Rev. Samuel Green Newspaper Articles

Samuel Green in the News

1828-1877

Samuel Green was an important local figure whose personal situation captured the nation's attention. For more information about Samuel Green see the Samuel Green page.

Cambridge Chronicle - 8 March 1828 -

Sheriff's sale against William LeCompte of Charles at suit of Samuel LeCompte: farm where William LeCompte resides, Oyster Shell Point; negro men Samuel, Daniel, and Denwood; negro women Kitty and Milcah; negro boys Sam about 22, Sam about 14, Melvill, James, Daniel; negro girls Betsey and Maria.
[Charles LeCompte owned many slaves and frequently sold them to buyers in Kentucky, Baltimore, and southern states according to the 1827-1833 Dorchester County Chattel Records. At different points, LeCompte owned several slaves named Samuel and Kitty. The slaves named Samuel and Kitty mentioned in the Chattel records from 1827-1833, were sold out of the area and/or were not close in age to out subjects. Nevertheless, the Samuel, Sam, and Kitty mentioned in the newspaper article above may or may not be Samuel Green. The article does show a Samuel, Sam, and Kitty of approximately the correct age living close (about 1/3 mile south) to where Samuel stated he was born and lived.]

Baltimore Sun - 27, 28, 29 July 1852 - Colored Colonization Convention

[For the full three articles see: The Colored Colonization Convention.]

In pursuance of public notice, a meeting of delegates to the Convention of Free Colored People of the State was held in the lower room of Washington Hall yesterday afternoon. The Convention was temporarily organized at 3 o'clock by calling James A. Handy, of Fell's Point, to the chair. John H. Walker being appointed secretary. Mr. Handy returned his thanks for the honor conferred upon him.

On motion of Charles O. Fisher, of Fell's Point, a committee of one from each delegation present was appointed to nominate permanent officers of the Convention. On motion of James F. Jackson, the credentials of the delegates were handed in, and the following sections of the State were found to be represented:...

...Dorchester County- B. Jenifer, C. Sinclair, S. Green, Thomas Fuller, S. Camper, J. Hughes...

...The Dorchester county delegation having seen this state of things, several of them arose and remarked that they did not think that their presence here could be of any benefit, and they therefore proposed to withdraw and go home. This announcement was received with applause, and cries of "good" from the opponents of colonization... ...A member from Dorchester county said that if they were assured that the colored people of Baltimore desired them to remain, they would do so. Their object was to consult for the good of the colored race...

[Day 2] ...In the absence of Josiah Hughes, of Dorchester, one of the Secretaries, Cornelius Campbell, was appointed to fill the vacancy... ...Several of the delegates from Dorchester county and other places, were not present, having gone home in consequence of the disturbances on Monday afternoon...

Democrat (Cambridge) - 29 April 1857 -

The case of the State against Sam Green (free negro) indicted for having in his possession, papers, pamphlets and pictorial representations, having a tendency to create discontent, &c., among the people of color in the State, was tried before the court on Friday last.

This case was of the utmost importance, and has created in the public mind a great deal of interest—it being the first case of the kind ever having occurred in our country.

It appeared, in evidence, that this Green has a son in Canada, to whom Green made a visit last summer. Since his return to this country, suspicion has fastened upon him, as giving aid and assisting slaves who have since absconded and reached Canada, and several weeks ago, a party of gentlemen from New Market district, went at night, to Green's house and made search, whereupon was found a volume of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," a map of Canada, several schedules of routes to the North, and a letter from his son in Canada, detailing the pleasant trip he had, the number of friends he met with on the way, with plenty to eat, drink, &c., and concludes with a request to his father, that he shall tell certain other slaves, naming them, to come on, which slaves, it is well known, did leave shortly afterwards, and have reached Canada. The case was argued with great ability, the counsel on both sides displaying a great deal of ingenuity, learning and eloquence. The first indictment was for having in possession the letter, map and route schedules.

Notwithstanding the mass of evidence given, to show the prisoner's guilt, in unlawfully having in his possession these documents, and the nine-tenths of the community in which he lived, believing that he had a hand in the running away of slaves, it was the opinion of the court, that the law under which he was indicted, was not applicable to the case, and that he must, accordingly, render a verdict of not guilty.

He was immediately arraigned upon another indictment, for having in possession "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and tried; in this case the court has not yet rendered a verdict, but holds it under curia till after the Somerset county court. It is to be hoped that the court will find the evidence in this court sufficient to bring it within the scope of the law under which the prisoner is indicted (that of 1842, chap. 272), and that the prisoner may meet his due reward—be that what it may.

That there is something required to be done by our Legislators, for the protection of slave property, is evident from the variety of constructions put upon the statute in this case, and we trust, that at the next meeting of the Legislature there will be such amendments, as to make the law on this subject, perfectly clear and comprehensible to the understanding of every one.

In the language of the assistant counsel for the State, "Slavery must be protected or it must be abolished."

From the same sheet, of May 20th, the terrible doom of Samuel Green , is announced in the following words:

In the case of the State against Sam Green, (free negro) who was tried at the April term of the Circuit Court of this county, for having in his possession abolition pamphlets, among which was "Uncle Tom's Cabin," has been found guilty by the court, and sentenced to the penitentiary for the term of ten years—until the 14th of May, 1867.

American Eagle (Cambridge) - 3 June 1857 -

Sam Green has been found guilty by the court and sentenced to the penitentiary for the term of ten years, until the 14th of May 1867 - Democrat

Poor fellow, he will have a hard time to serve ten years by that date. It will be seen that our new editor is a profound mathematician as well as a learned politician.

New York Herald-Tribune - 3 June 1857 -

Pro-Slavery Gags

Correspondence of The N.Y. Tribune.
Elkton, Cecil Co., Md., May 27, 1857.
At the April term of the Circuit Court of Dorchester County (Md.), Sam Green, a free negro, was tried for having in his possession certain incendiary papers, &c., and thus aiding slaves to escape. It appears that a volume of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," a map of Canada, several schedules of routes to the North, and a letter from his son (an absconded slave) who is in Canada, &c., were found in his house, but for some cause or other the Court held that the law under which he was indicted was not applicable to the case, and he was accordingly acquitted. He was then immediately arraigned upon another indictment - for having in his possession "Uncle Tom's Cabin" - tried, convicted and sentenced to ten years imprisonment in the Penitentiary. Upon this conviction The Elkton (Cecil Co.) Democrat of the 23d inst., thus editorially comments:

This is the second conviction within our knowledge under the act forbidding the circulation of incendiary publications in Maryland. If "Uncle Tom's Cabin" comes under this class of publications, a number of our most respectable citizens are liable to the fate of Green. The law in question is exceedingly stringent on this point, and it becomes our citizens generally to acquaint themselves with its provisions. It will be remembered that a newspaper in a neighboring State (The Blue Hen's Chicken) fell under its ban, and the editor dared not come into this county. The New York Tribune, it is said, would also be prohibited from circulating here, if the law were duly enforced; and it has been said, in the Worcester Shield, that certain language of The New-York Christian Advocate and Journal in reference to the Dred Scott case is regarded in that quarter as incendiary, and intimations of legal process hinted at. The provisions of this law ought to be correctly understood by all who are in the receipt of Abolition pamphlets or newspapers, or they might unwittingly fall into trouble.

The Democrat is somewhat out in regard to its law, as the act of Assembly under which Green was convicted is that of 1841, and does not refer at all to whites. It declares that is any free negro or mulatto shall knowingly call for, demand, or receive at or from and Post Office in this State, or shall knowingly receive, or have in his or her possession, any Abolition handbill, pamphlet, newspaper, pictorial representation, or other paper of an inflammatory character, having a tendency to create discontent among or stir up to insurrection the people of color in this State, he or she shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and shall; upon conviction, be sentenced to not less than ten nor more than twenty years imprisonment in the Penitentiary. We have a law, however - that of 1835 - which declares it a high offense against the supremacy of this State for any person knowingly to circulate among the inhabitants thereof any pictorial representation, or any pamphlet, newspaper, handbill, or other paper, printed or written, of an inflammatory character, or calculated to create discontent among or stir up to insurrection the people of color of this State; or for any citizen to make, print, or engrave any pictorial representation; or to write or print any pamphlet, newspapers, handbill, or other paper of an inflammatory nature, &c.; and anyone upon conviction of such offense, shall be sentenced to not less than ten nor more than twenty years imprisonment in the Penitentiary.

