The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 marked a difficult time in history for enslaved individuals. This includes a young fugitive named, Sara Lucy Bagby, who managed to escape from Wheeling, Virginia in October of 1860. Her experience with freedom had not lasted long before she was discovered by her enslaver, William S. Goshorn. She was immediately jailed in Cleveland, Ohio where her trial soon took place. Bagby had no choice but was forced to be sent back into captivity under the Fugitive Slave Act. Both the black and white community of Cleveland were in an uproar over the appalling outcome of Bagby’s trial. Occurring only a few years before the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Act, Lucy Bagby’s unfortunate sentence posed as a turning point that opened many eyes to the unjust nature of slavery. Lucy Bagby’s journey, from her escape, to her sentence back into slavery, to her ultimate liberation, has had a transcending impact that still exists today.
 

Sara Lucy Bagby was a twenty-eight-year-old enslaved person from Wheeling, Virginia. She had become pregnant, and started the dreadful and dangerous journey to the north to seek freedom for herself and her growing baby. Bagby ended her journey in Cleveland, Ohio. It was here that she found housing and a job. She worked as a maid for congressman A.G. Riddle, and jeweler L. A. Benton. Bagby’s enslaver, William Goshorn, discovered her location and had her arrested under the Fugitive Slave Act. John Stauffer of the New York Times states in his article “Fear and Doubt in Cleveland”, “Goshorn was purportedly worth $300,000 (about $22 million in today’s dollars), so he did not need to recover Lucy for her monetary value.” Goshorn had no reason to fear the money lost from his recently self-liberated person, so it is doubtful that this is for his claim on her as property. Rather, it is likely that he did this simply to make a point and set an example for others. By having Bagby arrested after she had escaped, he was demonstrating his power over her beyond the boundary of the South.

From here Bagby was held in jail. In protest to this injustice, local abolitionists and opponents of slavery attempted to break her free two times, but both attempts failed. Bagby lost her case under the Fugitive Slave Act, and with this also lost her newfound freedom in Cleveland. She was returned to Wheeling, and also gave birth shortly after returning. Sadly, this means that the child was also enslaved. Shortly after her return to Wheeling, in June of 1861, Bagby was traveling through Tennessee with Goshorn. During this trip accompanied by her enslaver, she was liberated by a Union captain and gained her emancipation. Once she was liberated from Goshorn, she married Union soldier George Johnson, and the two lived in Pittsburgh for a few years before returning to and remaining in Cleveland.

Although many details on Lucy Bagby’s escape are lost, there is still some extant information on her journey to Cleveland, Ohio. However, some of these pieces of information are only assumptions or rumors that were developed, which have been confused or altered over the years, causing the truth to be unclear. In a newspaper article in the Wheeling Day Intelligence, published merely a month after Bagby’s escape, is stated that a fellow captive, Phil Herbert, assisted her in the escape to Pennsylvania. As a result of these suspicions, Herbert was sent to jail. On December 10, 1860, this same newspaper continues the story on Phil Herbert. According to the Wheeling Day Intelligence, the young man spent several weeks imprisoned before having his hearing where he, as well as a number of other enslaved persons, were questioned on their knowledge of Bagby. The context of their collective response from the article is as follows:
 

They knew the slave girl Lucy, (or the "young lady," as they called her) some only as an acquaintance, some intimately and some otherwise. They knew Phil only slightly. One or two slaves even knew that Phil went to Pittsburgh about the same time that the girl disappeared, but they didn't know what he went for, or if they did they would not tell.
 

Despite Sheriff Col. Knox’s efforts, no specific information on Bagby’s escape was revealed. It is likely that many of these enslaved individuals truly knew nothing, but it is also a possibility that the truth was carefully concealed. Herbert was finally discharged with a warning and was told to be careful in the future, leaving this part of Bagby’s story a mystery. If Herbert had any knowledge of Bagby's self-liberation, he certainly would not tell the authorities as they would easily be able to track Bagby down and her punishment for self-liberation would be significantly more severe than any form Herbert was used to.

It is well known that Lucy Bagby eventually made her way to Cleveland, Ohio from Pennsylvania. She was able to make a living for herself by employing her sewing skills at a couple different locations during her year of freedom. She had been living with the family of Mr. Benton, when she suddenly discovered by William Goshorn. It was on January 19, 1861, that Lucy Bagby was arrested and put in jail, but it would soon be realized that the black community of Cleveland was not willing to put up with the injustice that would come from the trial to follow.

