Jane Johnson (circa 1814/1827-1872) and her two young sons, Daniel and Isaiah, were slaves of one John Hill Wheeler of North Carolina, who brought them north to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on his way to New York in July 1855 en route to a government position in Nicaragua. In Philadelphia, Johnson was able to get word to abolitionists William Still (1819-1902) and Passmore Williamson (1822-1895), who rescued her from Wheeler and sent her on her way to freedom in Canada.
Still, Williamson and five Black dockworkers who had assisted in freeing Johnson and her children were arrested. Williamson was charged with contempt of court for refusing to disclose Johnson’s location in the city, but, actually, he had no idea where she had been taken. Still had brought Johnson and her boys to a safe house without Williamson’s knowledge, and then later he snuck them into his home; from there, they were sent north.
While Williamson was in prison on the contempt charge, Still and the five others, charged with assault and causing riot, were taken to court. Still was charged with kidnapping as Wheeler claimed Johnson would never have left him of her own free will. Johnson, hearing of this through the Underground Railroad, returned to Philadelphia, at great personal risk, to testify on behalf of Still, Williamson, and the others who had helped her gain her freedom.
Bondage & Freedom in Philadelphia
Pennsylvania was a free state, and, by law, any slave brought by their master into its borders could claim their freedom – as could any slave who managed to arrive here on their own or with the help of the Underground Railroad. Masters traveling with their slaves through the state were therefore careful to keep them from talking to anyone, thereby preventing them from making their claim to freedom.
In the case of Jane Johnson, John Hill Wheeler kept her under constant watch and, when he was unable, locked her and the children in their hotel room. He told her, should she be asked, to say she was a free Black woman traveling with a minister, and to say nothing else. Johnson found the opportunity to speak with a Black porter at the hotel, telling him the truth, and the porter sent word to Still and Williamson.
When Wheeler and his party were about to leave from the Philadelphia port for New York, Williamson and Still intervened and, while the five Black dockworkers restrained Wheeler, informed Johnson of her legal rights in Philadelphia and offered their help in freeing her, which Johnson accepted.
Afterward, as noted, Still, Williamson, and the others were arrested. Still and three of the dockworkers were acquitted on the strength of Johnson’s testimony, and the other two were convicted of assault on Wheeler, fined, and jailed for a week. The event received national coverage, especially the unjust imprisonment of Williamson, and encouraged greater support for abolition in the North, further increasing tensions between free and slave states in the years leading up to the American Civil War.
Text
The following excerpt from a longer text on the event is taken from The Underground Railroad Records (1872) by William Still, republished by Modern Library in 2019. The narrative begins with Still describing the lengths Wheeler and his legal team were prepared to go to win a conviction in the case against Still and the dockworkers.
With regard to the colored men under bonds, Col. Wheeler and his satellites felt very confident that there was no room for them to escape. They must have had reason so to think, judging from the hard swearing they did before the committing magistrate.Consequently, in the order of events while Passmore was still in prison, receiving visits from hosts of friends, and letters of sympathy from all parts of the North, William Still, William Curtis, James P. Braddock, John Ballard, James Martin and Isaiah Moore, were brought into court for trial. The first name on the list in the proceedings of the court was called up first.
Against this individual, it was pretty well understood by the friends of the slave, that no lack of pains and false swearing would be resorted to on the part of Wheeler and his witnesses, to gain a verdict.
Mr. McKim and other noted abolitionists managing the defense, were equally alive to the importance of overwhelming the enemy in this particular issue. The Hon. Charles Gibbons, was engaged to defend William Still, and William S. Pierce, Esq., and William B. Birney, Esq., the other five colored defendants.
In order to make the victory complete, the anti-slavery friends deemed it of the highest importance to have Jane Johnson in court, to face her master, and under oath to sweep away his "refuge of lies," with regard to her being "abducted," and her unwillingness to "leave her master," etc. So Mr. McKim and the friends very privately arranged to have Jane Johnson on hand at the opening of the defense.
