Charles Nalle
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Charles Nalle was born in Stevensburg, Virginia in 1821 into slavery. At the age of 16, he was given to a Virginia plantation owner, Blucher Hansbrough. Nalle and another slave, Jim Banks, made their escape from the plantation in October of 1858 during an auction.[1]
Through the Underground Railroad, Charles Nalle settled in Troy, NY where he worked as a coachman and groom for the wife of a wealthy Rensselaer man, Uri Gilbert, in Troy at the time.[2] On April 27, 1860, Charles was turned in to the local authorities. Charles was arrested for being a fugitive slave and was slated to be sent back to Virginia. As word got out, a large crowd gathered around the Mutual Building in Troy where he was being held.[2] [3] [4] A clash between authorities and rioters, among whom was Harriet Tubman occurred making it so that [5] Charles could escape across the Hudson River to West Troy (modern-day Watervliet). The authorities were waiting for him on the other side and once again arrested him. Another clash occurred in West Troy, and during this time locals raised enough money for Charles to be freed. He was bought freedom for 650 U.S dollars [2] [6]
Charles Nalle spent most of the Civil War in Troy.[2] He had several children with his wife, Kitty. [7] Charles died in 1875 in Washington D.C of heart disease [2]
Legacy
In August 1861, a year after the events in Troy, the United States Congress passed the First Confiscation Act which authorized the confiscation of slaves from secessionists. In July of 1861, the Second Confiscation Act was passed which barred slave owners from recapturing runaway slaves, declaring any slave that crossed Union lines was "forever free". [8] [9] The events surrounding Charles Nalle are recognized and commemorated by both the Watervliet Historical Society and the Rensselaer Historical Society. In 2010, Watervliet celebrated the 150th anniversary of the rescue of Charles Nalle. [6] [10]
References
- ^ "Charles Nalle". Underground Railroad History Project.
- ^ a b c d e Christianson, Scott. (2010). Freeing Charles: The Struggle to Free a Slave on the Eve of the Civil War, University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-03439-8.
- ^ Troy Daily Times, April 30, 1860
- ^ New-York Tribune, May 5, 1860.
- ^ Hobson, Janell. “Harriet Tubman: A Legacy of Resistance.” Meridians, vol. 12, no. 2, 2014, pp. 1–8. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/meridians.12.2.1. Accessed 14 Feb. 2020.
- ^ a b "Watervliet Historical Society hosts 150th Commemoration of Fugitive Slave Escape" (PDF). watervilet.com.
- ^ "Walkabout: The Rescue of Charles Nalle — A Troy Story, Part 3". www.brownstoner.com.
- ^ "Landmark Legislation: The Confiscation Acts of 1861 and 1862". senate.gov.
- ^ "Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress". loc.gov.
- ^ "A Fugitive Slave Rescued: Paintings of Charles Nalle". newyorkalmanack.com.
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