John J. Smith’s Legacy
John was born free in Richmond, Virginia, and he moved to Boston in the 1840s. Here he became a barber, a community activist, and even a state legislator. He lived in this house from 1878 to 1893, but one of the most interesting stories of his life happened much earlier.
You see, decades before, his barbershop was much more than a business. It was a center of abolitionist activity. John J. Smith was heavily involved in the Underground Railroad, guiding escaped slaves to freedom.
The Escape of Shadrach Minkins
Now, I know there's not really anywhere to sit around here, but I'd like to tell you a story. Like John J. Smith, Shadrach Minkins was born in Virginia, but he was born into slavery. He lived in Norfolk, where he spent every day working long, hard hours in his master's tavern.
But one day, Shadrach decided enough was enough. In May 1850, he made a drastic decision and tried for an escape. It's likely he stowed away on a ship heading north, or he might have gotten lucky and contacted a sympathetic captain or crew member.
We just don't know. However he did it, Shadrach made it to Boston, where he had choices, where he could be paid for the work that he did, where he could be free. He found a job at the Corn Hill Coffee House and Tavern, and to hide his identity, he went by the name of Frederick.
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
But things weren't so simple. Months after he arrived in Boston, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The act required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they had escaped to a free state.
Noncompliance with this law was enforced with a hefty penalty. One morning, Shadrach got up to work at the coffee house. It was February 15th, 1851, nine months after he had escaped Virginia.
A group of men walked into the restaurant, and Shadrach served them coffee. And then, minutes later, the men rose and arrested Shadrach. It turned out the men were federal deputies, acting on behalf of Shadrach's owner.
They were there to take him back to Virginia. Under the new law, he was the first fugitive slave to be seized in all of New England. The deputies brought Shadrach to the courthouse, where he would stand trial before a commissioner.
According to the Fugitive Slave Act, the commissioner would be paid $10 if he found enough evidence that the person in question was a fugitive, but only $5 if he didn't, or about $400 and $200 in today's money. That's not really an incentive for justice, is it? In the meantime, word about Shadrach's arrest had spread rapidly, and a crowd of abolitionists had gathered outside the courthouse. I mean, a big, huge crowd.
And within that crowd was John J. Smith. But what could they do? They couldn't just stand there and let this injustice happen. Time was running out.
In a moment of courage, John and several dozen others, most of them African-American, stormed the courthouse. What happened next? Let's continue heading to the Lewis and Harriet Hayden house and find out.
