Twelve Years a Slave

by Solomon Northup

  The Fate of Solomon Northup

  The fate of Solomon Northup following the terse announcement by Oyer and Teminer Court that the case was cancelled has puzzled readers. Solomon had not appeared for the trial. Why? No one knew what had happened to him.

  Despite all of the publicity in New York newspapers and the impact of Solomon’s story, which resonated throughout the pre-war period, there was no outcry from the public as to the fate of Solomon Northup. A New York researcher, studying the accounts in the state’s newspapers of the 1850s dealing with the Northup story, remarked that in a case that had fascinated New York for four years, from the rescue of Solomon by Henry Northup in 1853 to the trial scheduled for 1857, it would seem enough interest had been focused on the story to bring questions from abolitionists or humanitarians or the simply curious as to what was the final resolution to the case. Not a word of inquiry, much less a demand for investigation, has been found by this editor or other researchers trying to find what happened to Solomon Northup. Not only the editor but highly qualified New York researchers have searched for information on the subject to be included in this volume, but in vain. What follows are the bits and pieces of the story that remain to help us conjecture about what may have happened.

  As to why Solomon disappeared, there are many conjectures. Some felt that Northup might have been killed by his kidnappers, or perhaps he was kidnapped a second time. Yet, in summer 1857, he was in Canada as a speaker, as is apparent from notices regarding disruptions of his speeches by angry mobs, so there is evidence he was alive after the case was dismissed. There is some evidence that Solomon was involved in the Underground Railroad, aiding escaped slaves in reaching Canada, and perhaps he felt it too dangerous to the people of the railroad and to himself to appear. Or perhaps the district attorney found the case too difficult to prosecute with Solomon Northup himself always away from the area earning speaking fees and others wondering if Solomon himself had been a party to the kidnapping (Fiske, 43-51).

  There has always been some conjecture that Solomon might have been a willing accomplice to Russell and Merrill. In other words, Solomon might have planned, with the two men, to go with them and allow them to sell him into slavery, with the idea that they split the sales money with him after they arranged for him to be freed. This theory is reflected in a couple of newspaper columns of the time, including the following:

  The Saratoga Press [Republican] in reply to inquiries of the Albany Evening Journal, in regard to the nolle prosequi entered in the case of Merrill and Russell, the alleged kidnappers of Sol Northup, at the last Oyer and Terminer, says: “We would answer by saying that since the indictment was found, the District Attorney was placed in possession of facts that whilst proving their guilt in a measure, would prevent a conviction. To speak more plainly, it is more than suspected that Sol Northup was an accomplice in the sale, calculating to slip away and share the spoils, but that the purchaser was too sharp for him, and instead of getting the cash, he got something else. [See Glens Falls Free Press, May 1, 1858]

  This scenario is one that Merrill had attempted earlier in his kidnapping career, according to testimony of John S. Enos.226 However, there is no evidence to prove that Solomon Northup’s kidnapping was anything other than what he represented in Twelve Years a Slave.227

  As to Solomon’s whereabouts, there was never a confirmation of rumors that he had decided to travel on some mission of his own and had been kidnapped again. However, the most provocative thought on this theory came from lawyer E.R. Mann, who summarized the Northup case in the The Bench and Bar of Saratoga County in 1876:

  [The demurrer] narrowed the issue down to the kidnapping charge, but, before the indictment was brought to trial, Northrup [sic] again disappeared. What his fate was is unknown to the public, but the desperate kidnappers no doubt knew. A nolle pros. was entered in their case in May, 1857, by District Attorney John O. Mott.228

  No grave of Solomon Northup has ever been found. Some in his family have said that the time of his death has been passed down as occurring in 1864, that he had gone to Mississippi and been killed. No evidence has been found substantiating this story, either of the trip or his death. There is some evidence that he visited a colleague in the Canadian Underground Railroad after the Emancipation on January 1, 1863, and in 1875 the New York State Census listed the marital status of his wife, Anne, as “Widowed” (Fiske, slideshow, What happened to Solomon Northup?).

