Daniel Drayton

Released
Date of birth:1802
Date of death:01. 07. 1857
Age:55† Deceased
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1800s
State:District of Columbia
Time Imprisoned:
4 Years 3 Months 24 Days
Support
Abolitionism Underground Railroad
Daniel Drayton

Biography

Daniel Drayton was a captain of the schooner Pearl, which in April 1848 attempted the largest single escape from slavery in U.S. history — carrying more than seventy freedom seekers down the Potomac from Washington before being captured. Convicted and fined enormous sums he could not pay, Drayton remained imprisoned in the Washington jail for over four years until President Fillmore pardoned him in August 1852, after a campaign led by Senator Charles Sumner.

Case

Charges: Transporting more than seventy enslaved people toward freedom aboard the schooner Pearl (April 1848).
Incarcerated: Apr 18, 1848
Released: Aug 11, 1852
Sentence: Held in the Washington jail more than four years; pardoned by President Fillmore in August 1852. Verdict as recorded: Yes — convicted and fined sums he could not pay.
Convicted: Yes

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