Mrs. Lucretia Mott, Mrs. McKim, Miss Sarah Pugh and Mrs. Plumly, volunteered to accompany this poor slave mother to the courthouse and to occupy seats by her side, while she should face her master, and boldly, on oath, contradict all his hard swearing. A better subject for the occasion than Jane, could not have been desired. She entered the court room veiled, and of course was not known by the crowd, as pains had been taken to keep the public in ignorance of the fact, that she was to be brought on to bear witness. So that, at the conclusion of the second witness on the part of the defense, "Jane Johnson" was called for, in a shrill voice. Deliberately, Jane arose and answered, in a lady-like manner to her name, and was then the observed of all observers. Never before had such a scene been witnessed in Philadelphia. It was indescribable. Substantially, her testimony on this occasion, was in keeping with the subjoined affidavit, which was as follows –
"Jane Johnson being sworn, makes oath and says –
"My name is Jane - Jane Johnson; I was the slave of Mr. Wheeler of Washington; he bought me and my two children, about two years ago, of Mr. Cornelius Crew, of Richmond, Va.; my youngest child is between six and seven years old, the other between ten and eleven; I have one other child only, and he is in Richmond; I have not seen him for about two years; never expect to see him again; Mr. Wheeler brought me and my two children to Philadelphia, on the way to Nicaragua, to wait on his wife; I didn't want to go without my two children, and he consented to take them; we came to Philadelphia by the cars; stopped at Mr. Sully's, Mr. Wheeler's father-in-law, a few moments; then went to the steamboat for New York at 2 o'clock, but were too late; we went into Bloodgood's Hotel.Mr. Wheeler went to dinner; Mr. Wheeler had told me in Washington to have nothing to say to colored persons, and if any of them spoke to me, to say I was a free woman traveling with a minister; we stayed at Bloodgood's till 5 o'clock Mr. Wheeler kept his eye on me all the time except when he was at dinner; he left his dinner to come and see if I was safe, and then went back again; while he was at dinner, I saw a colored woman and told her I was a slave woman, that my master had told me not to speak to colored people, and that if any of them spoke to me to say and I was free; but I am not free; but I want to be free; she said: 'poor thing, I pity you; after that I saw a colored man and said the same thing to him, he said he would telegraph to New York, and two men would meet me at 9 o'clock and take me with them.
After that we went on board the boat, Mr. Wheeler sat beside me on the deck; I saw a colored gentleman come on board, he beckoned to me; I nodded my head, and could not go; Mr. Wheeler was beside me and I was afraid; a white gentleman then came and said to Mr. Wheeler, 'I want to speak to your servant, and tell her of her rights’; Mr. Wheeler rose and said, 'If you have anything to say, say it to me - she knows her rights’; the white gentleman asked me if I wanted to be free; I said 'I do, but I belong to this gentleman and I can't have it;' he replied, 'Yes, you can, come with us, you are as free as your master, if you want your freedom come now; if you go back to Washington you may never get it.'
I rose to go, Mr. Wheeler spoke, and said, 'I will give you your freedom,' but he had never promised it before, and I knew he would never give it to me; the white gentleman held out his hand and I went toward him; I was ready for the word before it was given me; I took the children by the hands, who both cried, for they were frightened, but both stopped when they got on shore; a colored man carried the little one, I led the other by the hand.
We walked down the street till we got to a hack; nobody forced me away; nobody pulled me, and nobody led me; I went away of my own free will; I always wished to be free and meant to be free when I came North; I hardly expected it in Philadelphia, but I thought I should get free in New York.
I have been comfortable and happy since I left Mr. Wheeler, and so are the children; I don't want to go back; I could have gone in Philadelphia if I had wanted to; I could go now; but I had rather die than go back. I wish to make this statement before a magistrate, because I understand that Mr. Williamson is in prison on my account, and I hope the truth may be of benefit to him.”
