Biography
Walter Phoenix, whose name also appears as Phenix and Phinney in contemporary reporting, was a Black defendant jailed after the May 26, 1854 attempt to rescue Anthony Burns in Boston. Initially accused of riotous conduct, he was included in a collective murder complaint and committed to jail after the May 27 hearing. The June 7 report placed him among the defendants held on $3,000 bail for riot. The available records establish multi-day pretrial detention; they do not establish when bail was posted, his exact release date or the final disposition.
