f~ugitivcs till after the night
in question, and two of them he never saw
And l as fully believe it was only from want of
opportunity, and not of will, that he did not as
sist them. Mr.. Hamilton is a young man with
out property. i. a. Donneu is possessed OF a
farm, which, if forced to a sale, would leave
him little or nothing, after satisfying those judg-
ments and costs. The State case is appealed to
the Supreme Court of the State upon the qucs-
ton of the constitutionality of a law which fines
a man for an act of humanity. In the United
States case his lawyers tell him there is no APP
peal. viii the friends of humanity permit this
brother to be ruined i'll his worldly affairs with
out offering him assistance: He is cndeavoring
to raise the amount by the first of January,
1850. Some of his ncighbors have pledged him
fifty dollars each, some twenty-five, some less,
but as their wheat crop failed them, there is no
money in circulation there, and they cannot pay
till their pork is fatted. lie has had about
$1,000 pledged and paid in togcther-the bal
ance to make up yet. Any person DESTROYS to
assist may transmit to him through the mail,
addressed to Luther A. Donnel, Clarksburgh,
Decatur county, Indiana, or to me at Oakland,
Ohio-the former being the preferable mode.
Let it be recollectcd that Judge Mclean Is
called an Anti-Slavcry man, and was sought for
as n nominee for the Presidency at Buffalo,
And let it be recollectcd that a woman OF my
acquaintance allcdges she was bought by the
Judge as n slave in ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS to Ohio,
and held and treated as a slave in Warren Coun-
ty for a long period. That in the absence of the
Judge, she was confined by his former wife up
stairs, with a view of having her run off to Ken
lucky and sold again but before the son-in-
law, who was expected to transact the business,
arrived, she let herself down by a rope from the
upper window, i'll the night, and in confirmation
of the truth of her assertions, her hands were
still raw from the friction of the rope when she
first came to my house; and so far as l know
her story has never been denied or doubted
Such u leaning as he is said to have manifested
to the side of the slave-claimant in his charge to
the jury in this case, is no surprise to me.
A. BROOKE.
OAKLAND, o., Oct. %, lS49.
n. b. Any contributions made by mail will
be acknowledged in the Standard.