William Henry Beckley was an Underground Railroad conductor. Beckley's obituary states that "He was a good friend of his race at the time the Fugitive Slave Law was in force, and his residence on Third street during those troublous times was the home of many an escaping fugitive from his Southern master."
Beckley was also a minor figure in the trial of Margaret Garner. Garner, a fugitive from slavery, was captured in Cincinnati. Garner killed her own infant daughter rather than seeing the child returned to slavery. In 1856, Margaret Garner was put on trial for murder. The judge appointed William Beckley to serve subpoenas to African American witnesses.
In 2016, historian Nikki Taylor wrote a book of the Margaret Garner case, called Driven Toward Madness. According to Taylor, "Beckley's appointment is remarkable because it is, perhaps, the first time in the history of the United States that an African American served as an officer of the court – and a federal court at that."
– Bio by Chris Hanlin. For more information, see the article, "Gravesite of William Beckley" at the website "Cincinnati Sites & Stories," from which the above account is drawn.
William Henry Beckley was an Underground Railroad conductor. Beckley's obituary states that "He was a good friend of his race at the time the Fugitive Slave Law was in force, and his residence on Third street during those troublous times was the home of many an escaping fugitive from his Southern master."
Beckley was also a minor figure in the trial of Margaret Garner. Garner, a fugitive from slavery, was captured in Cincinnati. Garner killed her own infant daughter rather than seeing the child returned to slavery. In 1856, Margaret Garner was put on trial for murder. The judge appointed William Beckley to serve subpoenas to African American witnesses.
In 2016, historian Nikki Taylor wrote a book of the Margaret Garner case, called Driven Toward Madness. According to Taylor, "Beckley's appointment is remarkable because it is, perhaps, the first time in the history of the United States that an African American served as an officer of the court – and a federal court at that."
– Bio by Chris Hanlin. For more information, see the article, "Gravesite of William Beckley" at the website "Cincinnati Sites & Stories," from which the above account is drawn.
Inscription
Died after a long illness which he bore with Christian fortitude.
