Twelve Years a Slave

by Solomon Northup

  The fact that the book was being written was discussed in papers of the time, including this example from an article in Warren County, with no date or additional information provided: “Another Uncle Tom. We learn that a legal gentleman in this country is engaged in writing the life of Sol. Northup, the kidnapped slave rescued through the agency of Mr. Northup. We suppose the work will be entitled, ‘Uncle Sol.’”

  The proliferation of articles in the New York papers during these years that dealt with the Northup case attest to the interest New York citizens had in the unfolding events. Although the newspapers created a groundswell of public information about the kidnapping, Henry Northup was relying on the book to give more detail about the kidnappers in order to reach people who could identify the criminals so they could be brought to justice. For that reason, he determined that the book should be published as soon as possible. Under such pressure, the ghost writer, with Henry Northup helping in every way he could, produced the book in three and a half months—an astounding feat! Though sales of the book did not equal the extraordinary level of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the narrative was highly publicized and was widely read before the beginning of the Civil War. After its publication around the middle of July, 1853, more interest in finding the kidnappers erupted than even Henry Northup could have expected.

  The Arrest of Merrill and Russell

  Shortly after the book was published, newspapers ran accounts of the continuing efforts to bring the kidnappers to trial. Here are accounts of the arrests of Merrill and Russell, as reported in an article titled “The Arrest of Solomon Northup’s Alleged Kidnappers” by a correspondent of the Washington County Post on July 14, 1853:

  . . . Merrill was arrested this morning at his mother’s at Wood Hollow, and brought here [Gloversville] for examination. Henry B. Northup has spent a great deal of time and money in ferreting out the scoundrel, and they have no doubt got the man. Solomon Northup identifies him without a doubt. Merrill has long been regarded as a desperate fellow. They found him asleep, with a heavy bowie knife and brace of pistols on the floor by his side. The arrest has caused a very general excitement.

  . . . An officer from Saratoga County, accompanied by Officer Brazier, arrested this morning a canal boat captain named J. L. Russell, of the boat J.F. Crain, of the Rochester City line, charged with being Merrill’s associate in the kidnapping. He was hand-cuffed, and taken to Ballston. On his way to the cars, he admitted that he was in Washington at the Inauguration in 1841.

  Other newspapers reported the arrests as well, with at least one stating that the men were identified through the descriptions and incidents recorded in Northup’s book (“Trial of the Suspected Kidnappers . . .,” New York Times, July 12, 1854). A year later, according to the Saratoga Whig as reported first in Albany Evening Journal in “The Northrop [sic] Kidnapping Case,” on July 13, 1854, Merrill and Russell were arraigned, based on this testimony:

  . . . Solomon Northup sworn, says he was 47 the 10th of this month; resided at Saratoga Springs in the month of March, 1841, had a family at that place consisting of wife and three children. Knows the prisoner now in court; first saw him at Saratoga Springs in 1841, latter part of March. There was another man with him, an associate, who is now sitting beside him. One now known as Merrill, called his name Merrill Brown, and the other called his Abraham Hamilton. He first saw them at Mr. Moon’s Tavern at Saratoga Springs; they did not appear to have any particular business; they wished to hire witness to go to New York with them to drive their carriage and play the fiddle in a circus company to which they said they belonged; they offered him one dollar per day and expenses from the time he left until he returned. They had a carriage and span of horses there at the time; he drove their horses attached to the carriage to Albany by Cohoes, and then to New York City. After his arrival in New York he wished to leave, but prisoners wanted him to stay and go to Washington with them; he finally concluded to go with them, and accordingly went to the Custom House and obtained free papers, as he was afraid to go to Washington without them; prisoners went with him to what they called the Custom House, and got what witness supposed to be free papers . . .