  John Henry Northup, born in Sandy Hill in 1822, a nephew of Henry Northup, was well acquainted with both Solomon and Henry Northup. He wrote his version of the story in 1909 in a letter to his cousin, Edith Carman Hay, who recounted it:

  John Henry Northup said not long after they came home, Henry B. “got a young lawyer to hear Sol’s story. Soon by questions he got enough to write a book.” According to John Henry, Solomon Northup: 12 Years in Slavery [Twelve Years a Slave], written quickly and published in 1853, “created a sensation for it came out a short time after Uncle Tom’s Cabin [sic] by Mrs. Stowe. The last I heard of him,” said John Henry in 1909, Sol “was lecturing in Boston to help sell his book . . . All at once,” said John Henry, “he disappeared . . . We believed that he was kidnapped and taken away or killed or both.”229

  The Solomon Northup story reeks of tragedy and injustice, not just in the South at the time, but across the nation. In our pride as citizens in a nation dedicated to freedom, equality, and justice, we must be reminded that these are ideals toward which we continually struggle. Throughout our history, they have not become a reality for all citizens, black, white, red, or yellow. Slavery has existed for millennia throughout the world, with all races enslaving not only other races, but also members of their own. In the United States prior to the Civil War, slavery was a national, not merely a Southern, institution. Slavery still exists in some nations, and even in the U.S. in the form of human trafficking. Residuals of racism exist among our diverse people across the United States. Facts of history must temper our pride and instill a determination to bring democracy nearer to the ideal of the Founding Fathers.

  ORIGINAL APPENDICES

  Original Appendix A

  _____________

  NEW YORK ACT.

  An act more effectually to protect the free citizens of this State from being kidnapped, or reduced to Slavery.

  [Passed May 14, 1840.]

  The People of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

  1. Whenever the Governor of this State shall receive information satisfactory to him that any free citizen or any inhabitant of this State has been kidnapped or transported away out of this State, into any other State or Territory of the United States, for the purpose of being there held in slavery; or that such free citizen or inhabitant is wrongfully seized, imprisoned or held in slavery in any of the States or Territories of the United States, on the allegation or pretence that such a person is a slave or by color of any usuage [sic] or rule of law prevailing in such State or Territory, is deemed or taken to be a slave, or not entitled of right to the personal liberty belonging to a citizen; it shall be the duty of the said Governor to take such measures as he shall deem necessary to procure such person to be restored to his liberty, and returned to this State. The governor is hereby authorized to appoint and employ such agent or agents as he shall deem necessary to effect the restoration and return of such person; and shall furnish the said agent with such credentials and instructions as will be likely to accomplish the object of his appointment. The Governor may determine the compensation to be allowed to such agent for his services besides his necessary expenses.

  2. Such agent shall proceed to collect the proper proof to establish the rights of such person to his freedom, and shall perform such journeys, take such measures, institute and procure to be prosecuted such legal proceedings, under the direction of the Governor, as shall be necessary to procure such person to be restored to his liberty and returned to this State.

  3. The accounts for all s
ervices and expenses in carrying this act into effect shall be audited by the Comptroller, and paid by the Treasurer on his warrant, out of any moneys in the Treasury of this State not otherwise appropriated. The Treasurer may advance, on the Warrant of the Comptroller, to such agent, such sum or sums as the Governor shall certify to be reasonable advances to enable him to accomplish the purposes of his appointment, for which advance such agent shall account, on the final audit of his warrant.

  4. This act shall take effect immediately.

  Original Appendix B

  _____________

  MEMORIAL OF ANNE.

