Mob frees fugitive Shadrach Minkins after his arrest in Boston

U.S. Deputy Marshal Patrick Riley and his men arrested a fugitive slave from Norfolk, VA named Shadrach Minkins, who had been working as a waiter at Taft's Cornhill Coffee House.  Later in the day, members of the Boston Vigilance Committee, led by Lewis Hayden, rescued Minkins from custody.  The mob action and Minkins's successful escape to Canada shocked southerners who had expected greater northern compliance with the new Fugitive Slave Act. (By Matthew Pinsker)
Source Citation
Fergus M. Bordewich, Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America (New York: Amistad, 2005), 320-321.
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Type
    Slavery/Abolition
    How to Cite This Page: "Mob frees fugitive Shadrach Minkins after his arrest in Boston ," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/1316.