The Rescue of Anthony Hollingsworth
Indiana, Indiana County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
On June 26, 1845, this 12 year-old fugitive slave was captured by slave hunters. Armed residents surrounded the hotel where he was held & demanded his release, defying federal law. Judge Thomas White freed him in the old courthouse on this site.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In June 1845, slave hunters seized a twelve-year-old fugitive named Anthony Hollingsworth and held him in an Indiana, Pennsylvania hotel. Armed townspeople surrounded the building and demanded his release, openly defying the federal laws that protected slave catchers. Judge Thomas White then freed the boy in the courthouse that once stood on this site, a striking act of local conscience against the machinery of slavery.
Why it matters
The rescue shows how ordinary Northern communities turned resistance to slavery into direct action years before the Civil War, foreshadowing the deeper conflicts over the Fugitive Slave Act.
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Related people
- · Anthony Hollingsworth
- · Thomas White
Themes & tags
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