In some ways, an act of civil disobedience in an Ottawa courtroom in 1859 wasn’t unusual. When a judge ruled that a man fleeing slavery must be turned over to federal authorities for a ruling on whether he’d be returned to a Missouri slave keeper, local slavery opponents helped that man–Jim Gray–escape out of the building, over a fence, and into a coach.
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Robert Carter of Ottawa told an audience at a historical marker dedication today, lots of people slipped away from the clutches of the courts in those days. They would go out a back door or a window and vanish.
Eight people were charged with helping Gray escape. Two got away. The rest were jailed and fined but treated like celebrities while in custody, according to news reports from the time. The judge who handled the case in Ottawa vowed never to hear another fugitive slave case in the city because it would just invite more defiance of the court’s authority. Justice Carter says the incident is a tribute to the willingness of people to sacrifice their own freedom so we could all be free today.
Nobody knows what happened to Jim Gray. The pairing of his name and description haven’t been found in historical records since that incident. It’s believed he made it to freedom in Canada via the Underground Railroad.
You can hear what Justice Carter said inside the Aussem Ottawa Tours building near the downtown Ottawa LaSalle County courthouse in this recording. Thunder and weather warning signals interrupt in some places.
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Robert A. Carter speaks to an audience inside the Aussem Ottawa Tours building. The current downtown Ottawa LaSalle County courthouse is through the window behind him. A different building was on the property when abolitionists helped Jim Gray escape. Photo by Rick Wiegmann Koshko, used with permission.
Left to right: Former Ottawa Mayor Bob Eschbach, Ill. Sup. Ct. Justice Robert Carter, and historian Chuck Stanley by the new historical marker. Photo by Rick Wiegmann Koshko, used with permission.