These, you will see, are pretty stringent laws, both upon white and black men, and the only question about which there is any doubt, is as to what constitutes "inflammatory," or as the phrase now is "incendiary" matter. If nigger-driving juries and newspapers in the interests of Pro-Slavery party leaders are to settle the matter for us, and tell us that "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "The N.Y. Tribune," "Christian Advocate and Journal," &c., are included in the category, we may soon expect to be place under the strictest surveillance and to have a petty lickspittle officer sneaking into all our houses to ascertain whether we are engaged in reading or writing incendiary articles. And that there are plenty of men among us who would like to see such laws rigidly enforced cannot be doubted for a moment. The quotation which we have given from The Democrat, shows conclusively that is such laws are not in high favor with the editor, he hasn't the courage to denounce or say ought against them. He thinks them all right. The case of The Blue Hen's Chicken referred to occurred some seven years age when the ex-Hon. Ezekiel F. Chambers, a violent Pro-Slavery fanatic, was on the bench. At the April (1850) Term of the Circuit Court for this (Cecil) County, the editor, Wm. T. Jeandell, was indicted for circulating incendiary publications, but Gov. Thomas refused to demand him. At the following October Term this indictment was quashed, and a new one found, but the Governor again refused to demand Jeandell, and intimated that prosecutions under such indictments wouldn't pay. The people since then have permitted the Hon. Ezekiel to retire to the shades of private life, where his nigger-driving proclivities cannot work so much injury to the community. But while such tyrannical laws remain on our statute books, and while such men as the Judge, who thing (as I heard him remark a few months ago) The Tribune "a highly proper subject for indictment," are quite numerous among us, the people of Maryland haven't much to boast of in the way of free thought or free speech. We opine, however, that when an attempt is made, in this part of the State at least, to prescribe what books or papers free white citizens shall read or write, the peculiar institution will receive a blow that will make it tremble to its foundation.

Ohio State Journal - 3 June 1857 - Found Guilty -

In the case of the State against Sam Green, (free negro) who was tried at the April term of the Circuit Court of Dorchester County, Md., for having in his possession abolition pamphlets, among which was "Uncle Tom's Cabin," the court has adjudged him guilty, and sentenced him to the penitentiary for the term of ten years. -- Circleville Herald.

The Albany Evening Journal (New York) - 6 June 1857 -

The Circuit Court of Dorchester county, Md., has sentenced a free negro named Sam Green to ten years imprisonment for having in his possession the incendiary book called Uncle Tom's Cabin. The Elkton Democrat remarks that a number of respectable citizens are liable to the fate of Green. There is talk of prosecuting the subscribers to the New York Christian Advocate and Journal, Methodist paper, under the same law.

The Lowell Daily Citizen and News (Massachusetts) - 8 June 1857
The Farmer's Cabinet (New Hampshire) - 17 June 1857 -

The Albany Evening Journal (New York) - 22 July 1857 -

A Baltimore correspondent calls our attention to the fact that a free colored man named Sam Green was recently convicted of the crime of having "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and other "Abolition publications" in his possession and sentenced to ten year's imprisonment among thieves and other undoubted criminals. We thank our correspondent. But we happen to remember a case in the same State in which one of the same nominally free class was condemned to a still longer term, for having in his possession a hymn-book which -- published, as it was, without the aid of an expurgatory committee from the Tract Society or other body of like faithfulness to the interests of Slavery -- happened to breathe some strains in harmony with the golden rule. A law of 1835 make such things felony. In Maryland Tribune.

Lowell Daily Citizen and News (Massachusetts) - 24 August 1857
Liberator (Massachusetts) - 4 September 1857 -

Ten Years in the Penitentiary for Reading 'Uncle Tom's Cabin.'

A Baltimore correspondent of Zion's Herald, whose veracity Dr. Haven vouches for, furnishes the following in a late letter from Baltimore to that paper: --

A colored man, of very considerable respectability for on living in a slaveholding community, was, a few days ago, in Cambridge, Dorchester County, Maryland, sentenced to ten years in the State Penitentiary. His name was Samuel Green. What was his crime? He was indicted, tried, and convicted for having "incendiary publications." When the officers of the law had their attention directed to poor Green's house, as on containing evidence of complicity with Abolitionists, and, when search was instituted, they found a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in his possession. It was not proved that he read it to any other colored people in the neighborhood; indeed, we do not know that he could read himself; yet, for having that book, he was torn from his family and consigned for ten years to prison! Is this the spirit of the laws of a Christian State? Yes, thus it is where slavery is mild and gentle! Where the fangs of the tiger are drawn, and the claws clipped so short that some of our preachers see nothing but beauty, and feel nothing but velvet, when they talk of slavery as it exists within the territorial limits of the Philadelphia Conference!

Sandusky Register (Ohio) - 16 September 1857 -
Is This A Free County?

It is stated that Rev. Samuel Green, a colored local preacher of the M.E. Church, not lies in the Maryland State Prison, under sentence of ten years, for having in his possession a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Albany Evening Journal (NY) - 10 September 1857 -
Sandusky Register (Ohio) - 18 September 1857 -

Rev. Samuel Green, a colored local preacher of the M.E. Church, now lies in the Maryland State prison, under sentence of ten years, for having in his possession a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

Holmes County Republican (Ohio) - 8 October 1857 -

"The Tender Mercies of the Wicked are Cruel."
A Methodist Preacher in State Prison. -- We doubt not the whole church will blush throughout this vast country nay, perhaps the shame will cross the Atlantic and mantle the cheeks of "our Brithish brethern," especially when they learn the enormity, the concentrated, unspeakable, inexcusable malignity of the crime of which he was convicted! Indeed, we do not see how the churches in the vicinity can endure the shock, more especially when to our certain knowledge many Methodist ministers are guilty of the same crime in a higher degree. Indeed, we may as well confess it, we ourselves, many rears ago, while pastor of a certain circuit in the N. Y. Conference, more than committed the same crime while riding on the Hudson River Railroad - it was not pocket picking -and our eyes often filled with tears at
the lime. Fortunately we escaped conviction then, though after a more extrajudicial and extraordinary judicial decisions of the supreme Court, it is not improbable that our guilt will be ferreted out, and that condign punishment will be inflicted upon us.
The culprit in this case is the Rev. Samuel Green, of Cambridge, Dorchester Co. Md. We have previously noticed his crime and punishment, but were not aware then that the criminal was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Notwithstanding the disgrace of it we are bound
to acknowledge the fact. The crime of the reverened offender was "having in his
possession a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin!"
The desperate wretch is at last safe, gone to the Penitentiary for ten years! - This divine is already past the-prime of life, and will probably, before ten years are expired, breathe out his soul from the walls or prison, and go to receive a second award from the Judge above. Unlike Paul he does not appeal to Caesar, for there is no Caesar on earth from whom he can expect
and reversal of his doom. "Let justice be done, though the heavens fall." Let the revered white-headed Uncle Tom-reading preacher of the gospel go to jail, though the heaven falls! What is heaven, or hell, compared with slavery! and let the brother Methodist who are more than three fourths of all the "pious" people of that country keep a discreet silence. And if it utters the promotings of a tender conscience, as in his "Picture of Slavery," bring him before an Ecclesiastical Court, and if you can not send him to prison, do the next best thing you can to suppress this treasonable rebellion, this uprising of an untamed instinct against the laws and practice on which the very framework of society is based!
Who does not rejoice that we are a lawmaking and law-abiding people! We can look down with sovereign contempt on France, Russia, Turkey, China, England, and all other half-civilized countries, and call upon the people to throw of all chains and emulate us, the freest and most enlightened and liberal and humane and happy people on the globe. The Rev. Samuel Green is in jail.
Then shall be say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink
I was a stranger and ye took me not in; naked and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying,Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or a thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee! Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you. Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Poor Rev. Samuel Green. We would sympathize with thee, but the institutions of society, and the peace of the church must not be disturbed! Why was Christ so awfully plain in his doctrines!

