Jane Johnson (slave)
Jane Johnson (c. 1814-1827 – August 2, 1872)[1] was an African-American slave who gained freedom on July 18, 1855, with her two young sons while in Philadelphia with her slaver and his family.
This resulted in precedent-setting legal cases in 19th-century Pennsylvania, as a federal judge applied the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 in a controversial way.
He sentenced abolitionist Passmore Williamson to 90 days for contempt of court for failing to produce Johnson and her sons under a writ of habeas corpus, or tell their location.
The jailing attracted even wider publicity, and widespread discussion of issues of state and federal laws related to slavery.
Johnson returned to Philadelphia from New York in August 1855 and testified in the trial of William Still and five dockworkers, charged by her slaver John Hill Wheeler with assault.
[2] About 1853, Johnson and her two children had been sold to John Hill Wheeler (1806-1882), a planter from North Carolina and politician then working in Washington, DC.
[3] In 1855, Johnson and her sons Daniel and Isaiah (one 5 or 6, and 11 or 12, respectively), accompanied their slaver Wheeler and his family by train from Washington, D.C. en route to New York.
At the end of the 18th century, it had made compromises that enabled Southern members of the national government to keep their slaves in the city for up to six months; past that, they could choose freedom.
On July 18, 1855, Johnson passed word to a black porter in Bloodgood's Hotel, where Wheeler had locked her in with her children, that she wanted to escape her slaver's custody.
Later that day, as the full Wheeler party prepared to board the ferry, Still and abolitionist Passmore Williamson, secretary of the Society, reached the docks.
While Wheeler argued, offered her a promise of freedom, and tried to prevent Johnson from leaving, five black dockworkers restrained him, and Williamson explained the state law to him.
[5] Williamson was subpoenaed by Pennsylvania US District Court judge John K. Kane, whom Wheeler had appealed to, under a writ of habeas corpus to produce Johnson and her sons.
"[5] He received prominent visitors from the abolitionist movement, including Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, and hundreds of letters, as his case was covered by newspapers across the country.
[5] On August 29, 1855, William Still and the five dockworkers were tried in a local court for riot and assault under charges brought by John Hill Wheeler.
[1] In 2002 The Bondwoman's Narrative by Hannah Crafts was published, after having been authenticated by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a Harvard professor of African-American literature and history.
