"Two young colored men, free born, were stolen from Wilmington a few nights ago and taken, it is supposed, to some of the Southern slave markets.... Fifty or sixty persons it is said, have been stolen from the lower part of the State in the last six months."[246]
In 1840 the "Baltimore Sun" said: "A most villainous system of kidnapping has been extensively carried on in the State of Delaware by a gang of scoundrels residing there, aided and abetted by a number of confederates living on the Eastern Shore of this State."[247]
While discussing kidnapping in Delaware, it is very unlikely we should forget to mention probably the most notorious kidnapping gang which the domestic slave trade produced. The principal character of the gang, and the one from which it seems to have drawn its inspiration, and the one from which it took its name—was a woman—in looks more like a man than a woman—Patty Cannon by name—well known by tradition to every Delawarian and Eastern Shore of Marylander. A son-in-law of hers was hanged for the murder of a negro trader. His widow then married one Joe Johnson who became a noted character in the business of kidnapping through the aid and instruction of his mother-in-law, Patty Cannon. Johnson was convicted once and suffered the punishment of the lash and pillory. The grand jury in May, 1829, found three indictments for murder against Patty Cannon,[248] but she died in jail May 11, of the same year.[249]
White kidnappers sometimes used free colored men as tools by means of which to ensnare other free colored men, and shared with them the profits of the trade.[250] Indeed, the free colored men seem not to have been much averse in aiding in the enslavement of their "brethren." They sometimes even formed kidnapping bands of their own and pursued the business without the aid of white men. Such a gang as this once operated near Snow Hill, Maryland. It is said to have kidnapped and sent off several hundred free negroes.[251]
Kidnappers devised various schemes for the accomplishment of their purposes, some of them no less humorous than infamous. A man in Philadelphia was found to be engaged in the occupation of courting and marrying mulatto women and then selling them as slaves.[252] Another plan was for one or two confederates to find out the bodily marks of a suitable free colored person after which the other confederate would go before a magistrate and lay claim to the ill-fated negro, describing his marks, call in his accomplice as witness and so get possession of the negroes.[253]
Probably the most ingenious of all methods of kidnapping was that brought to light in Charleston, South Carolina, as related by Francis Hall:
"The agents were a justice of the peace, a constable and a slave dealer.... A victim having been selected, one of the firm applied to the justice upon a shown charge of assault, or similar offense, for a writ, which was immediately issued and served by the constable, and the negro conveyed to prison.... The constable now appears, exaggerates the dangers of his situation, explains how small is his chance of being liberated even if innocent, by reason of the amount of jail fees and other legal expenses; but he knows a worthy man who is interested in his behalf, and will do what is necessary to procure his freedom upon no harder condition than an agreement to serve him for a certain number of years. It may be supposed the negro is persuaded.... The worthy slave dealer now appears on the stage, the indenture of bondage is ratified in the presence of the worthy magistrate and the constable, who shares the price of blood, and the victim is hurried on shipboard to be seen no more."[254]
From the nature of our information concerning kidnapping it is readily seen that we have but little basis for a statistical estimate of the number kidnapped. It must have ranged, however, from a few hundred to two or three thousand annually. It appears quite certain that as many were kidnapped as escaped from bondage, if not more.
The "Liberator" alone records nearly a hundred cases of detected kidnapping between 1831 and 1860. But the number detected probably bears but little relation to the number actually kidnapped. As was before shown in the cases mentioned almost whole families were carried off, and that in most cases, when a discovery was made, it was found that the kidnapping gang had been in the business for years.
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