1857 – Four Arrested in Mechanicsburg for Aiding Freedom Seeker
Item
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Title
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1857 – Four Arrested in Mechanicsburg for Aiding Freedom Seeker
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Date
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3 Jun 1857
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Formatted date
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1857-06-02
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Event type
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Arrest
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Description
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Around August 21, 1856, four men aided freedom seeker, Add White by hiding him in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. White had originally fled enslavement in Flemingsburg, Kentucky, where he was enslaved by Daniel G. White. While travelling through Ohio in the Underground Railroad, White was aided by Russel Hyde, Hiram Guttridge, and two brothers, Charles and Edward Taylor. It is not known what happened to White after his stay in Mechanicsburg, but almost a year later, a warrant was issued by Commissioner Newhall for the arrest of the four men who aided him. The charge against them was only for sheltering and protecting a “fugitive” rather than aiding in an escape. The penalty for such a charge was a $1,000 fine and imprisonment. On Tuesday, June 2, 1857, United States Deputy Marshall Churchill left Cincinnati with eleven others to Urbana. The following Wednesday morning they continued to Mechanicsburg to carry out the arrest. Though the arrest was successful, many of the local public were reported to have protested, referring to Marshall Churchill and his posse as “Boarder Ruffians” who wanted to take the four men over to Kentucky and lynch them. Like Add White’s ultimate fate, the proceedings and outcome of the ensuing trial are unknown.
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Participant
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Participant(s):Taylor, Charles; Taylor, Edward; Guttridge, Hiram; Hyde, Russel; Churchill, unknown
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Bibliographic citation
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Republican Vindicator. (Staunton, VA), Jun. 6 1857. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84024652/1857-06-06/ed-1/.