  Merrill, Russell, and Solomon proceeded to Baltimore through New Jersey, where they saw Thaddeus St. John. They went to Gadsby’s Hotel in Washington on the evening before General Harrison’s funeral. Solomon, in his testimony, said that he had spent the day with Merrill and Russell, smoking and drinking. They reminded him frequently to stay with them, but he became ill during the afternoon, progressing until he was “insensible” by evening. Then he awakened handcuffed and fettered to a ring in the floor of Williams Slave Pen, in Washington, D.C. The article originally from the Saratoga Whig continues:

  The first white persons that came in were James Birch and Ebenezer Radburn; one asked him how he felt; [Solomon] told him he was sick, didn’t know what was matter, and asked reason why he was fettered and handcuffed there; Birch said he had bought witness; told Birch he was a free man, and Birch said that he was a liar, and that he had run away from Georgia; told him never been in Georgia and could get evidence from New York that he was born free and had always been free man; Birch said he would not hear any of his lies, and if he denied having run away from Georgia would flog him . . . Birch told Radburn to get paddle and cat-o-nine-tails. Radburn held him across a bench with his feet on his handcuffs and then Birch broke the paddle on him, after which he took the cat-o-nine-tails and whipped him with that until Radburn told him to stop, as he would be too sore to go to New Orleans. . . . He was kept in slavery for nearly twelve years up to January 3, 1853. He was on that day set at liberty and returned to his family. He has never seen either of the prisoners from the time he was taken sick in Washington until last week. He first saw Merrill in Fulton co., two miles from Fonda’s Bush; first saw him in bed at the house of prisoner’s father . . . [See Albany Evening Journal].

  During his cross examination, Solomon Northup stated that he had no memories of being in Albany with the prisoners, nor of places where they stayed while traveling to New York. He wasn’t sure which of the prisoners asked him to continue with them past New York, but he thought it was Russell. Both men, however, offered him one dollar a day and his expenses if he would continue to Washington. One or the other of the two men poured liquor for him to drink during that last day when he became sick. He met Thaddeus St. John in Washington and believes that he joined the drinking party.

  The next witness to testify was Norman Prindle, who lived in Saratoga Springs in March of 1841, where he was a stage driver. He knew Solomon Northup from 1826 or 1827; Solomon also had lived in Saratoga Springs in 1841. According to the article, Prindle identified Merrill, whom he saw in Saratoga Springs in a carriage accompanied by a man with “long hair and large whiskers.” Prindle testified that he saw Solomon Northup leave in the carriage with these two men. Prindle had earlier spoken with Solomon Northup and urged him not to leave with the men to the South. Prindle indicated that others spoke to Solomon Northup with the same advice.

  Merrill and Russell were held in jail without bond at the time, though soon a civil suit was filed, and bail was set at $5000 each [See Albany Evening Journal].

  A letter to the editor of the Washington County People’s Journal by I.M. Van Namee222 provides vivid insights into the lives of Alexander Merrill and Joseph Russell, excerpts of which appear next. Mr. Van Namee attended the legal proceedings summarized above. We start with his description of the defendants:

  . . .Merrill was first brought in. He is an ugly looking fellow, (one of Mrs. Stowe’s ‘bullet headed’ gemman) and in spite of years of practice in dissimulation, could not conceal that in his position he felt “rather uneasy.” Immediately after on the motion of Northup, Russel [sic] was also put on trial. He too, appeared to be a hardened specimen of humanity. Solomon Northup was first sworn: when he testified to all the facts related in his published life, that could have any bearing on the case at issue . . .

  After Solomon Northup had testifi
ed and been cross-examined, Thaddeus St. John was called. He told of going to General Harrison’s funeral by way of Baltimore, where Merrill and Russell appeared:

  . . .Expressed some surprise on seeing the former [Russell], and asked what business called him there; whereupon M. told him in R.’s not to call them by their real names. On again inquiring their business, Merrill with a significant gesture, pointed to the negro who was with them. That negro was Solomon Northup. He was not surprised to find M. there, who was a wandering fellow and had often been South. Parted with them at Baltimore, and next saw them at Gadsby’s Hotel in Washington . . . Had never seen the Negro until at Baltimore [unclear] and remarked that they had changed their appearance for some other reason than mere fancy. They made no reply, but laughed. . . . R. however, at length found me and took seat by my side. M. come and sat in the seat behind me . . . Thereupon he took off his mantle, drew out his watch, and thrust his hand into his pocket and drew forth a handful of gold . . . As the next exhibition he opened his watch, drew out a $1000 bank bill, and scratched up two more from the case of it. . . . I then took a piece of paper and with my pencil put down $3000 for the bills; what I value of the watch, the gold, the negro at $500, when M. quickly told me to add $150 to that, making $650 for the negro . . .

