The trip up the coast did nothing for Sagurs' fit of temper. Upon landing in Rockland, he quickly had a warrant sworn out. Deputy Sheriff D.N. Piper rode down to Cushing to Kelleran's farm to serve it. The locals were one step ahead of him. Piper searched all the houses in Cushing except the one where Atticus was hiding. It is highly likely that Sagurs felt that he was being accorded less than full cooperation by all involved. He was nearly apoplectic. He vowed that when his slave was found he would "skin that boy alive". This hardly endeared him to the locals. Sagurs' next action was to issue a $20 reward for the return of his property. There is always someone who can be bought. Two local men, posing as friends, told the frightened Atticus that they would take him to the local Underground Railroad station (supposedly) on the Knox estate. Instead they turned him over to the sheriff and Sagurs. The next morning Sagurs and his property were on their way back to Savannah, but the slaveholder was not done with the state of Maine!

Slavery and Abolitionism in Maine: Sagurs loaded his property aboard his hired ship before an indignant and vocal crowd at East Thomaston. This local population was experiencing their first real exposure on their own home ground to Southern slavery, blacks and slaveholders. It must have made a less than favorable impression. However it is important to realize that Maine had a past history of slavery itself and that Maine was part of a country and a region that was coming to an understanding of slavery as a moral and political issue of great magnitude.

Mainers owned slaves throughout the colonial era, but, in reality, slaves were most likely to be found in the larger and more settled towns where the most wealthy populations lived. Most Mainers lived a subsistence life style and depended on large families for labor. Indentured servants were more likely to be found than Negro slaves. Population counts indicate that in 1753 there were 24 slaves in York, 35 in Kittery, 21 in Falmouth (Portland), 22 in Berwick, 14 in Harpswell, 12 in Biddeford and smaller numbers in towns like Gorham, Wells, and Brunswick. In 1764 there were 23,686 whites and 322 blacks in Maine, a small percentage compared to other colonies.

Other than Sir William Pepperell of Kittery who, in his time, owned more slaves than any other Mainer, most slaveholders owned only one or two slaves who generally worked in the master's house. They were almost treated as family members. Slaves were baptized and married in local churches but often sat only in the back pews. Their testimony could be given in a court of law; they might own property and were often buried in the family cemetery plots. It was even possible to buy one's freedom or earn it by good service to a fair-minded master. In all likelihood a Maine slaves' status could be perceived as better than slaves elsewhere just because there were fewer of them
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It is important to remember that these people were property, and they were treated as such. There is considerable evidence of this in the wills of Maine people which list a "negro wench" or a "negro man", often unnamed, in the lists of household property and livestock. And slavery was no less cruel in Maine than elsewhere. Auction advertisements listed "likely" Negro slaves. Rewards were posted for runaways. The children of slaves were sold away from their homes and families. No remorse; it was the custom
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By the time of the Boston's voyage, slavery had not existed in Maine for more than fifty years. Massachusetts (and therefore the Province of Maine) abolished slavery in the 1780's after it adopted a new constitution declaring "all men born free and equal". For Maine this act was underscored by the Missouri Compromise that admitted Maine to the union in 1820 as a free state. Our statehood was balanced by the admission of Missouri as a slave state thus maintaining the parity that the South demanded.

Although Maine was a free state, it is important to acknowledge that Mainers were involved in activities that perpetuated or took monetary advantage of slavery. First, Maine ships participated in the Triangle Trade that capitalized on goods produced by slave labor both inside the United States and in the islands to our south. This trade was not limited to products but also included trade in slaves between Africa and the Indies and between the Indies and the states. Despite our denials, Mainers did profit mightily from the Black Ivory Trade both before and after the slave trade was forbidden by act of Congress. In addition, Maine ships and merchants sold local products in southern states as exemplified by the schooner Boston. Maine ships also carried goods produced in the South by slave labor to northern and European markets. On return trips, these same ships carried goods and materials purchased with the profits of these same southern products to white southerners. Not allowing slavery in the home state did not equate with not making profits based on slavery in other geographical areas. Perhaps this economic connection as well as a small exposure to blacks and to slavery itself brought about an ambivalence in Mainers to "the peculiar institution".

