The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1857-12-19
A Fugitive Slave il Brooklyn.
From The N"w York Independent.

y fugitive slave case of no little interest
occurred few days since in Hrooklvn \
iinc looAin% Young man. about ,wcn;y-four
Years Of ace. whose color is 50 nearly white
that he would never be suspected by a >t.an-
-,cr Of carryin,; the curse O: Ham in lis veins
took il iH,n his head 70 attempt 70 c<"upc
from hi> I'w:nl owner in II" city of Charles
ton. ). e., and TO make his way toward the
constellation of The Little B,.a:. and lis he
nisn star that never SETS To avoid dctcc-
ton he Went first short journey in the op-
po,it" direction as far as Savannah. Here.
being unknown and un>1>pcc;cd. he went on
board the steamer "Florila." Of the New
York and Savannah line, and stepping up
boldly TO the rurScrs Office took out his
pccIct-book and paid for a ~l;tr mans pas
SAGE in the second >tccragc While on board
at SEA. he took no pain, to conceal himself
from the passengers or the officers Of the
>,e.mcr. hrt moved freely among them. p.s-
>.r'in- steady carriaeo and ,onpo>,;rc. III
Il t. vessel WAS within cannon->hot of ,l:>
city. When She VAS unexpectedly intercepted.
and boarded l.: some agents Of the steam
>:;. company. who informed the captain. to
his great a>'oNi>hmclt. tat fugitive slave
WAS aboard the vessel. AID that it must be
searched till hr could " found
\ tc!c~raphic dispatch had been received
from the owner inc harlc>,on. communicating
the fact OF til" mans escape. suggesting the
probability Of his being on the steamer. and
-iyn., = graphic description OF the fugitive
as being "a fellow who had Il white skin. and
was .-5>rW enough to pass himself off rs
white man The passengers Were accord
inelv examined. ai.I the first man taken was
the wloHy "Nc-a white man with dark
complexion. who had no little difficulty. a,
tir>i, III proving himself clear. After the real
fugitive was detected - as the renowned
Dr.. Ross himself in similar circumstances
might have been. by slight curl in his ha.
he was detained on >hip-board till night
fall and thrE sent in the custody OF tomr en-
ploNrcs Of the company, to Red IIook-a
>qnalid. out-ot,h"-wav district in the suburbs
of Brook yn-whcrc he WAS to be confined in
the second story of a grocery store. kept bv
an lrishrlan of the lame of Thomas McNul-
ty. till the day of the steamers sailing. wncn
he was TO be secretly put on board, and re,
turned to his owner
1t was not until the day before the sailing
of the steamer. that the fact of his contine-
mcnt became known to ANYBODY who was
willing to make al effort for his rescue, but
II last it reached the cars of some gentle
men who recognized the duty of 'rcmcmbcr-
ing them that are i'll bonds as bound with
them and through their fortunate inter
ference, at almost the last possible moment
when interference could have been ctfcctual
the prisoner was liberated
\ complaint, setting forth the facts of the
case. was made before the Hon Erastus d.
Culver. Judge of the City Court of BROOKLYN.
who issued a writ of Hobeos Co,,,us, and
who. rs the Court was not in session at the
time made the warrant rcturnablc Immediate
ly to his own house. The paper was served
by Il constable, who was accompanied in the
discharge of his duty bv Mr. Samuel Harris.
Clerk of the Court, to whose generous zeal
for the prisoner and whose shrewdncss and
energy in assisting the officer, the success of
the arrest is mainly due The fugitive was
found and boldly rescued from the hands of
his jailcrs and brought before the magistrate.
Judge Culver, whose eminent legal attain
ments are equaled by his well-known deyo-
ton to the cause of freedom, heard the case
without delay, and as no one appeared against
the man. gave an order that he should be set
at liberty, as he accordingly was, to his min
gled surprise and delight. But the friends
of the man unwilling to leave him to the
peril CT rccapture, advised him to take
passage forthwith for the Queens dominions.
by way Of the Underground Railroads and
SO. with money enough to buy his ticket,
and with many congratulations on his sud-
den deliverance and many wishes for his
final safety, he started toward that canadian
country from whose bourne no fugitive slave
returns
But the case does not end here. 1t has
since taken on an aspect somewhat unusual
to such cases. TIE arm Of the law has not