New York Herald-Tribune - October 9 1857 -

We have seen some reference in the columns of some of our exchanges to the case of a colored man in Maryland, alleged to have been sent to the Penitentiary for ten years for having in his possession a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," but we have no where met with a detailed account of the case till we received the communication of the subject which appears in another column. This unfortunate man is, it seems, a Methodist exhorter, acting occasionally as a preacher, and as such still borne on the Record of the Quarterly Conference of the Circuit. He is described as being a man of excellent character, and the sole offense for which he was sent to the Penitentiary -- where he has now been confined for nearly a year -- is the having in his possession a single volume of the book referred to. The scene of this extraordinary dispensation of justice was Dorchester County, Maryland, on the southern border of that State. We have not just now at hand the statue of Maryland under which the trial took place, but will endeavor to obtain and publish it. We shall then be able to decide whether the disgrace of this infamous proceeding overshadows the whole people of Maryland, or whether it is limited to the Dorchester magistrates, who, to gratify their spite, have perverted the law.

Meanwhile, we are glad to see that this most infamous case is beginning to attract the attention of the Methodist connection. Attention was called to it, as it appears, in the Philadelphia Conference held at Easton last Spring, but we trust the matter is not to be allowed to rest there. Our correspondent and the Rev. J.M. McCarter, to whose pamphlet he refers have done good service in calling attention to the case. We trust means will be found to bring it to the special attention not only of every Conference, but of every Methodist Church in the country. So long as this unfortunate man remains in prison, public prayers ought to be offered up every Sunday in every Methodist Church in the country for his deliverance. Fervent, effectual prayer availeth much; and we have not the least doubt that, if this experiment were tried, within six months at the farthest, the Methodists would succeed in praying him out of prison. Should they desire the aid of others, there are plenty of all denominations who will be ready to aid them in this good and religious work. Not only might Samuel Green be thus delivered, but the Legislature of Maryland might be induced to repeal or essentially to modify a statute capable of being abused for so cruel and tyrannical a purpose.

Marshall County Republican (Plymouth, IN) - 29 October 1857 -

The Charleston Courier denies the story that:
"Rev. Samuel Green, of Cambridge, Dorchester country. Md., a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, has been sent to the State Prison for ten years, for having in his possession a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin."
the editor adding ""Uncle Tom's Cabin is read at the South by whoever chooses to read it - not secretly but openly."
How then, pertinently asks the Indiana Journal, came the Mobile bookseller to be driven away for selling "Uncle Tom?" Probably it is venial and even, fashionable to read and buy, but seditious to sell the book. Slavery is a queer institution.

The Independent (New York) - 5 November 1857 -

contributed by A Methodist

..."Uncle Tom."—The Charleston Courier denies the story that "Rev. Samuel Green of Cambridge, Dorchester county, Md, a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, has been sent to the State Prison for ten years, for having in his possession a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin"—the editor adding: "Uncle Tom's Cabin is read at the South by whoever chooses to read it—not secretly, but openly."

Zion's Herald was the first to make the charge above mentioned, and we shall be very happy to retract it whenever evidence is given that it is a mistake. Unhappily we know too well that it is a fact. The assertion that "Uncle Tom's Cabin is read at the South by whoever chooses to read it," is very absurd, when in that very state it is a criminal offense to teach a slave to read. The Rev. Samuel Green , a Methodist minister of the "Northern" M. E. Church, we think, was not one of the kind of men that are permitted to "choose"—he is a colored man.—Zion's Herald.

Burlington Free Press (Vermont) - 20 November 1857

"Uncle Tom" - The Charleston Courier denies the story that: "Rev. Samuel Green, of Cambridge, Dorchester country. Md., a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, has been sent to the State Prison for ten years, for having in his possession a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin." "Uncle Tom's Cabin is read at the South by whoever chooses to read it - not secretly but openly."
Zion's Herald was the first to make the charge above mentioned, and we shall be very happy to retract it whenever evidence is given that it is a mistake. Unhappily we know too well that it is a fact. The assertion that "Uncle Tom's Cabin is read at the South by whoever chooses to read it," is very absurd, when in that very State it is a criminal offense to teach a slave to read. The Rev. Samuel Green, a Methodist minister of the 'Northern' M.E. Church, we think, was not one of the kind of men that are permitted to 'choose' - he is a colored man. Zion's Herald.

Baltimore Sun - 29 June 1858

A petition has been forwarded recently to the Governor of Maryland, signed by 114 ministers of the Methodist Episcopal church, Black River Conference, asking for the pardon and release of Rev. Samuel Green, a colored local preacher, who is now lying in the penitentiary of your State, under a sentence of ten years' imprisonment for having in his possession a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Lowell Daily Citizen and News (Massachusetts) - 30 June 1858

The 19th Century! What will posterity say when they read that now, in 1858, the Governor of Maryland is considering a petition from 114 Methodist clergymen of that State, asking for the pardon and release of Rev. Samuel Green, a colored preacher, who is now in the penitentiary under a sentence of ten years imprisonment, for having in his possession a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin!

Annapolis Gazette - 1 July 1858

A petition has been forwarded to the Governor of this State, signed by 114 ministers of the Methodist Episcopal church, of Black River (N.Y.) Conference, praying the pardon of Rev. Samuel Green, a negro preacher, who is now undergoing ten years imprisonment in the penitentiary, for having in his possession a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin. He was convicted in one of the lower counties on the Eastern Shore.

New York Evangelist - 8 July 1858 - (from) Religious Intelligence

...A PARDON DESIRED.—One hundred and fourteen ministers of the Black River [Q. N. Y.?] Conference of the Methodist Church, have petitioned Gov. Hicks, of Maryland, asking for the pardon and release of Rev. Samuel Green , a colored local preacher, who is lying in the penitentiary of that State, under a sentence of ten years' imprisonment, for having in his possession a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Burlington Free Press (Vermont) - 9 July 1858 -
Freemont Journal (Ohio) - 9 July 1858 -
Western Reserve Chronicle (Ohio) - 4 August 1858 -
Marshall County Republican (Indiana) - 5 August 1858 -

Prayer for Pardon - A petition has been forwarded recently to the Hon. T.H. Hicks, Governor of Maryland, signed by 114 ministers of the M. Episcopal church, Black River Conference, asking for the pardon and release of Rev. Samuel Green, a colored local preacher, who is now lying in the penitentiary of that State, under a sentence of ten years' imprisonment for having in his possession a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin. - New York Express
It would spoil the force of this paragraph to add a single word to it. A Minister of the Gospel imprisoned for ten years for having a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in his possession! There is not a despot on earth, Christian, Mahomedan or heathen, who would not be ashamed to be a party to so mean and cruel and act. - Albany Eve. Journal

The Progressive Age (Coshocton, Ohio) - 28 July 1858 -

Prayer for Pardon

A petition was forwarded recently to the Hon. T.H. Hicks, Governor of Maryland, signed by 114 Ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Black River Conference, asking for the pardon and release of the Rev. Samuel Green, a colored local preacher, who is now lying in the Penitentiary of that State, under sentence of ten years' imprisonment, for having in his possession a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin. -- [Ex.

What a "land of freedom" is this getting to be! An intelligent human being incarcerated for ten years for the crime of having in his possession a book containing some unpalatable truths to people of a particular section! The petition should be all means have been presented on the anniversary of the summer day in 1776, when certain treasonable men met in Philadelphia and declared "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." No time so appropriate should have been chosen.

Liberator (Boston) - 30 July 1858 -

Prayer for Pardon

Think of that, kind reader, the land of the free and home of the brave! One hundred and fourteen Ministers of our holy religion, petitioning one of our governments to release a colored preacher from the Penitentiary, where he is sentenced for ten years, for the crime of having in his possession a printed book --a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin. What a text for the Fourth of July! We venture the opinion that at this moment there is not a government in the world which can show within its whole borders, an act so completely involving the very essence of outrageous tyranny. Of the whole fabric of outrages on humanity, reared by all of earth's infernal despots, we believe this act is entitled to be considered the chief and crowning stone. And yet with this despotism clutching at the throat of its victim, and 114 Ministers on their knees praying in vain that its grasp may be released, the air will continue to be vocal with the laudations of our free institutions. -- Wisconsin Free Democrat.

Jackson Citizen (Michigan) - 19 August 1858 -

Prayer for Pardon

What a humiliating commentary is this upon the "free institutions" of this "land of the free," the Declaration of whose Independence rests solely upon the moral basis of equality and the "inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;" the Constitution of which guarantees to every person the rights of free speech and a free religion. Could there be a more damning evidence of the sinfulness, the tyranny and the anti-Republican character of the "institution" of human slavery? Can there be a more burning rebuke to the miserable humbug of Modern Democracy which seeks to perpetuate, sustain and extend this horrid system of servitude of soul and body? A Minister of the Gospel imprisoned for ten years for having a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin in his possession! There is not a despot on earth, Christian, Mohammedan, or Heathen, who would not be ashamed to be a party to so mean and cruel an act; and yet such acts are common every day affairs in this boasted "land of Liberty!"