The city of Cleveland has a lengthy history as a city of both innovation and industrial achievement. The city was built on the southern shores of Lake Erie right at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. As a result of this location where the Cuyahoga exits into Lake Erie, many industrial centers were established and the city reaped the benefits of early industrial development during the early to mid-1800s. With it's position along the Cuyahoga, Cleveland became one of the final stops on the infamous Underground Railroad. Nicknamed "Station Hope" by many abolitionists and fugitives, steamships would often ferry fugitives across Lake Erie and into Canada where freedom was achieved by many.

After her arrest, Lucy Bagby was put on trial at the courthouse in Cleveland. Case Western Reserve University Writes, “Before her scheduled hearing on January 21, Bagby's counsel, Rufus Spalding secured a habeas corpus hearing for his client. Probate Judge Daniel R. Tilden could find no reason to release her but ruled that she could not be held in the local jail. Granting Spalding a two-day recess to interview witnesses in Wheeling, U.S. Commissioner Bushnell White ordered a room fitted out for Bagby on federal property in the post office building. When the hearing resumed on January 23, White restored Bagby to Goshorn given her own admission that she was Goshorn's slave and Spalding's failure to uncover any favorable evidence.” During this time there were failed attempts by local abolitionists to free Bagby while she was being jailed, as well as when she was on the train back to slavery. This was also happening at a time in the country when five states were seceding from the Union. With this information, Cleveland was under pressure to see if they would obey the Fugitive Slave Act, or if they were against the Union as well. The decision was not in Lucy Bagby’s favor and she was one of the last enslaved persons to be prosecuted and returned to her enslaver under the Fugitive Slave Act.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was a revised version of the original Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, a law that “authorized local governments to seize and return escaped slaves to their owners and imposed penalties on anyone who aided in their flight.” On account of widespread resistance to the original law and pressure from Southern politicians, Congress revised the 1793 law to include stricter rules and harsher punishments regarding the capture of self-liberated persons. This updated law became the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Oppression in any amount is not often gracefully accepted, and both Fugitive Slave Acts were met with a great degree of opposition and controversy. In response to the enactment of the 1793 law, “most Northern states intentionally neglected to enforce the law.” Some states established “Personal Liberty Laws” to give those accused of self-liberation the right to a jury trial, and to protect free blacks from being kidnapped and sold. The 1850 revisions to the law fired back at this resistance by denying fugitives both the right to testify, and the right to a jury trial. Punishment for not enforcing the law became more intense as well. The Social Welfare History Project article “Fugitive Slave Act of 1850” states:

Federal marshals who refused to enforce the law and individuals who helped slaves to escape were heavily penalized and were fined $1,000. Furthermore, special commissioners were given concurrent jurisdiction with U.S. courts enforcing this act.

These commissioners earned more money when they returned a suspected fugitive than they did if they sided with said fugitive. The efforts to enforce these harsh regulations backfired, resulting in even more resistance. The number of abolitionists increased, the Underground Railroad was developed to be more efficient, and some Northern states even passed laws to nullify the Fugitive Slave Act. Eventually, both Fugitive Slave Acts were repealed on June 28th, 1864.

Sara Lucy Bagby was just one of the many fugitives returned into captivity under the Fugitive Slave Act. We cannot even begin to imagine the struggles that Bagby went through while escaping, only for it to be a failed attempt. Bagby’s experiences were unjust and dehumanizing, but they served as a catalyst for social change. Through observing Bagby’s struggles, people became conscious of the prejudiced, hateful nature of enslavement. Bagby passed away on July 14, 1906, and was buried in Woodland Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio. Her grave remained unmarked for over one hundred years, until 2010 when a headstone was donated by Northcoast Memorials with the help of volunteers who were inspired by her story. A ceremony was held to honor Bagby, as well as the dozens of other black historical figures buried at Woodland. Bagby’s memory lives on, and her story continues to have an impact on people.

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Created by Megan Colnar, Lily Kozub, Abbey Szunyog, and Zachary Warth (Fall 2018)

 

If you want to quote this page,

[MLA]

Warth, Zachary, et al. “Sara Lucy Bagby: Her Life, Capture, and Liberation from Slavery.” Quilting African American Experiences In Northeast Ohio, http://scalar.usc.edu/works/quilting-african-american-experiences-in-northeast-ohio/sara-lucy-bagby. Accessed date month year.