Papers related to the Amistad mutiny [Decimalized .01-.59]

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This collection contains the papers of William S. Holabird, who served as United States District Attorney for the state of Connecticut during the Amistad trial. These materials include a letter of Judge Andrew T. Judson which suggests executive interference in the proceedings (#5), depositions of the Spanish minister (#7-9), testimony of witnesses (#10-14), and important letters of Secretary of State John Forsyth instructing Holabird on the Amistad case (#17-23). Also includes Holabird's commission as United States District Attorney (#16). Contains political or legal letters for the period 1829-1837 and 1853 (#24-41). Finally, items numbered 42-59 are the original Spanish language bills of lading for the non-slave cargo aboard the Amistad.

GLC#
GLC05636
Type
Header Record
Date
1829-1853
Title
Papers related to the Amistad mutiny [Decimalized .01-.59]
Place Written
s.l.
Pagination
59 items
Primary time period
National Expansion and Reform, 1815-1860
Sub-Era
Slavery & Anti-slavery
Holabird, William S., 1794-1855
Amistad
African American History
Slavery
Slave Trade
Slave Rebellion
Africa
Mutiny
Maritime
Law
President
Global History and Civics
Foreign Affairs
Prisoner
Judiciary

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GLC05636.01
Collection Item
Document signed

[Orders for transport of the Amistad captives]

7 January 1840

Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862

Countersigned by John Forsyth as Secretary of State. President Van Buren writes to Norris Wilcox, Marshal of the District of Connecticut. States: "The Marshal of the United States for the District of Connecticut will deliver over to Lieutenant John...

GLC05636.01
GLC05636.02
Collection Item
Autograph document

[Brief from the Circuit Court regarding the Amistad case]

April-June 1840

Holabird, William S., 1794-1855

Referring to Lieutenant Thomas R. Gedney, includes information pertaining to the Amistad case: "Gidney & others v. The Amistad Negroes. Circuit court U.S." Considers four principle points: "shall the vessel, & the blacks, be restored to the Spanish...

GLC05636.02
GLC05636.03
Collection Item
Letter

to William S. Holabird

October 30, 1839

Grundy, Felix, 1777-1840

The body of the letter appears to be clerically written; the signature has been clipped and someone has written "Felix Grundy" in a different hand beneath. Grundy, Attorney General of the United States, informs Holabird, District Attorney of...

GLC05636.03
GLC05636.04
Collection Item
Autograph letter signed

to William S. Holabird

November 10, 1839

Judson, Andrew T., 1784-1853

Judson, who presided over the district (and circuit) court proceedings of the Amistad, informs Holabird that he has not yet heard from President Martin Van Buren or Secretary of State John Forsyth regarding the case. Suggests Holabird review a...

GLC05636.04
GLC05636.05
Collection Item
Autograph letter signed

to Henry D. Gilpin

4 May 1840

Holabird, William S., 1794-1855

Holabird, United States District Attorney of Connecticut, writes to Gilpin, Attorney General. Relates that the Amistad case did not spend much time at the circuit court level, because "the counsel for the negroes [interposed?] a plea in abatement of...

GLC05636.05
GLC05636.06
Collection Item
Manuscript document

The Grand Jury finds the following fact

September 20, 1839

Grand Jury

Relates details pertaining to the sailing of the Amistad, the mutiny of the captives on board, and the ship's subsequent capture near the coast of New York. Mentions Lieutenant Thomas R. Gedney, commander of the brig Washington and other persons...

GLC05636.06
GLC05636.07
Collection Item
Manuscript document

[Fragment of Antonio G. Vega's deposition given to United States District Attorney William S. Holabird] [incomplete]

January 1840

Date inferred based on the relation of this document to GLC 5636.08 and .09. States "That he is a Spanish subject, that he resided in the Island of Cuba several years, that he knows the law of [struck: Cuba] that island on the subject of Slavery."...

GLC05636.07
GLC05636.08
Collection Item
Manuscript document

[Antonio G. Vega's deposition given to United States District Attorney William S. Holabird]

January 1840

States "that the Spanish edict prohibiting the importation of slaves from Africa, was not considered as applicable to that Island and was [inserted: then] wholly disregarded after slaves were landed... that the slaves on the plantations kept their...

