Delaware’s Jack Markell Issues Pardon to Abolitionist — 168 Years Later
Delaware Governor Jack Markell issued a posthumous pardon for Samuel Burris on Monday in the same courtroom where the free black man was convicted 168 years ago of helping slaves escape through the Underground Railroad.
Burris’ descendants gathered in a courtroom in Dover, Delaware, to accept the pardon that set aside his 1847 criminal record and recognized his heroism.
“We affirm today that history will no longer record his actions as criminal, but rather as acts of freedom and bravery in the face of injustice,” the governor said in a statement.
As an Underground Railroad conductor, Burris, who lived near Camden, Delaware, successfully led several enslaved people from Maryland and Delaware to freedom, Markell’s office said.
While helping a woman board a steamship in her effort to escape slavery in 1847, he was captured and charged with “enticing away a slave,” according to the pardon.
Soon afterward, he was convicted of two cases of aiding slaves escaping from their owners. He was fined and sentenced to prison and, after his release, to be sold into servitude to the highest bidder for a period of seven years.
After being “purchased” for $500 by Wilmington abolitionist Isaac Flint, with funds raised through the abolitionist community, Burris was taken to Philadelphia where he was reunited with his family. He continued to work for the abolitionist cause until his death at age 50 in San Francisco in 1863.
Descendant Ocea Thomas on Monday read from a letter dated March 29, 1848 that Burris wrote while in a jail cell “just steps from” where the ceremony took place.
“What will be the condition of those who lived and died in neglect of that golden rule: do unto others as you would that others should do unto you?” Burris asked in the letter.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!