During the 1830's a number of events and movements occurred that influenced how Mainers viewed slavery. Many were highly publicized and debated. Abolitionist firebrand William Lloyd Garrison began publishing the Liberator in 1831. Garrison made a speaking tour of Maine in 1832 causing a great deal of dissension as well as discussion both within and between the abolitionist and anti-abolitonist factions. The American Antislavery Society was formed in Philadelphia in 1833; within the year there were auxiliary organizations in the state. The national, state and local organizations were soon actively engaged in antislavery activities and propaganda.

Mainers, particularly from coastal areas whose prosperity depended on trade with the South, were likely to oppose the abolitionists. They might not agree with slavery but they were more inclined to mind their own business. Many agreed with reportage in 1833 in the Argus that stated there were indications that the South "might seize upon the most trifling provocations of a rupture of the Union of States". The Augusta Age agreed stating that even moderate abolition propaganda would endanger the union. The Argus felt that the South would abolish slavery in due course on their own "provided they are let alone by us in the North". This was the opinion of the Whig Party and its media. It also was the predominant thread in statements made at huge anti-abolition meetings held from Portland to Bangor. At its most reasonable, it is a pretty fair indication of many Mainer's opinions in the early 1830's.

Disagreement on slavery and abolition was not always this agreeable. In 1836 the mayor of Portland rescinded permission for the Antislavery Society to meet in City Hall and expressed doubt that the law would be able to protect the abolitionists... from their fellow Mainers. The meeting, rescheduled at the Quaker meetinghouse, was mobbed, but despite catcalls, stones and clubs, it was held. Anti-abolition mobs were not uncommon. In 1838, the Maine House of Representatives also denied the society the use of its hall for a meeting. That same year, Brunswick struggled mightily with the slavery issue. At first, in a coup by anti-abolitionists at a public meeting, the townspeople voted against interference with slavery and, unfortunately, against free speech and public discussion of the issue at that same meeting. Later, the abolitionists swayed public opinion with good PR and an active public speaker program. On the other hand, Machias voted by a large majority that "it is unconstitutional and inexpedient to form societies in non-slaveholding States for the immediate abolition of slavery in slaveholding States". Even so, public opinion was beginning to be swayed by discussion and information promulgated by a massive effort on the part of the antislavery societies.

Meanwhile, the South was hardening its position in regards to slavery and abolitionism. In fact, it engaged in a number of activities that swayed the people of Maine and other northern states into line with the more radical abolition philosophies. The abolition of slavery in the 19th century became a divisive and self-righteous issue on the magnitude of the abortion issue of today.

State Against State: States in both the North and the South were beginning to engage in punitive actions regarding slavery. Such actions demanded the recognition of a state's rights to legislate and uphold laws within its boarders and at the same time absolutely infuriated opposing states. For example, Massachusetts ruled in 1836 that any slave brought inside her borders was free. Georgia put a $5000 bounty on Garrison's head for his activities. Congress passed the "Gag Rule" that forbade them from accepting or even discussing antislavery petitions. Freedom of speech was in danger.

The southern states of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama even demanded that the northern states suppress antislavery newspapers within their boundaries. In 1836, the Maine legislature referred the request to committee. Based on the results of the large number of anti-abolition meetings being held around the state at that time, the committee report stated that, because Maine had no slavery, it was a subject in which the state had no interest. They "resolved, that it was the bounded and sacred duty of good citizens of every state carefully and scrupulously to avoid all interference and attempts to interfere, and all manifestations of any intention or wish to interfere, with the peculiar interests, concerns, laws and domestic policy of every other State in the Union." After establishing that the people of the state of Maine were united in this opinion so solidly that it was no longer a topic of discussion, the committee concluded, "In consideration of the fact that no abolition paper is printed in Maine, your committee would deem any legislation on the subject as uncalled for, unwise, and inexpedient as tending to excite discussion which has subsided." And so, in a back handed way, free speech was maintained. Events continued to proceed towards the abolitionists' goal.