GLC05636.08
GLC05636.09
Collection Item
Document signed

[Antonio G. Vega's deposition given to United States District Attorney William S. Holabird]

January 10, 1840

Holabird, William S., 1794-1855

Signed deposition read before the court stating "that the court of mixed commissions had no jurisdiction except in cases of capture... that newly imported African Negroes were constantly brought to the Island, & after landed, were bona fide...

GLC05636.09
GLC05636.10
Collection Item
Manuscript document

[Notes of Holabird, United States District Attorney for Connecticut]

January 1840

Holabird, William S., 1794-1855

Contains testimony of Dwight G. James (an abolitionist), Captain Green (who came into contact with Amistad Africans on shore, prior to their capture), N. Wilcox (Norris Wilcox, United States Marshal for the District of Connecticut), and E. Osborne...

GLC05636.10
GLC05636.11
Collection Item
Manuscript document

[Testimonies regarding the capture of the Amistad]

November 1839

Possibly given at Connecticut District Court in November 1839. Marked "U.S." at the top. Begins with the testimony of Lieutenant Richard W. Meade, who led an armed party that initially boarded the Amistad, requesting the ship's papers. Includes...

GLC05636.11
GLC05636.12
Collection Item
Manuscript document

[Testimonies regarding the capture of the Amistad]

November 1839

Created at Connecticut District Court in November 1839. At the top, states: "Schooner Amistad plea to jurisdictions & matter of it- Baldwin says most extraordinary objections & c Circuit Court said only that so long as the matter was pending before...

GLC05636.12
GLC05636.13
Collection Item
Manuscript document

[Testimonies regarding the capture of the Amistad; includes Cinque's testimony]

January 1840

Created at Connecticut District Court in 7-9 January 1840 by or for William S. Holabird. Serves as notes of the testimony of Richard Robert Madden (head of the British Anti-Slavery [Mixed] Commission in Havana), Sullivan Haley (on board the USS...

GLC05636.13
GLC05636.14
Collection Item
Manuscript document

[Testimonies regarding the capture of the Amistad; includes Cinque's testimony]

January 9, 1840

Marked "&c Cinqué" at top. Appears to be a continuation of GLC 5636.13. Testimony of Cinqué, leader of the Africans aboard the Amistad, continues. Contains the testimonies of Grabbo and Foolaqua, Amistad mutineers. Includes the testimony of...

GLC05636.14
GLC05636.15
Collection Item
Manuscript document

U. States v. Cinqué & others...

1839-1840

... (title continues) Charged with murder & robbery (piracy) on board the Spanish Schooner 'Amistad'- The offense committed by foreigners, on the high seas, & on board a vessel belonging exclusively to subjects of foreign states... Have the Courts of...

GLC05636.15
GLC05636.16
Collection Item
Document signed

to William S. Holabird

2 July 1834

Forsyth, John, 1780-1841

Partially printed. Holabird's appointment as Attorney of the United States for the District of Connecticut. John Forsyth, Secretary of State, appoints William S. Holabird as Secretary of State for the District of Connecticut. A handwritten note by...

GLC05636.16
GLC05636.17
Collection Item
Letter signed

to William S. Holabird

September 23, 1839

Forsyth, John, 1780-1841

Forsyth states: "It is necessary to a just decision on the various points presenting themselves for the President's consideration in the case of the Spanish Schooner 'Amistad,' that the Department should be furnished, with a copy of the ships' papers...

GLC05636.17
GLC05636.18
Collection Item
Letter signed

to William S. Holabird

January 6, 1840

Forsyth, John, 1780-1841

Forsyth discusses the Amistad case, revealing the administration's assumptions regarding the verdict of the trial. States that the Spanish minister had applied to the State Department for the "use of a vessel of the United States in the event of the...

GLC05636.18
GLC05636.19
Collection Item
Letter signed

to William S. Holabird

January 17, 1840

Forsyth, John, 1780-1841

Fearing that his letter of 12 January had not reached Holabird, Forsyth reiterates President Van Buren's instructions regarding the Amistad. Writes "... I have to acquaint you with the desire of the President that you take the necessary measures to...

GLC05636.19
GLC05636.20
Collection Item
Letter signed

to William S. Holabird

February 8, 1840

Forsyth, John, 1780-1841

Writes regarding arrangements made by the Spanish Government for Antonio, the slave cabin-boy on board the Amistad, to testify at an upcoming trial in New Haven, Connecticut. Discusses the Minister's obtainment of Jose Ruiz's and Pedro Montes's...

GLC05636.20