The Princeton Fugitive Slave: The Trials of James Collins Johnson

by Lolita Buckner Inniss

James Collins Johnson made his name by escaping slavery in Maryland and fleeing to Princeton, New Jersey, where he built a life in a bustling community of African Americans working at what is now Princeton University. After only four years, he was recognized by a student from Maryland, arrested, and subjected to a trial for extradition under the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act. On the eve of his rendition, after attempts to free Johnson by force had failed, a local aristocratic white woman purchased Johnson’s freedom, allowing him to avoid re-enslavement. The Princeton Fugitive Slave reconstructs James Collins Johnson’s life, from birth and enslaved life in Maryland to his daring escape, sensational trial for re-enslavement, and last-minute change of fortune, and through to the end of his life in Princeton, where he remained a figure of local fascination.

Stories of Johnson’s life in Princeton often describe him as a contented, jovial soul, beloved on campus and memorialized on his gravestone as “The Students Friend.” But these familiar accounts come from student writings and sentimental recollections in alumni reports—stories from elite, predominantly white, often southern sources whose relationships with Johnson were hopelessly distorted by differences in race and social standing. In interrogating these stories against archival records, newspaper accounts, courtroom narratives, photographs, and family histories, author Lolita Buckner Inniss builds a picture of Johnson on his own terms, piecing together the sparse evidence and disaggregating him from the other black vendors with whom he was sometimes confused.

By telling Johnson’s story and examining the relationship between antebellum Princeton’s black residents and the economic engine that supported their community, the book questions the distinction between employment and servitude that shrinks and threatens to disappear when an individual’s freedom is circumscribed by immobility, lack of opportunity, and contingency on local interpretations of a hotly contested body of law.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography

263 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2019

Reviews

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is largely a scholarly work, bereft of the novelist's techniques to enliven history. Still, it is an engaging and enlightening tail bringing together the faint threads of evidence on a life's arc from fleeing slavery in Maryland to a life on the margins vending and butlering to a largely uncaring student body in Princeton. This is a fascinating, illustrative, and educational biography.

[Trick Wiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received through Net Gallery! What a life this man had! All the things that he had to go through to gain his freedom then for people to try and take it away from him! Such a well researched story and the characters you get to know as if you were there with then when this was going on! The writing keeps you so interested that you just don't want the story to end. Horrible what the slaves had to go through and why take away their freedom when they are already free! I'm so glad I didn't live back in this time,I would have been in so much trouble fighting for the slaves and I'm from the South! Wonderful story,wonderful reading,wonderful writing!!

[Shannan Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is very technical, and a lot of research facts were included into the book. Although some of what was presented is limited as usual because not everything was able to be written down about what some of our ancestors went through, it was very interesting and thought provoking read. I enjoyed it very much.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Cristie Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an interesting read about a man that faced so many setbacks in life, including slavery and a trial to determine if he would have to be a slave again after gaining freedom. I found this to be well-researched and well-written. I highly recommend it!

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely remarkable! A study in courage and a must-read in African-American history. I enjoyed learning about James Collins very much! I voluntarily read this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Mills College Library]

973.7115 I584 2019