  To His Excellency, the Governor of the State of New York:

  The memorial of Anne Northup, of the village of Glens Falls, in the county of Warren, State aforesaid, respectfully sets forth—

  That your memorialist, whose maiden name was Anne Hampton, was forty-four years old on the 14th day of March last, and was married to Solomon Northup, then of Fort Edward, in the county of Washington and State aforesaid, on the 25th day of December, A. D. 1828, by Timothy Eddy, then a Justice of the Peace. That the said Solomon, after such marriage, lived and kept house with your memorialist in said town until 1830, when he removed with his said family to the town of Kingsbury in said county, and remained there about three years, and then removed to Saratoga Springs in the State aforesaid, and continued to reside in said Saratoga Springs and the adjoining town until about the year 1841, as near as the time can be recollected, when the said Solomon started to go to the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, since which time your memorialist has never seen her said husband.

  And your memorialist further states, that in the year 1841 she received information by a letter directed to Henry B. Northup, Esq., of Sandy Hill, Washington county, New-York, and post-marked at New-Orleans, that said Solomon had been kidnapped in Washington, put on a vessel, and was then in such vessel in New-Orleans, but could not tell how he came in that situation, nor what his destination was.

  That your memorialist ever since the last mentioned period has been wholly unable to obtain any information of where the said Solomon was, until the month of September last, when another letter was received from the said Solomon, post-marked at Marksville, in the parish of Avoyelles, in the State of Louisiana, stating that he was held there as a slave, which statement your memorialist believes to be true.

  That the said Solomon is about forty-five years of age, and never resided out of the State of New-York, in which State he was born, until the time he went to Washington city, as before stated. That the said Solomon Northup is a free citizen of the State of New-York, and is now wrongfully held in slavery, in or near Marksville, in the parish of Avoyelles, in the State of Louisiana, one of the United States of America, on the allegations or pretence that the said Solomon is a slave.

  And your memorialist further states that Mintus Northup was the reputed father of said Solomon, and was a negro, and died at Ford Edward, on the 22nd day of November, 1829; that the mother of said Solomon was a mulatto, or three quarters white, and died in the county Oswego, New-York, some five or six years ago, as your memorialist was informed and believes, and never was a slave.

  That your memorialist and her family are poor and wholly unable to pay or sustain any portion of the expenses of restoring the said Solomon to his freedom.

  Your excellency is entreated to employ such agent or agents as shall be deemed necessary to effect the restoration and return of said Solomon Northup, in pursuance of an act of the Legislature of the State of New-York, passed May 14th, 1840, entitled “An act more effectually to protect the free citizens of this State from being kidnapped or reduced to slavery.” And your memorialist will ever pray.

  (Signed), ANNE NORTHUP.

  Dated November 19, 1852.

  STATE OF NEW-YORK:

  Washington county, ss.

  Anne Northup, of the village of Glens Falls, in the county of Warren, in said State, being duly sworn, doth depose and say that she signed the above memorial, and that the statements therein contained are true.

  (Signed), ANNE NORTHUP.

  Subscribed and sworn before me this

  19th November, 1852.

  CHARLES HUGHES, Justice Peace

  We recommend that the Governor appoint Henry B. Northup, of the village of Sandy Hill, Washington county, New-York, as one of the agents to procure the restoration and return of Solomon Northup, named in the foregoing memorial of Anne Northup.

  Dated at Sandy Hill, Washington Co., N.Y.,

  November 20, 1852.

  (Signed)

  PETER HOLBROOK, DANIEL SWEET

  B. F. HOAG, ALMON CLARK,

  CHARLES HUGHES, BENJAMIN FERRIS,

  E.D.BAKER, JOSIAH H. BROWN

  ORVILLE CLARK.

  STATE OF NEW-YORK:

  Washington County, ss:

  Josiah Hand, of the village of Sandy Hill, in said county, being duly sworn, says, he is fifty-seven years old, and was born in said village, and has always resided there; that he has known Mintus Northup and his son Solomon, named in the annexed memorial of Anne Northup, since previous to the year 1816; that Mintus Northup then, and until the time of his death, cultivated a farm in the towns of Kingsbury and Fort Edward, from the time deponent first knew him until he died; that said Mintus and his wife, the mother of said Solomon Northup, were reported to be free citizens of New-York, and deponent believes they were so free; that said Solomon Northup was born in said county of Washington, as deponent believes , and was married Dec. 25th, 1828, in Fort Edward aforesaid, and his said wife and three children—two daughters and one son—are now living in Glens Falls, Warren county, New-York, and that the said Solomon Northup always resided in said county of Washington, and its immediate vicinity, until about 1841, since which time deponent has not seen him, but deponent has been credibly informed, and as he verily believes truly, the said Solomon is now wrongfully held as a slave in the State of Louisiana. And deponent further says that Anne Northup, named in the said memorial, is entitled to credit, and deponent believes the statements contained in her said memorial are true.