  Norman Prindle was then sworn. He testified to the facts sworn to by Solomon in regard to the manner in which he left Saratoga Springs. Says he told him that those men would not let him come back in; to which Solomon replied he would risk their selling or leaving him.

  . . . Reports from Fulton Co. place the character of these men in no very favorable light. It is said that M. some years ago endeavored to entice a negro boy in his own neighborhood, by persuading him to let him sell him, then run away and be again sold, each time dividing the booty. He is also said to have declared at one time that he had followed kidnapping for years; and that he felt as safe in that as in other business. These and many others come from reliable sources; but perhaps the cap-leaf of all is the manner in which Russell concealed a horse thief some years ago. He had him in his own house, and when the officers were about to search it, he concealed him in a bed between his two daughters . . .

  Very respectfully yours,

  I.M. Van Namee 223

  Court Proceedings

  After a number of delays, the trial was scheduled in Oyer and Terminer Court for February 13, as reported in The Temperance Helper, which listed the four charges against Merrill and Russell. Their attorneys objected to the first three:

  The first count charged the prisoners with feloniously inveigling and kidnapping one Solomon Northup, with the intent unlawfully without his consent and against his will, to cause him to be sold as a slave; and that they did feloniously and against his will sell him as a slave; . . .

  The second count charged the prisoners with feloniously inveigling said Northup to accompany them to the District of Columbia with intent feloniously to cause him to be sold as a slave.

  The third count charged the prisoners with feloniously inveigling said Northup from this State to the District of Columbia; and that there they unlawfully and feloniously sold and transferred his services or labor without his consent.

  The fourth charged them with feloniously inveigling said Northup from this State to the District of Columbia, with intent there to cause him to be sold as a slave; and that they there did sell him as a slave. [Temperance Helper, Feb. 15, 1855; Feb. 22, 1855]

  Merrill and Russell’s lawyers requested dismissal of all but the last of the charges because the charges did not state that the prisoners kidnapped Solomon with the intent to keep him confined within the State of New York secretly, or to transfer him against his will out of New York, or to cause him to be sold or forced into service against his will. In other words, since the charges did not specify New York as the area where these activities began, but focused on Washington, D.C., where Solomon was actually sold, the court did not have jurisdiction.

  After listening to the arguments, the Court required that the objection be formally presented as a demurrer, so that it could be reviewed by the Court at General Term. This action deferred the trial until the General Term could decide whether New York had jurisdiction over this case [See Temperance Helper, Feb. 15, 1855; Feb. 22, 1855].

  The required depositions from Birch and Radford were taken. Birch gave the same fabricated story of the purchase of Solomon Northup, answering thus in cross interrogatories:

  I have bought and sold Slaves for several years but not since the year 1842. 2d. Had a partner in the year 1841 named Theophilus Freeman who resided in New Orleans, La. The partnership commenced in 1841 and ended in 1842. Freeman’s place of business and residence, as before stated, was New Orleans, La. 3d. Have bought slaves in the City of Washington and sent them all to the South for sale. Number not recollected. Not aware that I have sold any in this place as slaves but have Sold several to themselves to pay me when they could and some to their friends for the same purpose. The document is signed by Joseph C. Lewis. [See The People vs. Alexander Merrill and Joseph Russell]

  Merrill and Russell applied for release based on adequate bail set to guarantee their attendance at the following term of the Oyer and Terminer Court. Because the District Attorney had concerns about whether the Statute of Limitations were applicable, Russell’s bail was nominal. Merrill’s bail was $800 [See Washington County People’s Journal].

