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386 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
fled with her little boy, and they all, after several months, safely reached
Sandusky, where for two days they were secreted, Eliza cutting short,
her hair and dressing as a man, her little boy dressed as a girl and
claimed by a kind-hearted woman as her own, for Eliza and her boy were
almost white. This was the party that on a beautiful day boarded the
steamer at Sandusky, at a time when Eliza's master Avas on the Avharf,
and after a few hours Avere all safely landed at Maiden, on the free soil
of Canada.
On the afternoon of the 20th day of October, 1852, the City of
Sandusky Avas the scene of vei'y great excitement, growing out of the
arrest of two men, two Avomen and three children by some Kentuckians,
aided by 0. Rice, then city marshal. Three of the slaves were claimed
by one Lewis F. Wehner, and four by Charles M. Gibbons. The slaves
had arrived by the afternoon train and were going on board the steamer
at the time of her departure for Detroit.
The negroes were forcibly dragged ashore and taken to the mayor'-s
office. The citizens were told by the marshal, as he flourished his cane,
that it Avas a legal arrest and that the fugitives would be discharged
unless the mayor should so decide. It was only on this understanding
that he was suffered to take the negroes through the streets to the
mayor's office, a distance of over half a mile, without molestation. Mean-
Avhile Mr. F. S. Hitchcock, John Irvine and John B. Lott came into the
law office of Rush R. Sloane and requested him to appear before the
mayor and learn if the negroes were properly arrested and legally detained.
Upon reaching the mayor's office they found the negroes there
and the room filled with excited people. Pistols and bowie knives were
in the hands of many. After waiting a short time Mr. Sloane asked by
what authority these persons were held. There was no reply. "Are
there any writs or papers to show why they are held 1'' There was no
reply. He then said, speaking particularly to the men who sought this
service, "I see no reason for detaining these persons;" and at this,
John B. Lott, a colored man, cried out in an excited voice, "Hustle
them out." Immediately the people, carrying the negroes along, crowded
out of the office, and as they started, one of the Kentuckians, all of whom
had been standing near during the whole of the proceedings, turned to
him and said, "Here are the papers, I own the negroes, I'll hold you
individually responsible for their escape.'' He gave them the consoling
reply that he Avas "good for them."
The negroes were that same night placed in a sail-boat in charge of.
trusty conductors, and Avere received from the small boat the next day
by Capt. James Nugent, a noble man, then living at Sandusky, and
secreted on board the vessel he commanded, and on the second day after
were safely landed in Canada. Soon after, two suits were commenced
against Mr. Sloane in the District Court of the United States, at which
time the whole state constituted the district and Columbus the place
where the courts were held. At the October term, 1854, the'eases came
on for trial. In the case of Charles M. Gibbons against Rush R. Sloane,
who claimed to own four of these slaves, the court instructed the jury