Upon returning to Georgia, James Sagurs pursued his own private vendetta against Maine. He swore out a complaint against Philbrick and Kelleran and sent two Georgia lawmen to Maine to fetch the men as figitives from justice back to Georgia. They were charged with an attempt to "feloniously inveigle, steal, take and carry away, without the limits of the state of Georgia, a negro man slave named Atticus". The captain and mate could not be found, and the lawmen returned empty handed. Now, Sagurs complained to the governor of Georgia, William Schley. He wanted justice, and the governor obliged by letter on June 21, 1837, to the governor of Maine demanding the Boston's officers be brought to Georgia for justice. Schley cited among other things, violation of the (first) Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. The Maine governor, Robert Dunlap, (and the next two succeeding governors) refused to allow the men to be extradited. Tempers flared in both states.

Dunlap waited until mid August to decline Schley's demand. Perhaps, he hoped that people would calm down. In his reply, Dunlap argued some fine points of law in his refusal. He claimed that the proposed arrest warrant did not specifically cite and describe the supposed felonies committed by the two Mainers, nor was the allegation sworn to be true. Sagurs stated only that he believed the information to be true. Technicalities, true, but Dunlap did not feel there was probable cause. Incensed, Schley responded almost immediately in his best legalese that his paper work was, most certainly, in order and his meaning clear. He finished up with, "Will the state of Maine, under circumstances and in violation of her duty to her sister state, persist in refusing to obey the constitution and the law of the United States?". Dunlap did not respond to the second letter. Clearly, Maine did not expect that justice would be served in Georgia.

Schley and, indeed, all of Georgia were highly offended by Governor Dunlap's refusal. Georgian newspapers whipped up a fury over the issue demanding that Southern ports be closed to Maine shipping and that Mainers in Georgia be arrested and held hostage until Philbrick and Kelleran were brought to justice. Schley petitioned the President, Congress and all the states claiming that Georgia's rights and the Constitution had been violated. In addition the legislature took up discussion of a bill that banned Maine ships.

However, Georgia could not stand with one foot on the Constitution and demand a non-intercourse law against another state as this, in itself, was clearly unconstitutional. Instead, Georgia passed a number of vitriolic resolutions setting a course that almost hinted at the possibility of secession if Maine did not give up her felons! Mainers poked fun at the original bill from afar. Even the grammar of the bill drew fire. A Thomaston newspaperman wrote, "If it had passed any vessel violating the law was to be indicted and, if convicted, imprisoned in the penitentiary at hard labor. What kind of cells must they have in the Georgia penitentiary to to receive a ship of 500 tons? And to what kind of hard labor would they put a ship if convicted?" Georgia did not pass its bill. Even so, it is unlikely many Maine ships ventured into Georgian ports for a time.

By spring 1838, Georgia's new governor George R. Gilmore returned with a new, true bill of indictment charging Philbrook and Kelleran with simple larceny. Maine's new governor Edward Kent waited until the end of June to respond. "Whenever a citizen of his state is demanded as a fugitive from justice to be delivered up to be transported to a foreign tribunal, to be tried before unknown judges...", wrote Kent, it was his duty to fully investigate the case and indictment in terms of the intention of the Constitution and not just its literal meaning. Without any regard to the "peculiar" relationship of the case to the slavery issue and based solely on the Constitutional issues, Kent declined to return the two men to Georgia. Gilmore was not impressed and fired back another diatribe. Kent refered the matter to the legislature who took no action. but refered the whole mess back to the governor. Gilmore declared that, "The conduct of the Legislature of Maine, and the previous conduct of Governor Dunlap and Governor Kent, prove conclusively that the opposition to the institution of slavery is so great among the people of that state, that their public authorities are prevented from obeying the injunctions of the constitution of the United States..." He therefore felt justified in treating any Mainer who "may come within the jurisdiction of this state, on board of any vessel as owners, officers, or mariners, ... as doing so with the intent to commit the crime of seducing negro slaves from their owners".

