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State of Indiana v. Luther A. Donnell collection, 1848-1849

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Summary

Creator:
Indiana. Circuit Court (Decatur County)
Abstract:
This collection consists of 24 manuscript items related to State of Indiana v. Luther A. Donnell, tried in the Decatur County Circuit Court in 1849. Luther A. Donnell, an Indiana farmer, was prosecuted for providing assistance to the Beach family during their escape from enslavement in Trimble County, Kentucky. The documents consist of 20 witness summons, the witness testimony of Robert Hamilton and Woodson Clark in the context of the court's proceedings, a summation of the trial proceedings (including the witness testimony of Robert Hamilton), an 1848 grand jury indictment, and one verdict slip.
Extent:
23 items
Language:
English
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Sara Quashnie, 2020

Background

Scope and Content:

The collection consists of 24 manuscript items related to the case of State of Indiana v. Luther A. Donnell, tried in the Decatur County Circuit Court in 1849. Luther A. Donnell, an Indiana farmer, was prosecuted for providing assistance to the Beach family during their escape from enslavement in Trimble County, Kentucky. The documents consist of 20 witness summons, the witness testimony of Robert Hamilton and Woodson Clark in the context of the court's proceedings, a summation of the trial proceedings including the witness testimony of Robert Hamilton, an 1848 grand jury indictment, and one verdict slip.

The 20 witness summonses are partially printed documents used to summon witnesses on behalf of the state, plaintiff, and defendant. They span the period of June 28, 1848-March 29, 1849.

One of the written documents is a summary of the trial proceedings. The proceedings include the indictment against Donnell on the basis of Indiana law and the legality of slavery in Kentucky; evidence introduced on behalf of the state; witness testimony for the state and defendant, including that of Robert Hamilton, associate of Donnell; the rendering of a guilty verdict; and attempts by the defense counsel to have the verdict set aside on the basis that the law Donnell was tried under was unconstitutional. Hamilton, who assisted Donnell with the hiding and escape of the Beach family, recounted the events of November 1, 1847, in his testimony, including Donnell's efforts to secure a writ of habeas corpus to search the property of Woodson Clark (who he believed was imprisoning the Beach family). Additional witnesses described seeing the Beach family or persons matching their description on their journey through the county following their rescue by Donnell and others. Woodson Clark's testimony also recounts the events of November 1, including his discovery of the Beach family and his subsequent deceit and imprisonment of them in a fodder house on property owned by his son, Robert Clark. Clark also notes his acquaintance with George Ray including a visit to his home where he had first seen members of the Beach family.

Biographical / Historical:

The case of State of Indiana v. Luther A. Donnell was tried in the spring term of 1848 in the Decatur County Circuit Court. An initial jury verdict found Luther Donnell guilty of assisting fugitive slaves according to an 1843 state law. Donnell appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court which reversed the ruling in 1852 using the precedent of Prigg vs. Pennsylvania (a pro-slavery case) to rule that the 1843 Indiana law was unconstitutional.

The family who escaped to freedom with the assistance of Luther A. Donnell were Rachel Beach and her four children, Frances, Amanda, John (1846-1924), and Henry. Abolitionist Laura Haviland notes in her memoirs that the woman referred to only as "Caroline" in court documents of this case changed her name to Rachel Beach after arriving in Canada. Haviland cites interviews with both Beach and her sister Mary Scott. Canadian census records from 1851 and 1861 contain entries for the Beach family in Sandwich, Essex, Canada, including the children (whose names and ages are consistent between the court documents and census records); however, the adult in the household is listed as Mary Beach in 1851 and Mary C. Scovell in 1861. Unfortunately, the author of this finding aid has been unable to ascertain whether Mary Beach/Scovell is the same person as Rachel Beach or her sister, Mary Scott. While the children and their ages are documented in court records, their mother is only referred to as "Caroline." Before their journey to Canada, the family was enslaved by George Ray of Trimble County, Kentucky. According to Haviland's interview with Mary Scott, George Ray raped Rachel Beach and fathered five of her children. (The fifth child, Luther Donald Beach was born in Canada in January 1848. He died November 15, 1904, and is buried in Ashland Cemetery in Ashland, Kentucky.) Census records show a daughter, Maria Beach, was born about 1850 in Canada. It is unclear when or where Rachel Beach died.

Luther Addison Donnell was a farmer and abolitionist in Decatur County, Indiana. He was born in Nicholas County, Kentucky, to Thomas and Nancy (Barr) Donnell on July 6, 1809. He married Jane R. Braden, with whom he had three children, Euphemia Donnell (1829-1892), Robert R. Donnell (1831-1832), and William Addison Donnell (1835-1891). As a result of his work with the Underground Railroad in the successful escape of the Beach family, he was a defendant both in the case of State of Indiana v. Luther A. Donnell and a civil suit brought against him by George Ray. Donnell died on January 16, 1868, in Greensburg, Indiana, and is buried in Kingston Cemetery in Kingston, Indiana.

Acquisition Information:
2020. M-7175 .
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged first chronologically by summonses and then by court proceedings and summaries.

Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright status is unknown

PREFERRED CITATION:

State of Indiana v. Luther A. Donnell Collection, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan

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Collection

State of Indiana v. Luther A. Donnell collection, 1848-1849
Total components 1
Last indexed 2025-02-09