Mary Jane Anderson to Frederick Douglass, February 7, 1857

CLEVELAND, O., Feb. 7th, 1857.

MR. EDITOR:—In the latter part of September, 1856, Elijah Anderson left Cleveland, for the purpose of going West to work; but when he got as far as Springwell, Mich., it being so late in the season, he determined to remain there awhile and work; and when he left, he told me that if any business letters were sent to him from Madison, Ind., to mail them to him immediately, as he expected to get money that would be due to him in December by persons in Madison.

About the first of November, a letter was sent from Madison to Elijah Anderson, signed in Wm. Evans name and read thus:

"Mr. Elijah Anderson:—Come to Madison immediately—there is fifty dollars here for you.— You must come immediately to get it. Answer will you come.

WM. T. EVANS."

The above letter, and one of the dispatches, I sent to him where he was at work. Accordingly, he left Springwell, Mich., to go to Madison, and on the 16th of December, 1856, he passed through Sandusky, and on the 17th he was arrested on the Steamer Superior, while on his way to Madison, by two police officers of Louisville. The charge was a suspicion of enticing slaves from Carrolton, Ky. The following is a copy of a letter in which he gives the history of himself from the night of the 17th, up to the 28th of Dec., 1856:

BEDFORD, Ky., Dec. 28, 1856.

"My Dear Daughter:—I am pleased that I am blest with the opportunity of giving the history of myself form the night of the 17th to this date. The first part is worthless. Wm. Anderson, of Madison, was taken at Louisville, and tried at Carrolton, Ky.; and on trial his statement was that Elijah Anderson had taken Mike Guiltners, and went on the cars at Dupont, Ind., and that I would be going to Madison soon. So they put out five hundred dollars reward for me. I was taken about ten miles from Madison. His object was to deliver me into the hands of those slave-holders and hunters. They put the police officers out on watch for me; but as soon as I found that this was the case, I cried out murder, which soon raised the Captain; but he said 'No!' but that I might go on to Louisville, and return to Carrolton the next day, which was the 18th. This was the way they put me in irons in Louisville. I was tried in Carrolton, but there was no evidence

against me. I am now to be tried in a Scott case in this place. I gave bail to my lawyer in Carrolton for fifty dollars, and in this case I am waiting for a lawyer of this town, I don't know what his charge will be. He will be home in a few days, and then I am ready for trial. No one is allowed to come and see me in prison, and the jail is guarded day and night.

"From your affectionate father,

"ELIJAH ANDERSON."

Since I received the above letter, another came to hand, dated January 3rd, 1857, which reads as follows:

"Dear Daughter:—I was brought out for trial to-day; but the Commonwealth failing in testimony against me, it was laid over until Friday, the 9th inst., and if they fail in testimony against me I am sure I think they will fail in all they attempt to prove against me. My expense to my lawyers is one hundred and fifty dollars. Friends, help me! I am friendless and without protection. The cause of my arrest was through the aid of Rev. Wm. Anderson, of Madison, Ind., strange as it may seem to some people. My lawyer's name is Samuel Dihaven, of Lagrange, Ky.

"From your affectionate father,

"ELIJAH ANDERSON."

The following is a copy of a letter received from Mrs. Scott, of Madison, Ind.:

"MADISON, Jan. 11th, 1857.

"Mrs. Anderson:—Why is it that you don't come to Madison? Your husband's life will be taken, if you will not come to aid him. His trial was last Friday. You husband's bail is two thousand dollars. If he stays there till next trial, his life will be taken. We want to get him from that place before the trial comes on; it will be in a few weeks. I am doing all I can for him. He feels unwell. But you can do more than I am doing. We have got two letters from him. He wants you to come to Madison. He has business with you. You must come if life lasts. You must come; for the lawyer says you can do more good than all the rest. We can get him by paying the money down for him; if not, he is lost. Bring all the aid you can get. We went to see the lawyer, but did not get to see him; but he said that he was in a bad fix. I have been looking for you every day this week. We are in a heap of trouble about him. You must write to all your friends to help him out of trouble. He wants to know why his wife don't come. He says that if the friends don't help him, he is done forever.

"Yours, truly,

MRS. R. A. SCOTT."

It will plainly be seen, by reading the above letters, that Wm. Anderson was the cause of his arrest; and I have sufficient evidence from other sources, for believing that he sent that letter and those dispatches in Wm. Evans' signature, from the fact that I received a letter from my sister, living in Lawrenceburgh, Ind., (whose name is Mrs. A. Jenkins,) and also from a Mrs. Scott, of Madison; and both write that they heard that when Wm. Anderson was taken, they threatened to kill him if he did not deliver Elijah Anderson into their power. Therefore he telegraphed for Elijah Anderson to come, that he might be arrested and set himself at liberty; and on the morning of the 19th, the news of his arrest was read to me, and that the charge was a suspicion of aiding slaves.

Yours, respectfully,

MRS. M. J. ANDERSON.