Scholarship
Todd Mealy, Biography of an Antislavery City: Antislavery Advocates, Abolitionists, and Underground Railroad Activists in Harrisburg, PA (Baltimore: PublishAmerica, 2007), 145-146.
[U.S. Slave Commissioner Richard] McAllister had two stanch enemies in Harrisburg. They were local abolitionists that also worked in Dauphin County’s legal department. Antislavery lawyer Mordecai McKinney and antislavery judge John Pearson took on the personal campaign of taking down the slave commissioner.
Almost immediately McKinney, a fellow Dickinson College alumni of his rival McAllister, established a stake out arrangement with members of the Harrisburg Anti-Slavery Society (HAS) outside of the slave commissioner’s house. As the leader of this HAS committee, McKinney became the “antislavery mayor” of Harrisburg. The committee was responsible for setting up a neighborhood watch program to track the activities of his younger nemesis. All of the information gathered bout McAllister was relayed back both HAS and Judge Pearson so that they could be prepared to take legal action against the slave commissioner.
Almost immediately McKinney, a fellow Dickinson College alumni of his rival McAllister, established a stake out arrangement with members of the Harrisburg Anti-Slavery Society (HAS) outside of the slave commissioner’s house. As the leader of this HAS committee, McKinney became the “antislavery mayor” of Harrisburg. The committee was responsible for setting up a neighborhood watch program to track the activities of his younger nemesis. All of the information gathered bout McAllister was relayed back both HAS and Judge Pearson so that they could be prepared to take legal action against the slave commissioner.
Links
Depicted ContentMcKinney, Mordecai