  In order to understand the long, drawn out, legal actions involving the kidnappers at this point, the reader should understand that disputed legal cases could be appealed from the county court, in this case, Oyer and Terminer of Saratoga County, to the New York Supreme Court. If there was further disagreement with a decision, the case could be appealed to the Court of Appeals for a final judgment. The decision of the Oyer and Terminer Court to demur the case until after the New York Supreme Court decided jurisdiction in the four counts against Merrill and Russell was the first step in this process.

  The Ballston Democratic Whig Journal reported on the results that July 17, 1855, stating that the first count of the indictment, that of Merrill and Russell tricking Solomon Northup into leaving Saratoga County in order to sell him as a slave, was found good. However, the other counts were dropped because the crimes listed were committed in the District of Columbia, not in New York; therefore, New York courts had no jurisdiction. The decision was appealed to the New York Supreme Court, but it was confirmed. The District Attorney decided at that point to appeal to the New York Court of Appeals [See Ballston Democratic Whig Journal].

  Throughout these years as the case wended its way through the New York Court system, all of the press of New York actively followed the court proceedings. The small contingent of African American papers were, naturally, especially interested. Suspicious of the proceedings, they still hoped for justice, as witnessed by these two examples printed in 1855, at least one year before the trial was scheduled:

  THE NORTHRUP [sic] KIDNAPPERS.

  What will be done with the kidnappers of SOLOMON NORTHRUP [sic]? This is a query we have often made, and one which has as often been propounded to us. The question could be very easily answered, and the case would have been settled long ago, had the aggrieved party been a white man. We hope the vile offenders, MERRILL and RUSSELL, will have ample justice meted out to them. We learn from the Saratogian, that the Supreme Court has sustained the demurrer to the indictment against them. The effect of this decision will be the striking out of these counts of the indictment in each of which the crime was charged to have been committed in the District of Columbia, and to leave only the count in which the inveigling of MR. NORTHRUP [sic] is charged to have been committed in the County of Saratoga, with intent to sell him as a slave, and that he was afterwards sold in pursuance of that intention.

  The proceedings in this case have not been quite as ‘summary’ as they might have been or as they would have been if SOLOMON had kidnapped his kidnappers, or had he been a recaptured fugitive. This is a strange face land we liv
e in, to say the least, abounding in kidnappers, and women whippers, and Fourth of Julys, and Stringfellows, and Atchisons with a considerable sprinkle of proslavery preachers to add a charm to the delightful and expressive picture . . . [See Frederick Douglass Paper, July 20, 1855].

  And from another article of the black abolitionist press:

  THE NORTHRUP [sic] CASE. It now looks marvelously as though the scoundrelly kidnappers of Solomon Northrup [sic], the free man of color who was inveigled from Washington County, N.Y., to Washington City, and there sold as a slave, would escape unwhipped of justice. Three counts of indictment against them have been swept away by the court, leaving only a single count in which they are charged with having inveigled their victim abroad for the purpose of selling him. The final decision was given on the 4th inst. The defendants are under five hundred dollars bond only, a less sum than would be required if they were under indictment for stealing a spavined horse [See Frederick Douglass Paper, August 24,1855].

  When the case finally reached the New York Court of Appeals, it reversed the decisions of the lower courts because the indictment legally could not be split, with one count being acceptable while the other three were ruled not acceptable. Consequently, the case was returned to the county. These conclusions are explained in the New York Court of Appeals’ “Report of Cases”.224

  After that ruling, The Daily Saratogian reported that the trial on the indictment of Russell and Merrill would likely be in September of 1856. However, in a column headed “Court Proceedings” in the Ballston Journal of May 26, 1857, the following terse statement appears: “The People agst Henry Merrill and Joseph Russell, under an indictment for kidnapping Solmon [sic] Northup. Case discharged.” The case was never brought to trial.225