West side of Clinton Square between Water and Erie
"Resolved: That we
rejoice that the City of Syracuse -- the anti-slavery city of Syracuse -- the
city of anti-slavery conventions, our beloved and glorious city of Syracuse --
still remains undisgraced by the fulfillment of the satanic prediction of the
satanic Daniel Webster."
This building was renamed the "Jerry Rescue Building" in the
1850s to commemorate one of the most important events in the early life of
Syracuse. In their chapter covering "Buildings of Historical Interest," the authors of
Architecture Worth Saving mention the Jerry Rescue Building but exclude it
from their list apparently because, as they put it, "it is already widely known and
appreciated." Little did they know that the forces of change would cause even
this well known landmark to be demolished. Although a new Jerry Rescue monument has been installed across the street, a parking lot is all that now
commemorates the precise place where Syracuse, arguably,
had its finest hour.
In September of 1850 Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law providing stiff
penalties for any person who aided fugitives in
their escape to freedom (New York State was among the first states to abolished slavery in 1827). A few weeks later, on October 4th, more than 500 citizens of Syracuse,
including Mayor Alfred H. Hovey, met to plan their response. At this meeting
they formed the Vigilance Committee made up of leading citizens of both races
who pledged "their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor" that no person
would be taken from Syracuse and returned to slavery.
In May of 1851, U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster stood on a balcony
overlooking City Hall and pointedly threatened the defiant little
city. Webster labeled efforts to block
execution of the Fugitive Slave Law "treason, treason, TREASON,"
pledged that the law "will be executed in all the great cities
here in Syracuse – in the midst of the next Antislavery Convention, if the
occasion shall arise."
Just five months later the occasion did arise.
The "Jerry Rescue Block" -- all three of the buildings clustered together here are now gone (notice the canal wall in the foreground).
Source: Onondaga County Library
On October 1st of 1851, the anti-slavery Liberty Party opened its New York State
Convention in Syracuse. At about noon on that same day, William "Jerry" Henry
was at his usual workplace, engaged in his trade as barrel maker. A large
contingent of law enforcement officers descended on Henry's workplace including
federal marshals from Rochester, Auburn, Syracuse, and Canandaigua, as well as
local police officers. At first Henry was told that the charge was theft;
he was safely in manacles the officers told him he was being arrested under the Fugitive
Slave Law. After putting up considerable resistance, he was subdued
and taken away.
When word of the arrest reached the convention, church bells began to ring
and a crowd gathered at Commissioner Sabine's office in the Townsend Block (now
the Arcade building) where Henry was to be
arraigned. The crowd rushed the building, managing to get Henry as far as the
street outside before he was recaptured and taken back. The arraignment
was then put off until evening when a larger room in the adjacent police station (the "Jerry Rescue"
building) could be secured.
A few hours later a crowd of more than 2,000 gathered at the
new location and, using a battering ram, broke
the door. Deputy marshals fired shots out the window
but it soon became clear the crowd was too large and determined to be resisted.
One deputy marshal broke his arm jumping from a second story window. Henry was
taken away by the crowd and hidden for several days in the
home of a local butcher where he could recover from his injuries. He was then taken by wagon to Oswego where he crossed
The day following the rescue, anti-slavery leader and future U.S. Congressman Gerrit
Smith introduced a resolution at the Liberty Party convention referencing Daniel
Webster's prediction of an arrest and referring to the Secretary of State
as "that base and infamous enemy of the human race." Smith therefore resolved,
"That we rejoice that the City of Syracuse – the anti-slavery city of Syracuse
– the city of anti-slavery conventions, our beloved and glorious city of
Syracuse – still remains undisgraced by the fulfillment of the satanic
prediction of the satanic Daniel Webster." The resolution passed easily.
Nineteen Federal indictments were handed down for those involved in the
rescue. Those indicted included US Senator, and former governor, William H.
Seward. When the prosecution objected to Gerrit Smith
– a non-lawyer –
appearing on behalf of the defense, the Court of Appeals immediately issued an
order admitting Smith to the bar. The trials dragged out for two years. Only one
of the indictments ended in conviction and that man died while waiting for his
case to be heard on appeal.
Smith and others turned the tables by obtaining an indictment against Marshal
Allen for kidnapping. Although Allen was ultimately acquitted, Smith and his
compatriots used the trial to argue against the constitutionality of the
Fugitive Slave Law (the text of Smith's argument before the court is in the
Syracuse University Archives).
Commemoration of the "Jerry Rescue" became an annual event in Syracuse with
Gerrit Smith delivering addresses every year from 1852 to 1858 (some of these
addresses are also in the Syracuse University Collection). In 1858
Thomas Wentworth Higgison and the famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass also
addressed the gathering.
In 1859 Gerrit Smith sent a letter to the chairman of the Jerry Rescue Committee declining to participate in that year's event and
expressing his frustration with the abolitionist movement in general. In the letter, Smith
predicted anti-slavery insurrections would occur "...any year, any month, any day."
Six weeks later John Brown led a raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry. He intended to use the weapons he captured to establish a base in the southern
Appalachian Mountains from which he would assist slaves in their escape to freedom. The Harper's Ferry raid has been described as the act that lit the fuse on
the American Civil War.
Smith denied any foreknowledge of the Brown raid, but when Brown
was captured a check for $100 was found in his pocket -- sent to him by Gerrit Smith.
To learn more about Syracuse area involvement in the
underground railroad and abolition movement, go to
Abolition and the Underground