Easton Gazette - 28 August 1858

The above paragraph discovers how miserably tyrannical the State government of Maryland is. It is a Southern slave State where more than 100 ministers go down on their knees before the Governor (by name of Hicks) to beg him to pardon a man for the crime of having a book in his possession. All the annals of the Spanish or Roman Inquisitions could not show a more degrading fact, taking into view the several circumstances. The idea of sending a colored preacher for ten years to the Penitentiary for possessing a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin. We advise the Missionary Society to send a few of their number to convert the heathen of that locality.

The above we take from the New Bedford Mercury which was handed to us by a friend. We give it in connection with the following article, in order that it may be seen with what recklessness northern fanatics blunder and stumble along, and frequently entirely unacquainted with what they are advocating. The abuse heaped upon, and misrepresentation of Marylanders in the above abstract amount to mere nothing. Our Governor knows the duties of his office quite as well, we presume, as these 114 Ministers of the Black River Conference. For we think it quite likely were they to attend more strictly to their own duties in the preaching of Christ Crucified and died an ignominious death that sinners might be saved, they would not find so much time to send petitions to other States for the release of prisoners from the penitentiary, who have been convicted by the law of the State and sent there to serve a certain length of time as a punishment for the law's violation.

The Eagle's article gives a history of the whole affair, from the first suspicions against Green to his conviction. It is a subject which has been much spoken of, of late, in the newspapers, and one, we believe which many of our readers are entirely unacquainted with; we therefore think it will be read with great interest, notwithstanding its length:

Easton Gazette - 28 August 1858 -
Annapolis Gazette - 2 September 1858 -

Sam Greene and Uncle Tom's Cabin

From the Cambridge Eagle
On hundred and fourteen "Minister of the Black River Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church" in New York, have addressed a petition to his Excellency Governor Hicks, of Maryland, praying for the pardon of Sam Green, the free negro preacher who was convicted at the April term, 1857, of the Circuit Court for this county, and sentenced to ten years imprisonment in the penitentiary, for having in his possession a copy of that well known book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin." From this fact, and from the numerous articles published in Northern journals upon the subject, it would seem that there has been considerable feeling awakened in the free States by reason of Green's conviction. We have ourselves, seen some of the articles alluded to, and perceiving from their tenor that they are calculated to mislead the public mind, and create a prejudice against the people of the State of Maryland, the tribunal before which the trial was had, as well as further to inflame the feelings of the opponents of Southern slavery, we have thought it proper to set forth the facts of the case, in order that it may be apparent to every individual that a more righteous verdict was never rendered in the trial of any case.

For some time antecedent to the arrest of Green, which occurred just before the sitting of the Court at which he was convicted, there had been much excitement amongst the citizens of Dorchester county, in relation to the absconding of slaves. In former years for a slave to flee from the service of his master was a thing of rare occurrence; then, as now, there was no portion of the entire South where slaves met with more humane treatment when upon the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and there existed between master and slave that feeling of mutual confidence with is always to be found in those communities where the evil influence of abolitionism or its emissaries does not make itself felt. But, about the period alluded to, a different state of things sprang up. Suddenly and with apparent cause the slaves of the citizens of Dorchester county began to abscond. Not singly and at long intervals as before, but in gangs collected together at various parts of the county, with a concert of action and celerity of movement that defied all attempts at recapture. Citizens living upon their farms, ten, fifteen, or twenty miles apart, would retire to their beds at night, all their negroes being at home, and upon rising in the morning to call their servants our to their daily labor, not a single slave out of frequently a large number would be found. Upon a single Saturday night, and in a single gang, twenty-seven negroes ran off from the immediate neighborhood of Cambridge; and upon the two succeeding Saturday nights thirteen others followed them, even their bedding and all their clothes, &c., were taken with them. One gentleman owning a large plantation near town, awoke one morning and found himself without a single slave of all he possessed the night before, to cultivate his land, and he was one of the kindest of masters. This state of things continued for a year or more. The people were confounded. The confidences between master and slave was totally destroyed. The former knew not which of his negroes to trust, the latter feared that his master would sell him lest he might abscond.

In one or two of the isolated instances referred to, before matters grew suddenly worse as we have stated, Sam Green had been suspected of aiding the negroes to escape, but as no positive proof could be had, and his character in other respects was good, he was not arrested. -- When the absconding increased to such an alarming extent, persons were satisfied that some agent of abolitionism was in the county, furnishing assistance to the runaways, who could not else have escaped with such impunity; but they could not divine who or where was the guilty persons, for at this time the suspicions formerly held against Green had died away. -- But it being suddenly discovered, by some it seems that all the fugitives had passed in their flight immediately by his house, which stands near the road leading from Cambridge to the State of Delaware, the idea arose that he was the party implicated, and the feeling was stronger because the fact revived the suspicions of which he had previously been the object. It was also discovered that Green had been to Canada, and returned a short time before this stampede began. That these suspicions were well founded subsequent developments clearly showed.

Under these circumstances his house was searched, and there were found therein a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin, a map of Canada, letters from numerous runaway slaves in Canada to their relatives here, six or eight schedules of a rail road route through New Jersey, and a letter from Green's son, himself a runaway in Canada, to his father, directing him to tell two slaves belonging to citizens of this county to abscond, describing the route, and stating what kind of treatment they would meet with on the way. The two slaves referred to had both absconded at the time of Green's arrest. It may be well hereto add that Green is an intelligent negro, reading and writing well.

These facts were communicated to the State's Attorney for the county, and the papers, &c., found as above stated, placed in his hands, coupled with the remark that the people were about to notify Green to leave the State, and to lynch him if he failed to depart. From this course they were dissuaded, and the State's officer having examined the papers, ordered the arrest of Green for a violation of the provisions of the Act of 1841, chapter 272 of the laws of Maryland. He was accordingly arrested and lodged in jail to await the action of the Grand Jury:

The Act of 1841, chapter 272, provides, in that portion under which Green was indicted, that "if any free negro or mulatto shall knowingly receive of have in his possession any abolition handbill, pamphlet, newspaper, pictorial representation or other paper of inflammatory character, having a tendency to create discontent amongst or stir up to insurrection the people of color in this State, he or she shall be deemed guilty of felony, and upon conviction shall be sentenced to undergo a confinement in the Penitentiary of this State for a period of not less than ten nor more than twenty years, from the time of sentence pronounced on such offender."

Under this law there were two indictments framed -- on setting forth in three counts, in due form, the possession by the prisoner, of the letter from his son, the "pictorial representations of Canada, and the railroad schedules -- the other, charging the possession of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Upon the former the party was first tried, the counsel for the State contending that the word "discontent" used in the Act applied to anything calculated to render the slave dissatisfied with his condition, whether that discontent was manifested by absconding, or otherwise -- The counsel for the defense contended, that the object of the Act, as shown by the wording, was to prevent the possession of such papers as had a tendency to create discontent of an insurrectionary character. The case was fully argued by C.F. Goldsborough and Elias Griswold Esqs., for the traverser, and the Judge acquitted the prisoner; holding the view of the law entertained by the prisoner's counsel was correct, and that papers which would be likely to induce slaves to abscond or give them information which would aid them in their route northward, did not come within the purview of the law. The prisoner was immediately tried upon the other indictment, the State arguing that the pamphlet, Uncle Tom's Cabin, came up to the view of the law taken by the Court in the previous case, and the prisoner's counsel, Mr. Wallace, holding the reverse.

The court decided that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was an abolition pamphlet such as is contemplated by the law, and that its possession by Green, under the circumstances, was a clear violation of the Act of 1841, chapter 272. Both cases were tried without a jury, as there could be no question about the finding of the papers in Green's possession, and the prisoner's counsel elected to go before the Court on the construction of the Act of Assembly.

