Richard Eells

Released
Date of birth:23. 02. 1800
Date of death:04. 10. 1846
Age:46† Deceased
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1800s
State:Illinois
Support
Abolitionism Underground Railroad
No image available

Biography

Dr. Richard Eells was a Quincy, Illinois physician and abolitionist. In 1842 he was arrested and charged with harboring a fugitive enslaved man named Charley. Convicted and fined $400 by Judge Stephen A. Douglas, he lost his appeals to the Illinois and United States Supreme Courts — a landmark test of the fugitive-slave laws.

Note: The February 23, 1800 birth date appears in cemetery and genealogical records; institutional histories give only 1800. Death (October 4, 1846) is firmly documented.

Case

Charges: Harboring a fugitive from slavery.
Sentence: Fined $400 (by Judge Stephen A. Douglas). Verdict as recorded: Yes — convicted; the conviction was upheld on appeal to the Illinois and U.S. Supreme Courts. Charges as recorded: Harboring a fugitive from slavery — for aiding a freedom seeker named Charley in 1842.
Convicted: Yes

Related Cases

John Hossack John Hossack John Cross John Cross Charles Langston Charles Langston Simeon Bushnell Simeon Bushnell Samuel Green Samuel Green Lewis Hayden Lewis Hayden Robert Morris Robert Morris William Chaplin William Chaplin Daniel Drayton Daniel Drayton