On this day, Methodist Minister Calvin Fairbank was abducted from his home in Indiana and brought to trial in Kentucky on charges of aiding the escapes of slaves. Fairbank had helped numerous families to their freedom along the underground railroad, starting his crusade after meeting the Hayden Family, who themselves were attempting to escape. Upon asking the father why they were trying to escape, Fairbank was answered with, "I am a man." Since then, he had been active in the movement.
On November 10th, Fairbank was taken from his home in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and brought to Kentucky for trial on the charges of aiding runaway slaves. He was sentenced to 15 years in the Kentucky State Penitentiary, and while there, was singled out for particularly horrid treatment. He claimed that, as he was being incarcerated, he heard the warden say: "...take Fairbank to the hackling house and kill him."*
Upon release, Fairbank married Mandana Tileson, with whom he had been engaged for 13 years, and had a single son. But he had never been quite the same since his imprisonment: he was weak to the point of being unable to work, and upon the death of his wife, he had to turn over custody of his son to Tileson's sister. He published an autobiography, Rev. Calvin Fairbank During Slavery Times: How He "Fought the Good Fight" to Prepare "the Way", and died on Oct. 12, 1898.
Currently, there have been some efforts by Kentuckians to enact a posthumous pardon for Calvin Fairbank. Read more about that effort here: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/03/12/1177922/pardons-pushed-for-kentuckians.html
- Joanna Slusarewicz
*Hackling houses were places in which prisoners worked to produce hemp-rope. It was said to be a miserable job, and it was reported that, in a single 15 month period, 3 prisoners intentionally cut off a hand to avoid laboring in the houses.
Sources:
http://www.undergroundrailroad.org.uk/ur-people-calvin%20fairbank.htm
http://undergroundrailroadindiana.com/CalvinFairbank.htm
http://www.ket.org/underground/research/prichard.htm
On November 10th, Fairbank was taken from his home in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and brought to Kentucky for trial on the charges of aiding runaway slaves. He was sentenced to 15 years in the Kentucky State Penitentiary, and while there, was singled out for particularly horrid treatment. He claimed that, as he was being incarcerated, he heard the warden say: "...take Fairbank to the hackling house and kill him."*
Upon release, Fairbank married Mandana Tileson, with whom he had been engaged for 13 years, and had a single son. But he had never been quite the same since his imprisonment: he was weak to the point of being unable to work, and upon the death of his wife, he had to turn over custody of his son to Tileson's sister. He published an autobiography, Rev. Calvin Fairbank During Slavery Times: How He "Fought the Good Fight" to Prepare "the Way", and died on Oct. 12, 1898.
Currently, there have been some efforts by Kentuckians to enact a posthumous pardon for Calvin Fairbank. Read more about that effort here: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/03/12/1177922/pardons-pushed-for-kentuckians.html
- Joanna Slusarewicz
*Hackling houses were places in which prisoners worked to produce hemp-rope. It was said to be a miserable job, and it was reported that, in a single 15 month period, 3 prisoners intentionally cut off a hand to avoid laboring in the houses.
Sources:
http://www.undergroundrailroad.org.uk/ur-people-calvin%20fairbank.htm
http://undergroundrailroadindiana.com/CalvinFairbank.htm
http://www.ket.org/underground/research/prichard.htm