History of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue

Octavo, 280pp. About very good in the publisher's brown cloth, rebacked to style. Some leaves with tray pencil markings, and a few leaves with shallow marginal chips or creases. Original endpapers retained, with contemporary ownership signature of "A. Kellogg" (could this be Ann Stanley Kellogg, mother of John Harvey, founder of the cereal company?) and a nice 20th century bookplate (C. J. Paterson) to the front paste-down. A sound, sturdy copy. Compared to John Brown's Raid, the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue is a much lesser known, but similarly important event in the lead-up to the American Civil War. An escaped slave from Kentucky named John Price was arrested in Oberlin, OH by the US Marshals. Since the Marshals knew that Oberlin was filled with abolitionists, they quickly moved him to the jail in Wellington, OH, one train stop south of Oberlin. But Oberlin abolitionists caught wind of the arrest, and they quickly followed the train to Wellington, where they overwhelmed the Marshals and took Price to safety in Oberlin, where he went back into hiding and continued a successful voyage on the Underground Railroad to Canada. 37 people were arrested for obstructing the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, but only two were tried, and given light sentences by a judge in Cleveland. The government's increasing reluctance to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law in the face of growing public opposition led to its repeal becoming a pillar of the 1860 Republican platform. The book, which is printed on cheap, acidic paper, is rarely found in nice condition. This is a sturdy and tastefully repaired copy. Thomson 1041; Howes S419.…