It might have been supposed that her honest and straightforward testimony would have been sufficient to cause even the most relentless slave holder to abandon at once a pursuit so monstrous and utterly hopeless as Wheeler's was. But although he was sadly confused and put to shame, he hung on to the “lost cause” tenaciously. And his counsel, David Webster, Esq., and the United States District Attorney, Vandyke, completely imbued with the pro-slavery spirit, were equally as unyielding. And thus, with a zeal befitting the most worthy object imaginable, they labored with untiring effort to convict the colored men.
By this policy, however, the counsel for the defense was doubly aroused. Mr. Gibbons, in the most eloquent and indignant strains, perfectly annihilated the “distinguished Colonel John H. Wheeler, United States Minister Plenipotentiary near the Island of Nicaragua,” taking special pains to ring the changes repeatedly on his long appellations. Mr. Gibbons appeared to be precisely in the right mood to make himself surpassingly forcible and eloquent, on whatever point of law he chose to touch bearing on the case; or in whatever direction he chose to glance at the injustice and cruelty of the South.Most vividly did he draw the contrast between the States of "Georgia” and “Pennsylvania,” with regard to the atrocious laws of Georgia. Scarcely less vivid is the impression after a lapse of sixteen years, than when this eloquent speech was made. With the District Attorney, Wm. B. Mann, Esq., and his Honor, Judge Kelley, the defendants had no cause to complain.
Throughout the entire proceedings, they had reason to feel, that neither of these officials sympathized in the least with Wheeler or Slavery. Indeed, in the Judge's charge, and also in the District Attorney's closing speech, the ring of freedom could be distinctly heard — much more so than was agreeable to Wheeler and his Pro -Slavery sympathizers.
The case of Wm. Still ended in his acquittal; the other five colored men were taken up in order. And it is scarcely necessary to say that Messrs. Peirce and Birney did full justice to all concerned. Mr. Peirce, especially, was one of the oldest, ablest, and most faithful lawyers to the slave of the Philadelphia Bar. He never was known, it may safely be said, to hesitate in the darkest days of Slavery to give his time and talents to the fugitive, even in the most hopeless cases, and when, from the unpopularity of such a course, serious sacrifices would be likely to result.
Consequently, he was but at home in this case, and most nobly did he defend his clients, with the same earnestness that a man would defend his fireside against the approach of burglars. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned a verdict of “not guilty," as to all the persons in the first count, charging them with riot. In the second count, charging them with “Assault and Battery" (on Col. Wheeler) Ballard and Curtis were found "guilty,” the rest “not guilty.” The guilty were given about a week in jail. Thus ended this act in the Wheeler drama.
The following extract is taken from the correspondence of the New York Tribune touching Jane Johnson's presence in the court, and will be interesting on that account:
“But it was a bold and perilous move on the part of her friends, and the deepest apprehensions were felt for a while, for the result. The United States Marshal was there with his warrant and an extra force to execute it. The officers of the court and other State officers were there to protect the witness and vindicate the laws of the State. Vandyke, the United States District Attorney, swore he would take her. The State officers swore he should not, and for a while it seemed that nothing could avert a bloody scene. It was expected that the conflict would take place at the door, when she should leave the room, so that when she and her friends went out, and for some time after, the most intense suspense pervaded the court- room. She was, however, allowed to enter the carriage that awaited her without disturbance. She was accompanied by Mr. McKim, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, Lucretia Mott and George Corson, one of our most manly and intrepid police officers. The carriage was followed by another filled with officers as a guard; and, thus escorted, she was taken back in safety to the house from which she had been brought. Her title to Freedom under the laws of the State will hardly again be brought into question.”
Mr. Williamson was committed to prison by Judge Kane for contempt of Court, on the 27th day of July 1855, and was released on the 3d day of November the same year, having gained, in the estimation of the friends of Freedom everywhere, a triumph and a fame which but few men in the great moral battle for Freedom could claim.
