The Liberation of Jane Johnson: Her Famous Escape and Court Testimony
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.
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⇒ The Liberation of Jane Johnson: Her Famous Escape and Court Testimony
