A Political Show Trial in the Northern District: Oberlin-Wellington Fugitive Slave Rescue Case

Authors

Paul Finkelman, Duke Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Chapter of Book

Publication Date

2012

Keywords

slavery, abolitionists, Fugutive Slave Law, Oberlin-Wellington Rescue (1858), due process, fair trial

Abstract

This chapter from Justice and Legal Change on the Shores of Lake Erie, examines the first important cases ever heard by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The cases, known as the Oberlin-Wellington Fugitive Slave Cases -- stemmed out of the rescue of a fugitive slave from the custody of a professional slave catcher. The fugitive was seized in Oberlin, and taken to nearby Wellington, and held in hotel while the slave catchers waiting for a train to take them to Columbus. Meanwhile, a mob -- consisting mostly of Oberlin residents, including many Oberlin College faculty and students and a few dozen African Americans -- surrounded the hotel and eventually rescued the fugitive. Scores of people were indicted, and two were convicted after trials that violated numerous aspects of due process. This chapter details these trials.

Citation

Paul Finkelman, A Political Show Trial in the Northern District: Oberlin-Wellington Fugitive Slave Rescue Case, in Justice and Legal Change on the Shores of Lake Erie: A History of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio 37-73 (Paul Finkelman & Roberta Sue Alexander eds., 2012)