That Green was convicted simply and solely for having "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in his possession is certainly true, -- but it is equally as true that he never would have been arrested upon that charge but for his well ascertained agency in the escape of slaves. We say never would have been arrested because no care ever had been tried in this county under the Act of 1841, and the book in question might have been openly kept and read by Green with impunity, from the simple reason that no one would ever have suspected that it was a violation of the law for him to possess. It was only when the State's Attorney came to examine the case closely, and found that sufficient local evidence could not be had to convict him under the Act of 1849 for aiding slaves to escape, that he determined to test the applicability of the Act of 1841, chapter 272, to such works as "Uncle Tom's Cabin."--

The result is a practical commentary upon the insane efforts of abolition writers. Where can an instance be found of real benefit having accrued to any slave by reason of the production of Mrs. Stowe's book? Until he was wrought upon by such publications, and by the more direct appeals of abolition emissaries, Green had lived quietly and contentedly in the community in which he was born and had the respect and confidence of all who knew him. Now he is the inmate of a State's prison, and even after his term of service expires, if he lives to see that time, he is by law banished from the State of his nativity, under penalty if he remains of being arrested and sold as a slave for ten years. We wish that Mrs. Stowe could have stood, as we did, in the crowded court room, and listened to the trial of the negro whom she, herself, had caused to be place in the criminal box. It might perhaps have induced her to devote the efforts of her pen to some other purpose than that of decrying the Constitution of her country, and endeavoring to array one portion of her fellow citizens against the other.

There is no doubt of the fact that Green was instrumental, and had been for a long time, in the escape of slaves from this county. When he was arrested and committed, he was not aware of the nature of the charge against him, but thought it was for the offense just mentioned. -- A white man, who for years had been his neighbor and felt kindly toward him, visited him in jail before his trial, and asked him why he did not employ counsel to defend him. Green's response was, "it is no use, I am guilty." This statement was kept a secret, and was not divulged until after the prisoner was convicted. The Counsel for the defense were appointed by the Court and most ably discharged their duty, contesting the case closely, step by step, from its beginning to its end.

It was a most proper and righteous conviction, and has had a salutary effect in restraining the efforts of abolitionism in our county. The prisoner was sentenced to ten years imprisonment in the penitentiary, a term which we venture to say, if he lives, he will serve to the end; all the petitions of Black River clergymen for executive clemency, to the contrary, notwithstanding.

Liberator (Boston) - 22 October 1858 -

A Preacher in the Maryland Penitentiary

To the Editor of The N. Y. Tribune.

SIR: This Anti-Slavery controversy is bringing many dark things to light. I have just read a pamphlet, put forth by the Rev. J. M. McCarter, of the Philadelphia Conference, now resident minister of the M. E. Church in Harrisburg, Pa., in which he shows that a colored preacher of his church is now in the Maryland Penitentiary, for the crime of having in his possession a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin. They way by which this dark deed become known was merely incidental, and is thus narrated by The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, and reprinted in the pamphlet:--

'On Saturday afternoon of the Conference, [the Philadelphia, held in Easton, Pa., last April,] two scenes occurred which illustrate at least the difference of opinion that exists in regard to the moral estimate put on the same locality. After the character of the Rev. John Allen, from the southern part of the peninsula, Eastern Shore of Maryland, was passed, he asked permission to make a statement in regard to his connection with slavery. The Rev. gentleman said he had in his family a manumitted slave, who was to be free at the age of 22 or 23, and that he did not consider himself a slaveholder. The gentleman then pronounced a high panegyric on the South generally, and the lower part of the peninsula particularly. He called it Paradise, 'the land of Beulah,' and his feelings seemed to carry him away into a state of delightful complacency, as well in regard to himself as the object of his idolatry. He gave it great praise, and even spoke in raptures of its institutions. A few moments after, when the name of Handy Long, a colored local preacher of Newton, Md., was called, the Rev. J. M. McCarter arose after hearing of the case as represented by the Rev. Mr. Colelazer, and remarked that he felt some interest in the case, for the reason that he had the surname as his friend, (pointing to the Rev. J. D. Long); he hoped and believed that he was deserving of all the good that had been said of him; that he would cheerfully give him his vote, but he was sincerely desirous that he should be put on his guard against his having a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin in his possession.

'Interrupted by the Rev. P. Combe, who, appealing to the Chair, wished to know if the brother was in order, and what Uncle Tom's Cabin had to do with the case before us?

Mr. McCarter continued--I was remarking that some good friend should inform this local preacher, about to be elected to orders, to be sure not to have a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin in his possession, as a brother of his color, an acceptable member and exhorter of the Methodist Episcopal Church, named Samuel Greene, was now in the Maryland Penitentiary, sentenced thereto for ten years, for the grave offence of having a single volume of that offensive and incendiary publication in his house. The Dorchester County Court had last spring passed sentence upon him for ten years, and to-day, while we are here, he is incarcerated for ten long years for that which is no moral offence.'

Mr. McCarter, the resident M. E. Minister in Harrisburgh, Pa., further adds in his recent pamphlet:--

'We had a long conversation with the pastor of Samuel Greene at the Conference, and learned that his name was still continued on the Quarterly Conference Record of the Circuit, as a regularly licensed exhorter in the church. The excellence of the character of this incarcerated man is attested everywhere in Dorchester County, where he is known and among whom he has lived. He was exceedingly useful also among the colored free people and slaves, and often in their meeting-houses preached to them the word of life.'

William Pitt once said in the British Parliament that 'one fact was worth a thousand arguments.' Well, here we have a fact, setting forth a base deed, contemptible as the locality from which it emanated, and one, too, that is so well authenticated. It is this:--That Samuel Greene, technically an exhorter, but really, as Mr. McCarter terms him, a preacher in the M. E. Church to the colored people, is now in the Maryland State Prison, and has yet more than nine dreary years to stay, for the infraction of a Maryland law which is one of the most infamous that was ever enacted on God's round earth, in either ancient or modern times, in civilized or savage countries. (See 2 Dorsey, p. 1218.) Has papal Rome or inquisitorial Spain ever gone beyond this?

Whither are we driving? Slavery is coming up North and looking into our doors and into our churches. Having invaded States rights, it is now scoffing at church rules, imprisoning her teachers, and dragging tens of thousands of her members into distant and degrading bondage. And where are our Bishops, Synods and Conferences, whose flocks are thus plundered? In other days, when a number of Christians had been taken into captivity, Bishops wrote to St. Cyprian, imploring his assistance for their redemption. He shed tears on reading these letters, and raised large sums from the clergy and people of Carthage for their release, and St. Ambrose even melted down the sacred vessels of Milan for the same purpose.

But again, what are our Bishops and Chief Ministers doing for the members of their flocks who are in prison and in captivity? The Great Shepherd requires them to regard 'those who are in bonds as bound with them,' and He further says: 'Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of these, ye did it no unto me.' These ministers, at their ordination, promised God and the Church that they would 'take heed of the flock over whom the Holy Ghost has made them overseers.' Are they doing it? Their vows are upon them, their indifference will be criminality. Samuel Greene, in the Maryland Penitentiary, is only one among the hundreds of thousands of professed Christians who are in captivity in this Great Southern Prison-House. And yet the Church is silent; but than God for the political party which is consolidating itself to resist the aggressions of this scourge of our land and corrupter of the Church. And at the approaching ballot-boxes let every one who calls himself a Christian vote as a Christian should and remember those are in bonds as bound with them.

(signed) A METHODIST

We have see some reference in the columns of some of our exchanges to the case of a colored man in Maryland, alleged to have been sent to the Penitentiary for ten years for having in his possession a copy of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin;' but we have no where met with a detailed account of the case till we received the above communication on the subject. This unfortunate man is, it seems, a Methodist exhorter, acting occasionally as a preacher, and as such still borne on the Record of the Quarterly Conference of the Circuit. He is described as being a man of excellent character, and the sole offense for which he was sent to the Penitentiary--where he has now been confined for nearly a year--is the having in his possession a single volume of the book referred to. The scene of this extraordinary dispensation of justice was Dorchester County, Md., on the southern border of that State. We have not just now at hand the statute of Maryland under which the trial took place, but will endeavor to obtain and publish it. We shall then be able to decide whether the disgrace of this infamous proceeding overshadows the whole people of Maryland, or whether it is limited to the Dorchester magistrates, who, to gratify their spite, have perverted the law.

