Oberlin-Wellington Rescue

The ???Oberlin-Wellington Rescue??? was a landmark event in the Abolitionist movement before the American Civil War.

Related Topics:
Abolitionist - American Civil War

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On September 13, 1858, a runaway slave named John Price was arrested by a United States marshal in Oberlin, Ohio.  Under the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, the Federal government was required to assist slaveholders in reclaiming their runaway slaves.  The marshal knew that many Oberlin residents were committed to abolitionism.  To avoid conflict with locals, he immediately took Price to nearby Wellington, Ohio.  As soon as Oberlin residents heard of the marshal's actions, a group of them, including many students from Oberlin College, immediately rushed to Wellington.  There, they joined like-minded residents of the Wellington community and attempted to free Price.  The marshal and his deputies took refuge in a local hotel.  After peaceful negotiations failed, the mob stormed the hotel and found Price confined in the attic.  The group immediately returned Price to Oberlin, where they hid him in the home of Oberlin College's president.  A short time later, they took Price to Canada, where he would not have to worry about U.S. authorities or slavehunters trying to capture him to return him to slavery.

Related Topics:
September 13 - 1858 - Slave - United States - Marshal - Oberlin, Ohio - Fugitive Slave Law - 1850 - Wellington, Ohio - Oberlin College - Canada

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A Federal grand jury handed down indictments of 37 of the people who freed Price.  Only two of the people indicted, Simeon Bushnell and Charles Langston, went to trial.  These two men were found guilty in the United States District Court in Cleveland, Ohio in April 1859.  Bushnell received a sentence of 60 days in jail; Langston, 20. The remaining 35 people in jail were released in July 1859.  State authorities had arrested the Federal marshal, his deputies, and other men involved in John Price's detention, and it was agreed that all of these men would be released and not charged with a state crime, if the remaining 35 Federal prisoners were immediately released.

Related Topics:
Grand jury - Indictment - United States District Court - Cleveland, Ohio - 1859

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Bushnell and Langston filed a writ of habeas corpus with the Ohio Supreme Court, claiming that the Federal court did not have the authority to arrest and to try them because the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was unconstitutional. However, in a 3-2 ruling, the court upheld the constitutionality of the law.  Members of Ohio's abolitionist community were incensed.  More than ten thousand people participated in a Cleveland rally to oppose the Federal and state courts' decisions.  Because of his decision upholding the Fugitive Slave Law, Chief Justice Joseph Swan failed to win reelection to the court, and his career was effectively over.  The tension over slavery that contributed to the American Civil War's outbreak clearly divided America's and Ohio's residents.

Related Topics:
Habeas corpus - Ohio Supreme Court - American Civil War

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Adapted from the Ohio Historical Society, 2005, "Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Case", Ohio History Central: An Online Encyclopedia of Ohio History, (c) 2005.

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