The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-02-18

~ dramatic nMuTe, LOT, once uuVihg uis Viz
course. referring TO the bullying and blood
thirsty character Of the southern congress
men, he said: They come TO the capita
with revolvtrs and dirk knives to enforc
their hellish tyranny upon the north; but
TOO, shall 60 prepared TO meet them, whe'
, necessary, with thiS argument" AT the sam
time, ana to the establishment Of the audienc
and the CONSERVATION Of the reporter, VIII
, sa, near the speaker, he suddenly drew iron
his breas, a fercely gli,tering bowie knife
which he plunged an inch deep into tn
judges desk, and left 1t there, as If buried
in the heart Of some southern fire eater. TIT
effect upon the audience WAS electrical
storm of cheers and yells, which las e,
many minutes before suiIicien, quiet was re
stored for him to proceed.
NEGRO BERKLEYs TRiBuLATiOSs.
In the spring of 1859 negro named
Berkeley, who had lived around In Ottawa
Eve or siI years. hired to citizen Of Rut-
land 10 drive one Of his teams TO Pixies
Peak, TO which region he was about to move
On their way, at st. Joe, Mo-, the colored
man was arrested and locked up as a runa-
way slave, and, as he says. severely whipped
several times by the officers Of the Jail, Ito
make him tell who his master was" but be
always protested that he was free negro.
At length, no one claiming him, be was sold
as q vsgrsnt for Jail fees. under q statute Of
that State similar to our own "back laws
Of Illinois. The "hghest bidder took him
TO 81. Louis and put him on board steam
boat, chained TO another colored man, with a
lot OF others, for New Orleans. Berkeley
says he was sold for $l045, but the records
of the sale show II to have been merely the
jail fees. about So. On the way, near Mem
phis, Berkeley and his companion managed
to get of their chains. They jumped into
the river and swan ashore, Undecided.
They plodded along Is best they could, most
ly by night, and lived on corn, potatoes, &C.,
which they conhscated in small quantities
here and there. When near Decatur, in this
State, they Unexpectedly came upon four
slave hunters, armed with guns. The color.
cd men had TO run for 1t, and finally hid in
a thicket, their pursuers passing by within
FIVE or six feet Of where they lay. At length
Berkeley arrived at Ottawa and told his story.
or course our abolitionists were fearfully
exercised over this new outrage, and an in.
dignation meeting was held at the court
house one evening soon after his return. To
further add to their indignation, q couple of
officers from st. LOUIS had been seen prowl-
aronad. and Turney English, the city mar.
shall, had been seen in conference with them,
and be was supposed to be aiding and abet-
ting them in trying TO re.capture Berkeley
The latter had told them that he was being
logged by strangers, and had been pumped"
to find where he originally came from to
Ottawa. The whole scheme was plain-it
was TO drag Berkeley "back into chains and
slavery" and it must not be permitted.
Accordingly the Indignation meeting was
held, "atiendcd by 30 to 100 men and boys
says the FHgE TRADER of TINT date, fully
Coo says the RepuJhcm The chairman
was Richard Thorne, G. II. Hunter secreta.
ry. Speeches were made by } o. Glover
and l. s, Leland, and Messrs. Lloyd, Van
Doren and Delano we're appointed commit
tee TO see Turney English and find out what
part he had taken in trying to kidnap and
deliver our colored citizen, Mr.. Berkeley, into
slavery" The committee went out while The
meeting waa still in session, and found Mr.
English, who, In response 10 their question,
had left him, thought better Of il and volun
tarlly entered the court ROOM much TO TIE
surprise of the committee, who had ust
communicated his abrupt and rather dis
courteous remarks TO the meeting. He in.
formed that body that couple Of deputy
sherifis had been here, but not for niger.
but white horsethief from St Louis he
was ash ed if he would deliver up Berkeley i'll
demanded. lie refused TO answer On the
streets afterwards he said, in reply TO the
same question. Certainly, if the demand be
law fully made" But the meeting was still
not satisfied, and poured its indignation forth
In series of resolutions, the folloSng being
a sample:
Resoired, That the fugitive slave law is q
tyrannical violation of the inherent rights OF
American citizens that it's provisions are in.
sulting, inhuman, anti Christian, anti Amer.
lean, and consequently can impose no mora,
obligation Of obedience.
The meeting appointed c. b. King, Justns
Harris, James Stout and Louis Harris, TO see
fanny one in Ottawa 10 engaged in hunting
fugitive slaves. and report. The meeting
was then addressed further by Geo. W. Bas,
set. J. 0. Glover. Joseph Stout, VIM. Cogs-
we'll and L. b. Delano, raised q subscription
Of 81 for Berkeley, and adjourned. Berkeley
was never afterwards molested.