The South Bend Fugitive Slave Case
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a day for learning and education. Take a moment to read my summary of the South Bend Fugitive Slave Case, a famous legal case involving South Bend, that had very real ramifications for one family of former slaves and perhaps the entire country. It was also a moment when the residents of South Bend and its surrounding neighbors stood up for freedom.
On October 9th, 1847, a family living in servitude consisting of David Powell, his wife Lucy, and their children Lewis, Samuel, George, and James escaped captivity in Kentucky and headed north. They avoided capture by their former owner John Norris, and eventually made their way to Cass County, Michigan where they bought some land and began a new life of freedom. Two years later, their relentless former owner along with a group of men tracked the family down, broke into their home, bound them in chords, and set forth to bring them back to Kentucky. Mr. Wright Maudlin, a neighbor and friend of the family, chased after the party of kidnappers and caught up with them in South Bend.
In South Bend, Mr. Maudlin appealed to the legal system for help in stopping the kidnappers. With the help of local attorney E.B. Crocker, an order was issued by St. Joseph County Probate Court Judge Hon. Elisha Egbert to stop the party and bring them before the court. St. Joseph County Deputy Sheriff Russell Day gathered a small group of armed men and set off to stop the kidnappers. By this time, the whole town of South Bend was buzzing with interest as to what was going on.
Deputy Sheriff Day caught up with John Norris and his group just south of town, but the well armed kidnappers brandished their weapons and refused to comply with his orders. However, a large group of South Bend citizens arrived on the scene and, using no violence or threats, insisted the kidnappers comply with the order to return to town and stand before the judge. Now vastly outnumbered, the kidnappers were forced to comply and followed the group back to town.
In South Bend, the judge heard both sides of the case and determined that there was no evidence that John Norris owned the Powell family and ordered them to be set free. Upon hearing the judgement, John Norris and his men seized the family, brandished their weapons, and threatened to shoot anyone who tried to stop him from taking the family — WHILE IN COURT! The crowd of South Bend residents surrounded the kidnappers demanding that they lay down their weapons. Eventually the kidnappers complied and the Powell family was placed into custody for their protection.
Over the course of the next couple days, hundreds of the Powell family’s neighbors and friends arrived in South Bend from Cass County, many of whom were armed. John Norris and his kidnappers quickly realized that there was little chance that they would be able to take the Powell family back to Kentucky in the face of such overwhelming local opposition. Eventually, the court again ordered the Powell family to be freed and they were escorted home by their friends and neighbors while singing songs of freedom on the road. The Kentucky kidnappers went home with a new understanding of how South Bend and the North felt on the subject of slavery.
Unfortunately, John Norris filed multiple lawsuits for damages and won. The court proceedings in South Bend also exposed many of the legal loopholes in the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 which led to the creation of a stronger one in 1850. However, this is in part what inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Upon meeting her in 1862, Abraham Lincoln stated, “So this is the little lady who made this big war.”
Written in 1851 as a summary of events and legal proceedings, it is short and can be tedious at times due to the focus on legal details, I highly recommend every South Bend resident own, read, and pass along the story of The South Bend Fugitive Slave Case.
https://www.amazon.com/South-Bend-fugitive-slave-case/dp/1429731052