Meanwhile, we are glad to see that this most infamous case is beginning to attract the attention of the Methodist connection. Attention was called to it, as it appears, in the Philadelphia Conference held at Easton last Spring, but we trust the matter is not to be allowed to rest there. our correspondent and the Rev. J. M. McCarter, to whose pamphlet he refers, have done good service in calling attention to the case. WE trust means will be found to bring it to the special attention not only of ever Conference, but of every Methodist church in the country. So long as this unfortunate man remains in prison, public prayers ought to be offered up every Sunday in every Methodist Church in the country for his deliverance. Fervent, effectual prayer availeth much; and we have not the least doubt that, if this experiment were tried, within six months at the farthest, the Methodists would success in praying him out of prison. Should they desire the aid of others, there are plenty of all denominations who will be ready to aid them in this good and religious work. Not only might Samuel Green be thus delivered, but the legislature of Maryland might be induced to repeal or essentially to modify a statute capable of being abused for so cruel and tyrannical a purpose.

The National Era (Washington DC) - 28 October 1858 -

Samuel Green - Imprisoned in Maryland

Samuel Green, a Methodist exhorter, is now in the Maryland State prison, undergoing a ten years' imprisonment, for having had a volume of 'Uncle tom's Cabin' in his possession. The sentence was pronounced by the Dorchester County Court last spring."—Exchange.

We Americans prate a good deal about Freedom and equality, and berate other nations for their intolerance and despotism; but it would be difficult to find in the annals of Austria, Turkey, Russia, or Naples, a case of more unmitigated tyranny than the above. What enormity of King Bomba, or of the perjured Ferdinand of Austria, against the rising spirit of Freedom, could not be justified by the above example?

It is a disgrace to the civilization and intelligence of Maryland, that a man should be incarcerated for ten years, for the offence of selling a book which its bitterest enemies cannot charge with immorality. And, indeed, if it were filled with obscene pictures and stories, no one would think of imprisoning the offender for more than thirty or sixty days. But the offence of the Methodist preacher was, that, from high conscientious conviction, he gave currency to a volume replete with inculcations of liberty, justice, and equality.

Uncle Tom's Cabin, when it appeared, was favorably noticed by the Baltimore Sun, and perhaps other Maryland papers, was freely advertised and sold by the booksellers of that city, and read by thousands. In spite of the barbarous enactment under which Mr. Green is suffering, the book is still for sale, doubtless, in Baltimore, as it is in this city; but such laws seem to be suffered on the statute book, in order to conciliate the barbarous back settlements, in which Slavery is the chief element of wealth.

Can the Governor of Maryland hold himself superior to King Bomba, while he suffers an honest citizen to linger out his life in prison for such an offence? Is it just to imprison a man ten years for an offence committed in Dorchester, which every bookseller in Baltimore has committed five hundred times, and to which the press of all parties in Baltimore made themselves parties, through their advertising columns?

Anti-slavery bugle (New Lisbon, Ohio) - 6 November 1858 -

BARBARIC DESPOTISM.
"Samuel Green, a Methodist exhorter, is now in the Maryland State prison, undergoing a ten
years' imprisonment, for having had a volume 'Uncle Tome's Cabin' in his possession. The
sentence was pronounced by the Dorchester County Court last spring." --Exchange.
We Americans prate good deal about Freedom and equality, and berate other nations for their
intolerance and despotism ; but it would be difficult to find in the annuls of Austria, Turkey
Russia, or Naples, case of more unmitigated tyranny than the above. What enormity of King
Bomba, or of the perjured Ferdinand of Austria, against the rising spirit of Freedom, could not
justified by the above example?
It is a disgrace to the civilization and intelligence of Maryland, that a man should be incarcerated for ten years, for the offence of selling a book which its bitterest enemies cannot charge with immorality. And, indeed, if it were filled with obscene pictures and stories, no one would think of imprisoning the offender for more than thirty or sixty days. But the offence of the Methodist preacher was, that, from high conscientious conviction, he gave currency to a volume replete with inculcations of liberty, justice, and equality.
Uncle Tom's Cabin, when it appeared, was favorably noticed by the Baltimore Sun, and perhaps other Maryland papers, was freely advertised and sold by the booksellers of that city, and read by thousands. In spite of the barbarous enactment under which Mr. Green is suffering, the book is still for sale, doubtless; in Baltimore; as it is in this city; but such laws seem to be suffered on the statute books, in order to conciliate barbarous back settlements, in which Slavery is the chief element of wealth.
Can the Governor of Maryland hold himself, superior to King Bomba, while be suffers an honest citizen to linger out his life in prison for such an offence. Is it just to imprison a man ten
years for an offence' committed in Dorchester, which every bookseller in Baltimore has committed five hundred times, and to which the press of all parties in Baltimore made themselves parties, through their advertising columns?

Liberator (Boston) - 19 November 1858 -

That Imprisoned Colored Exhorter

To the Editor of the N.Y. Tribune.
Sir: In your issue of the 9th inst. 'A Methodist' refers to the case of Rev. Samuel Green, a colored exhorter of the Methodist Episcopal Church in good standing, and now lying in the Maryland State Prison under a ten year sentence, for having in his possession a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin. The facts alleged are beyond question. Mr. Green is in prison as represented, with nine long years of confinement yet before him, and for no other crime than the one above named.

But 'A Methodist' who evidently sympathizes with his brother in bonds, and designed to write correctly, is mistaken in one or two points.

1. The only attention paid to the matter by the Philadelphia Conference was almost to hiss the Rev. J.M. McCarter for even naming it. No committee was appointed to consider it; no petition to Governor Hicks circulated; no resolution of sympathy with the martyr was even offered. This Conference of 200 Methodist ministers scorned to give so trifling a matter a moment's consideration, and blew it aside as they would have done some vagary of a 'medium.'

2. It is hardly correct, however, that nothing has been done by the Methodist public. A respectful petition was got up at the last session of the Black River Conference, embracing about 200 Methodist ministers, entreating Gov. Hicks to interpose his Executive clemency, and release Mr. Green from his confinement. It was signed by some 113 ministers, I think, and forwarded by myself to Gov. Hicks, which a respectful private letter, neither of which the Governor has condescended to notice.

3. As to 'our Bishops and Chief Ministers," whom a "Methodist" seems to blame, it is true that the Black River Conference voted to have the petition of Mr. Green's liberation presented to the Bishops present for their signatures; and that when so presented, they refused to sign it. But they had what seemed to them a valid excuse. They were not satisfied as to the facts alleged. They both declared that when satisfied that Mr. Green was so imprisoned, and for such a cause, they would sign the petition. It is true, also, that the Rev. J.D. Long and the Rev. J.S. Lane, both members of the Philadelphia Conference and recently from Maryland, were both at the Black River Conference, and ready to make affidavit, if necessary, to the alleged fact; but it is no where laid down in the Discipline among the duties of a Bishop, that he should be prying into such 'political' matters. They had their doubts; and hencs, declining to sign the petition, one took the cars for the East, and the other for the West! Of course, the Conference could not wait six months for them to become satisfied of what might have been settled in their minds, had they desired it, in two minister, and so the petition was sent on without their signatures.

For myself, I regarded it as a most pitiful dodge and was mortified and ashamed of ...[4 lines unreadable]... inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these my brethrum -- even to a poor colored brother in his dungeon -- 'ye did it not unto me.' H. Mattison

Zion's Herald & Wesleyan Journal (Boston) - 23 February 1859

Boston Wesleyan Association for the New England Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Rev. Samuel Greene

A Mr. O. P. Merryman, of Baltimore, who was Warden of the Maryland Prison in which Samuel Greene , a colored Methodist preacher, is serving out a ten years' sentence for having a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin, has a letter in the Christian Advocate and Journal, in which he endeavors to apologize for the contemptible tyranny of the sentence. He says:

"At the time of his incarnation the undersigned was the Warden of that institution, and from the nature of the transcript accompanying the prisoner was overwhelmed with surprise that such a state of things could exist in the State of Maryland, and immediately took the necessary measures with a view to the executive's clemency. I soon, however, found the case a very different one from what I suppose from the transcript; and that instead of Greene simply having "Uncle Tom's Cabin," there was found in his possession sundry letters from slaves who has absconded from the neighborhood in which he was living, and which letters had been forwarded to him from Canada, giving a description of the route and country, and holding out inducements to others named in those letters to abscond from their masters, all going to show that he had been the instrument through which this wholesale work was being carried on. He had been for years suspected. Had the simple fact of his having in possession the book referred to been the sole ground of his imprisonment, a community ever ready to defend the helpless and oppressed of every color would long ago have demanded and effected his release."