  (Signed), JOSIAH HAND

  Subscribed and sworn before me this

  19th day of November, 1852,

  Charles Hughes, Justice Peace

  STATE OF NEW-YORK:

  Washington county, ss:

  Timothy Eddy, of Fort Edward, in said county, being duly sworn, says he is now over—years old, and has been a resident of said town more than —years last past, and that he was well acquainted with Solomon Northup, named in the annexed memorial of Anne Northup, and with his father, Mintus Northup, who was a negro, —the wife of said Mintus was a mulatto woman; that said Mintus Northup and his said wife and family, two sons, Joseph and Solomon, resided in said town of Fort Edward for several years before the year 1828, and said Mintus died in said town A.D. 1829, as deponent believes. And deponent further says that he was a Justice of the Peace in said town in the year 1828, and as such Justice of the Peace, he, on the 25th day of Dec’r, 1828, joined the said Solomon Northup in marriage with Anne Hampton, who is the same person who has subscribed the annexed memorial. And deponent expressly says, that said Solomon was a free citizen of the State of New-York, and always lived in said State, until about the year A. D. 1840, since which time deponent has not seen him, but has recently been informed, and as deponent believes truly, that said Solomon Northup is wrongfully held in slavery in or near Marksville, in the parish of Avoyelles, in the State of Louisiana. And deponent further says, that said Mintus Northup was nearly sixty years old at the time of his death, and was, for more than thirty years next prior to his death, a free citizen of the State of New-York.

  And this deponent further says, that Anne Northup, the wife of said Solomon Northup, is of good character and reputation, and her statements, as contained in the memorial hereto annexed, are entitled to full credit.

  (Signed), TIMOTHY EDDY.

  Subscribed and sworn before me this

  19t
h day of November, 1852,

  TIM’Y STOUGHTON, Justice

  STATE OF NEW-YORK:

  Washington County, ss:

  Henry B. Northup, of the village of Sandy Hill, in said county, being duly sworn, says, that he is forty-seven years old, and has always lived in said county; that he knew Mintus Northup, named in the annexed memorial, from deponent’s earliest recollection until the time of his death, which occurred at Fort Edward, in said county, in 1829; that deponent knew the children of said Mintus, viz, Solomon and Joseph; that they were both born in the county of Washington aforesaid, as deponent believes; that deponent was well acquainted with said Solomon, who is the same person named in the annexed memorial of Anne Northup, from his childhood; and that said Solomon always resided in said county of Washington and the adjoining counties until about the year 1841; that said Solomon could read and write; that said Solomon and his mother and father were free citizens of the State of New-York; that sometime about the year 1841 this deponent received a letter from said Solomon, post-marked New-Orleans, stating that while on business at Washington city, he had been kidnapped, and his free papers taken from him, and he was then on board a vessel, in irons, and was claimed as a slave, and that he did not know his destination, which the deponent believes to be true, and he urged this deponent to assist in procuring his restoration to freedom; that deponent has lost or mislaid said letter, and cannot find it; that deponent has since endeavored to find where said Solomon was, but could get no farther trace of him until Sept. last, when this deponent ascertained by a letter purporting to have been written by the direction of said Solomon, that said Solomon was held and claimed as a slave in or near Marksville, in the parish of Avoyelles, Louisiana, and that this deponent verily believes that such information is true, and that said Solomon is now wrongfully held in slavery at Marksville aforesaid.