[A] See the Opinion of Attorney General Crittenden.
REPORT.
On the 13th of February, A.D. 1851, one John Caphart, of Norfolk, Va., came to Boston, in pursuit of one Shadrach, alleged to be a fugitive slave and the property of John Debree, a purser in the navy, and attended by Seth J. Thomas, Esq., as counsel, made his complaint, as agent and attorney of the said owner, before George T. Curtis, Esq., U. S. Commissioner. On the evening of the 14th, the following warrant was placed in the hands of special marshal Sawin, and served, Shadrach offering no resistance, about half-past 11 on Saturday forenoon, the 15th, at the Cornhill Coffee House, where Shadrach had been employed for some months as a waiter:—
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Massachusetts District, ss.
To the Marshal of our District of Massachusetts, or either of his deputies.
[Seal]Greeting:
These are, in the name of the President of the United States of America, to command you, the said marshal or deputies, and each of you, forthwith to apprehend one Shadrach, now commorant in Boston, in said district, a colored person, who is alleged to be a fugitive from service or labor, and who has escaped from service or labor in the state of Virginia, (if he may be found in your precinct), and have him forthwith before me, one of the commissioners of the circuit court of the United States for the Massachusetts district, at the court house in Boston aforesaid, then and there to answer to the complaint of John Caphart, attorney of John De Bree, of Norfolk, in the state of Virginia, alleging under oath, that the said Shadrach owes service or labor to the said De Bree, in the said state of Virginia, and while held to service there under the laws of the said state of Virginia, escaped into the state of Massachusetts aforesaid, and praying for the restoration of the said Shadrach to the said De Bree, and then and there before me to be dealt with according to law.
Hereof fail not, and make due return of this with your doings thereon, before me.