It seems, then, that the very jailor was "overwhelmed with surprise at the nature of the transcript accompanying the prisoner." Even a hangman can feel some sympathy. Why then go behind the "transcript?" The "transcript" is a statement of the charge on which Greene was tried, and for which he was condemned, which was in substance, "for having a copy of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' in his possession;" and now what right has the Warden to volunteer his unofficial and worthless testimony, that Greene was guilty of the additional crime of writing letters to slaves and free negroes? And what a stupendous crime that would be, even if Greene had been tried on that charge and found guilty, to write letters describing the pathway from slavery to freedom! It is a wonder that the old exhorter, even upon suspicion, is not now taken out of prison and burned alive! Fortunate is it for the reputation of Greene that this charge is supported only by the volunteer testimony of his jailor. Perhaps if even the Warden was put under oath he might not confirm it. And yet this "community is ever ready to defend the helpless and oppressed of every color!"—If the above is a specimen of their benevolence, what would be a specimen of their cruelty!

We reported the imprisonment of Greene as soon as we heard it, as an instance of the wicked tyranny of slavery—unsurpassed by anything of the kind in Christian or heathen lands—and the above apology of the Warden only adds meanness to wickedness.

Frederick Douglass Paper - 18 March 1859 -

Samuel Green, the Imprisoned Colored Man.

Editor Northern Independence - I wish to state some facts in reference to the case of Samuel Green, a free colored man, of Dorchester Co., Md and a licensed exhorter in the M.E. Church, who is now in the Maryland State Prison for ten years for having a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin in his possession. At the spring term of the County Court for Dorchester Co, Md, 1847 (sic 1857), Samuel Green was charged with aiding slaves in their escape to free States. The proof adduced before the jury was a letter directed to him from his son residing in Canada, describing the underground railroad. It was not, and could not be proved that he had in any way aided in the escape of slaves, and therefore was cleared by the jury of the charge. The fact that a letter was addressed to him was no proof of his guilt, as he had no control over the person directing it. But his opponents were not thus to be foiled by a jury of their county. So they went and searched his house, and found a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and which he had loaned to a white man, and he was again indicted and tried under the following law: "that after the passage of this act, it shall not be lawful for any citizen of this State knowingly to write, print, or circulate any pamphlet or newspaper, or any other paper having a tendency to excite discontent, or stir up insurrection amongst the people of color of this state; and any person so offending shall be guilty of a felony, and shall on conviction, be sentenced to confinement in the Penitentiary of this State for a period of not less than ten, nor more than twenty years" -- (Dorsey's laws of Maryland, page 1218.) For the substantial truth of these statements, I appeal to Judge Spence, to the clerk of Dorchester Co. Court, and to the files of the Cambridge Democrat. Even Mr. O.P. Merryman, in his communication in the Advocate and Journal of Feb. 17th, admits that the crime specified on the card accompanying the prisoner, was that of having said book in his possession. Mr. Merryman can't show or prove that Samuel Green in is the Penitentiary for any other crime save that of circulating a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin. The editors of the Baltimore American, according to "Beta," admit that while legally he is in prison for having a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin, he is really there for a crime not legally proven. I affirm that Samuel Green was tried and sentenced to the Maryland State Prison for ten years for no other crime except for buying and circulating Uncle Tom's Cabin. J.D. Long Auburn, March 1st, 1859

Zion's Herald & Wesleyan Journal (Boston) - 23 March 1859

Boston Wesleyan Association for the New England Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Samuel Green, The Imprisoned Colored Man

Dear Bro. Hosmer:—I wish to state some facts in reference to the case of Samuel Green , a free colored man, of Dorchester County, Md., and a licensed exhorter in the M. E. Church, who is now in the Maryland State Prison for ten years, for having a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin in his possession. At the spring term of the County Court for Dorchester County, Md., 1817, Samuel was charged with aiding slaves in their escape to free States. The proof adduced before the jury was a letter directed to him from his son residing in Canada, describing the underground railroad. It was not, and could not be proved that he had in any way aided in the escape of slaves, and he therefore was cleared by the jury of the charge. The fact that a letter was addressed to him, was no proof of his guilt, as he had no control over the person directing it. But his opponents were not thus to be foiled by a jury of their county. So they went and searched his house, and found a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and which he had loaned to a white man, and he was again indicted and tried under the following law: "That after the passage of this act, it shall not be lawful for any citizen of this State knowingly to write, print or circulate any pamphlet or newspaper, or any other paper having a tendency to excite discontent, or stir up insurrection amongst the people of color of this State; and any person so offending shall be guilty of a felony, and shall, on conviction,—be sentenced to confinement in the Penitentiary of this State for a period of not less than ten, or more than twenty years."—Dorsey's Laws of Maryland, page 1218. For the substantial truth of these statements, I appeal to Judge Spence, to the clerk of Dorchester County Court, and to the files of the Cambridge Democrat. Even Mr. O. P. Merryman, in his communication in the Advocate and Journal of Feb. 17th, admits that the crime specified on the card accompanying the prisoner, was that of having said book in his possession. Mr. Merryman can't show or prove that Samuel Green is in the Penitentiary for any other crime save that of circulating a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin. The editors of the Baltimore American, according to "Beta," admit that while legally he is in prison for having a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin, he is really there for a crime not legally proven. I affirm that Samuel Green was tried and sentenced to the Maryland State Prison for ten years for no other crime except for buying and circulating Uncle Tom's Cabin. J. D. Long.

Auburn, March 1, 1850.

(contributed by) —Northern Independent

Ashtabula Weekly Telegraph (Ashtabula, Ohio) - 17 May 1862 -

Here is a paragraph, the truth of which will be doubted a century hence, should it survive so long. That such despotism ever existed in this country, will be scouted as too incredible for belief:
Rev. Samuel Green, a colored Methodist preacher in Maryland, was about five years ago sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in the penitentiary for having in his possession "Uncle Tom's Cabin" Gov. Bradford has pardoned him.

New York Herald-Tribune - 21 June 1862
Liberator (Boston) - 4 July 1862

Out of Jail - The Black Man Who Was Imprisoned for Reading Uncle Tom's Cabin

I am asked to make an appeal for a poor man - a criminal, just out of jail. He was convicted for three offences: -- first, because a black skin covered his face; second, because the English alphabet came and sat upon his tongue; and third, because he had read the story of "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

For these crimes he was tried and convicted by a Maryland Court in 1857, and sentenced to the Baltimore Penitentiary for ten years. After wearing out five years of this long penalty, the gate of his cell was opened a few weeks ago by the new Governor of Maryland, who told him that he might quit the jail, if he would also quit the United States. He immediately promised to go to Canada, and is now in New York on his way thither.

The culprit's name is Samuel Green. He is 62 years of age, though, except for his gray hair, he seems younger; good-looking, intelligent, and amiable; showing in his face God's plain handwriting of good character; a man whom a stranger would trust at first sight.

He was born a slave in Maryland, and wore the chain for 30 years, until his master died, bequeathing him freedom at the end of five years. The slave, kindled with this hope of becoming a man, worked extra hours, and earned in one year enough money to buy his service for the remaining four. While a slave, he had married a slave-woman, the property of a kind master, who, after her husband had so handsomely worked out his freedom, sold him his wife for 25 cents! Mr. Green says, "My wife was worth more, but I was willing to take her for that!"

They had two children - son and daughter - both slaves of one master. Eight or nine years ago, the son, after praying long for freedom, got it at last, after the manner of Frederick Douglass, who "prayed with his legs." The boy Green started on a moonlight night, and ran away to Canada. His master, fearing the sister would follow, sold her straightway to Missouri; breaking her heart by separating her from her husband and two little children.

About this time, when almost everybody was laughing and crying over the pages of Uncle Tom, one morning while Samuel Green was going to the mill, a blacksmith came out of his shop at the roadside - himself a black man, and since a Methodist clergyman - exclaiming - "Sam Green, would you like to see Uncle Tom's Cabin?" "Whar is it?" asked Sam, who thought it was some new shanty put up in the neighborhood. "It's a book," replied the blacksmith; "it's the story of a slave, and it goes for Abolition." "Yes, I'd like to read it," said Sam; and he took home the story, in two volumes, and began to read.

But before he finished, her received a letter from the boy in Canada, saying, "Come and bring mother, and let us all live together here." It was a good idea, but the old man, before venturing to take all his little property to a foreign country, made a hurried trip to Canada, to see what was the prospect of earning a livelihood in the high latitudes. Meanwhile, the story of his absence made noise enough to reach the attentive ears of the civil officers. On his return, a constable knocked at his door, and said, "You are suspected of holding correspondence with the North, and I shall search your house." "Come in, sir," said Mr. Green; "it is a small cottage; you can soon search it through; but you will find nothing, for there is nothing to find."

