Kentucky raid in Cass County (1847)
Kentucky raid in Cass County (1847) was conducted by slaveholders and slave catchers who raided Underground Railroad stations in Cass County, Michigan to capture black people and return them to slavery. After unsuccessful attempts, and a lost court case, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was enacted. Michigan's Personal Liberty Act of 1855 was passed in the state legislature to prevent the capture of formerly enslaved people that would return them to slavery. Background Cass County—particularly Calvin, Penn, and Porter townships—was settled by Quakers from Ohio and Indiana and free blacks beginning in 1829. They became a network of people who provided freedom seekers with food, shelter, and transportation along the Underground Railroad to sites in Canada, where slavery was illegal. Two Underground Railroad lines operated in Michigan. One was the Quaker line, which brought freedom seekers north from the Ohio River. Another was the northeasterly route, the Illinois line, from St. Louis. Cass County was the starting point for the Central Michigan Route that had stops every 15 miles between Cass County and Detroit, Michigan. Stations were at Climax, Battle Creek, Marshall, Albion, Grass Lake, Ann Arbor, Plymouth, and Detroit, where they crossed into Canada (Sandwich First Baptist Church). The Underground Railroad had delivered formerly enslaved people into Michigan at an increasing rate over the 1840s. In some cases, men traveled to Bourbon County, Kentucky to transport enslaved men and women to Cass County, where some Quakers provided shelter and transportation to freedom seeker's ultimate destination. Some settled in Michigan, others continued their travel to Canada. William Holman Jones of Calvin Township and Wright Modlin of Williamsville brought many bondspeople into the county, frustrating the slaveholders in Kentucky. They sent a spy from Kentucky to Cass County, who familiarized himself with the Quakers who were Underground Railroad stationmasters and conductors. The spy returned to Kentucky and the information was used to plan a raid. Raid Thirteen men from Kentucky came to Cass County in August 1847 and broke into smaller groups to hunt down formerly enslaved people. They captured nine former slaves at Quaker farms, including the Shugart, Osborn, East, and Bogue properties. When it became known that slave catchers and owners had kidnapped nine people, a group formed of white and free black abolitionists to stop the Kentuckians. One crowd was more than 300 people. The group faced off with the slave catchers in Vandalia at O'Dell's Mill, owned by James O'Dell. Outnumbered and believing that they were in the right due to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, the Kentuckians agreed to stand trial in Cassopolis and posted bond to get out of jail. The nine former slaves were held at a local tavern. Fourteen men from Kentucky were arrested for trespass, assault and battery, and kidnapping. Trials Three days after the confrontation, a trial was conducted. Charges were filed by white and free black abolitionists and Quakers. The men from Kentucky provided documentation to prove ownership of the enslaved people. The case was tried by Ebenezer