Gilmore's certainty of Maine's united position on slavery was less than accurate. 1838 was the year in which the Maine House of Representatives refused the use of its hall to the Antislavery Society. It was also a time of increasing abiguity on the "peculiar" issue, the Maine House passed a resolution that claimed Congress could and should abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. It was defeated in the Maine Senate by one vote.

Also in that same year and perhaps by connection to the Boston affair, a law was passed in Maine that imposed a jail sentence and/or fine on anyone who without lawful authority aided in the seizure of a fugitive slave. So much for a repeat of greed and reward that led to Atticus' betrayal by the two Mainers and his subsequent recapture.

During this same period, the Maine legislature was just as likely to refer or table petitions regarding slavery issues to the 1897 legislature. Despite calls that such action was insulting and derogatory, the Maine legislature was clearly feeling beleaguered by the slavery issue.

A third Maine governor, John Fairfield, mentioned the controversy in his annual message to his legislature in 1840 calling the constitutional debate an "honest difference of opinion" between Maine and Georgia. He felt that Governor Gilmore was speaking unofficially in his threats against Mainers. Kent concluded, "I am persuaded that the present apparent feeling in our sister state will soon yield to juster views; and that no root of bitterness will be permitted to spring between the two states".

Four years later, Fairfield perhaps felt differently about the lasting affects of the controversy. In 1844, then Senator Fairfield was a popular choice for the Democratic vice president. His name was violently opposed on account of the dispute between Maine and Georgia. His course of action while governor operated against him in the South, and the nomination went to a Pennsylvanian. And so George M. Dallas, and not Fairfield, became James Polk's vice president in 1845.

Afterward: Further information on Atticus and his fate can be gleaned from an account of the affair by Maine State Historian Henry Burrage. It's hard to tell at this point in time whether the following are factual or just good stories. Thomaston Capt. Edmund Webb of the Tallyrand was piloted into Savannah harbor some years after the Civil War by man who claimed to have been the captain of Sagurs' pursuit ship. He told Webb that Sagurs was a cruel master and treated Atticus savagely on the trip back to Savannah. He also told Webb that Atticus was a caulker who made good money for his master.

In another story, Capt. Eugene W. Cookson, Capt. Philbrook's grandson, claimed to have been approached by an "old colored man" who was boss of a gang of stevedores in Savannah harbor. The old man who was going by a different name, claimed to be the slave Atticus. He (allegedly) said, "I hear you are from Maine. I went there once in a vessel whose master was Captain Daniel Philbrook. I was a slave then." Cookson claimed to have had quite a conversation with the former Atticus in which the old man professed to have a soft spot for the State of Maine. A little math warns us to take this second story with a grain of salt! Cookson claims this event happened around the turn of the century, that would put this old man's age at above eighty years. A little long of the tooth to be bossing stevedores! But Mainers have a reputation for embroiduring a good story!

Sources: Burrage, Henry S. "A Fugitive Slave Case in Maine." Maine Historical Memorials. Printed for the State, 1922. Hatch, Louis. Maine, a history. Somersworth, NH: New Hampshire Publishing Co., 1974. Humiston, Fred. Blue water men - and women. Portland, ME: Guy Gannett Publishing, CO., 1965. Packard, Aubigne Lermond. A town that went to sea. Portland, ME: Falmouth Publishing House, 1950. Shiver, Edward O. Go free: the antislavery impulse in Maine, 1833-1855. Orono, ME: University of Maine Press, 1970. Thomas, Miriam Stover. "Slavery in Colonial Maine". Flotsam and Jetsam. 1973.

c2001 Pat Higgins