But Samuel Green - unsuspecting man - found to his cost that he was a great rogue, and that the proof of it was in his own house. The constable found three guilty things: first, Uncle Tom's Cabin; second, a map of Canada; third, a picture of a hotel at Niagara Falls. These were all, but were they not enough? What constable in Maryland would have asked for more? What Court in the State would have given less than ten years in the State prison after such proofs? Besides, even out of Maryland, does not Gov. Stanly, and he editor of the Herald, and other good man, call it a crime for a black man to know how to read?

But without palliating Samuel Green's crime, if any kind hearted person can be persuaded to show kindness to the criminal, by giving him a little money to help the old man off to the penal colony of Canada, it will reach him if sent to:
Theordore Tilton, Office of The Independent, No. 5 Beekman street, N.Y.

The Independent (New York) - 31 July 1862

[from an article by Harriet Beecher Stowe]: There came a black man to our house a few days ago, who had spent five years at hard labor in a Maryland penitentiary for the crime of having a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin in his house. He had been sentenced for ten years, but on his promise to leave the state and go to Canada, was magnanimously pardoned out.... and so he left Maryland without any acquisition except an infirmity of the limbs which he had caught from prison labor. All this was his portion of the cross; and he took it meekly, without comment, only asking that as they did not allow him to finish reading the book, we would give him a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin -- which we did.

Liberator (Boston) - 15 August 1862

Speech of Rev. Samuel Green

My friends, I esteem it a distinguished privilege and blessing to be here today. I have been truly gratified in hearing what has been said in regard to the evil of slavery, and the terrible consequences thereof, which now convulse the nation. I have realized much of the evil and suffering of which you have heard. Five years ago, I was arrested in Maryland, and imprisoned in the Penitentiary. The circumstances were these. My son had worked for a hard task-master seven years, and one day he asked him for some money, and he gave him ten cents. He came to me, and said, "Father, I must fly for freedom"; and he found his way to Canada. I was suspected of helping him off, and other slaves, who ran away about the same time, and my house was searched, and a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," a map of the county, and a picture of a hotel at Niagara Falls were found. I was convicted and sent to the Penitentiary for ten years. A strong petition was got up, and sent to Governor Hicks, praying for my pardon. The question was asked what he was going to do about it. He replied, "I know Green. So far as moral character goes, he is an honest man; but if I pardon him, I shall be called an abolitionist and mobbed." Governor Bradford released me, after I had been in prison five years.

Mr. Green then referred to the state of feeling which existed in Maryland in regard to the colored people, which was illustrated by the remark of one individual, that he would rather go to hell and be damned, than go to heaven with a "nigger." He said he did not believe that the efforts of the abolitionists had been an injury to the colored people, bond or free, but rather a benefit; and he attributed his own release to their exertions. It had pleased God, he said, to reveal Himself more powerfully to him in his affliction than at any other time. He realized that it was good to be afflicted; and he would say, that whatever might be our position, so long as we trusted in God, He would support and finally deliver us.

At the conclusion of Mr. Green's remarks, a handsome collection was taken up for his benefit, he having been despoiled of all his goods by the Egyptians down in Maryland.

Baltimore Sun - 1 March 1877

Green - On Tuesday, February 27, 1877, Samuel Green in the 75th year of his age. His funeral will take place from Orchard Street Church on tomorrow (Friday) afternoon, at two o'clock. His friends and acquaintances of the family are respectfully invited to attend, without further notice.

Baltimore American - 7 March 1877 -
New York Tribune - 9 March 1877 -
San Francisco Bulletin - 23 March 1877 -

A Reminiscence of Slavery Times

Last Saturday the remains of old Samuel Green were laid to rest in the South Baltimore Cemetery. Green was only an old colored man, who, since the close of the war, has led the quiet life of a house servant, but who, previous to that, had had undergone experiences which probably have no parallel in the history of any other man. He was seventy-six years old at the time of his death, was a member of the Orchard street church, and had borne a character for faithfulness and honesty for which the old man is perhaps now reaping his reward. In 1858 he was living in Dorchester county, where he had previously been owned by a gentleman whose family are still living in that section and whose names are well known. It was a period when all sorts of rumors were prevalent of a revolt among the slaves, and the greatest care was taken not to allow any considerable number of negroes to congregate together either for religious or social purposes. Naturally, any slave that could read was looked upon with considerable suspicion, and it was not infrequent that searches were made of the negro quarters for seditious pamphlets or papers, any quantity of which -- for so the anti-slavery documents were considered -- were then floating through the country.

Uncle Sam, being a free man, had the misfortune to know how to read, and so his cabin was one day searched for literature of an inflammatory nature, which was found, the same being the novel or Uncle Tom's Cabin. I can be understood now this story of Harriet Beecher Stowe was regarded at that time, when it is stated that had an infernal machine for blowing up white folks' church been found instead, the excitement could have been no greater. Old Uncle Sam was arrested, a true bill was found against him, and on an indictment for having in his possession "seditious and incendiary documents calculated to disturb the public peace and destroy the welfare," etc., or words to that effect, he was brought to trial. The evidence in the case was to the effect that Uncle Sam had this dangerous book in his possession. That fact was not denied by the old man, who stood up in the dock and attempted to justify his possession thereof by trying to show that there was nothing hurtful in the volume. It was shown, however, that Uncle Tom had defied Legree and set a bad example by dying for principle, and that George Harris had made good his escape and was happy in Canada, and that Casey had held her master's word at open defiance and ruled him, too; all of which, it was said must have a bad effect upon the slaves, who would thereby be induced to emulate the example and follow in the footsteps of these fictitious characters. And so Uncle Sam, then three score years old, was found guilty, sentenced to five years in the State Penitentiary, to which place he was at once conveyed, and Dorchester county was at peace, for it had rid itself of a dangerous(?) man and taught a lesson to all negroes that could read not to gather information or pleasure from the pages of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Uncle Sam as a convict displayed the same traits of character which had distinguished him previously. Faithful to his duties, obedient to discipline and respectful and courteous to the officers in charge, he won the confidence of his keepers to such an extent that he was allowed more liberties then his companions in misfortune, and independent of the stigma which attached to the striped suit he wore, he has always spoken to the two years he spent in prison, as comparatively happy ones. A movement was then made to obtain his pardon, and accordingly when in his sixty-second year, Executive clemency was extended to him upon the provision that he would go to Canada. This was accepted by the old man, and a purse having been subscribed, the old fellow with his wife, who survives him, and who supplied the writer the details of this history, left for London, Ontario, where they remained until the Emancipation Proclamation put the affairs of life in a different light for Uncle Sam, and he came back to Maryland and settled in Baltimore. His wife, old Aunt Eliza, lives in the northwestern part of the city. Her husband left her a little sum which will keep her from want during the remainder of her days. "Yes sah," she said to the reported, "he war a good ole man to me, and his soul's in glo'y suab. It's clad in a coat of shinin' gold, and he's an ole man, but that thar soul's as sprightly and chipper singin' around de throne and praisen' the Lam' of Goodness as any piccaninny's."

New York Herald-Tribune - 9 March 1877
Salt Lake Tribune (Utah) - 24 March 1877
Oregon State Journal - 19 May 1877

The Baltimore American gives a striking reminiscence of the old slave days in describing the funeral of Uncle Samuel Green, whose remains were laid to rest in the South Cemetery last Saturday. In 1858 Uncle Sam was a freedman in Dorchester county, and had learned to read. One day his cabin was ransacked by officers, and a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was found in a drawer. Uncle Sam was arrested, a true bill was found against him, and on an indictment for having in his possession seditious and incendiary documents calculated to disturb the public peace he was brought to trial. The old man tried to show that there was nothing hurtful in the volume, but he was found guilty, and sentenced to five years in the penitentiary. His wife, Aunt Eliza, survived him, and bears witness to his virtues: "Yes, sah, he war a good ole man to me, and his soul's in glo'y suah. It's clad in a coat of shinin' gold, and he's an ole man, but that thar soul's has sprightly and chipper singin' around de throne and praisin' the Lam' of Goodness as any piccaninny's."

East New Market

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1828-1877