FREDERICK DOUGLASS TO CHARLES E. DEVENS, JR.¹Charles Devens, Jr. (1820–91), soldier, jurist, and U.S. attorney general, was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, the son of Charles Devens, Sr., and Mary Lithgow. He attended Harvard and graduated in 1838. After finishing Harvard Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1840 and practiced from 1841 to 1849 in Franklin County, Massachusetts. In 1848–49, Devens served in the state senate before holding the post of U.S. marshal for the District of Massachusetts (1849–53). He then returned to his law practice while also serving as a city solicitor for Worcester (1856–58). Interested in military affairs, Devens rose to the rank of brigadier general in the state militia during the late 1850s. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Devens was appointed a major in the Third Battalion of Massachusetts Rifles, and later that summer was promoted to colonel in the Fifteenth Massachusetts Infantry. Throughout the war, he continued to move up in rank and was wounded at least twice in separate battles. At the close of the war, Devens was given the honorary rank of brevet major general and remained in the army for another year, serving in South Carolina. Back in Worcester, he was appointed a justice of the Superior Court of Massachusetts in 1867, and in 1873 began a term on the Massachusetts State Supreme Court. President Hayes appointed Devens attorney general, a position he held until 1881. He then returned to the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, remaining at that post until his death. John Codman Ropes, “Memoir,” in , ed. Arthur Lithgow Devens (Boston, 1891), 2–3, 5–6, 15–18, 23; (online).

Washington City, D.C. 29 Mar[ch] 1877.

HON CHARLES E. DEVENS

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE U.S.

SIR:

I respectfully ask the removal of Thomas Young,²Little information can be uncovered about Thomas Young. Evidently, he had worked in prisoner transport for the marshal’s office for some time, since the press described him as “an old hand at the bellows.” A newspaper article from two days after the date of this letter reveals that Douglass had received permission and had fired Young. Washington , 19 November 1874, 29, 31 March 1877. a guard to the van conveying prisoners to and from jail. I have reason to believe that through his
neglect of duty, Charles Goodman a prisoner was allowed to escape from
the court room, and has not yet been recaptured.³According to the District of Columbia press, Charles Goodman (c. 1840–?), a prisoner on trial for attempted murder, escaped from the District’s criminal courtroom on 28 March 1877. Goodman had a long criminal record in Baltimore as well as the District of Columbia. Apparently, Goodman had been given certain favors denied to other prisoners, which, among other things, resulted in his not being locked up as the others were, and generally being subject to less security. While most prisoners in the criminal court were handcuffed in pairs, he was not handcuffed at all. At some point during the proceedings, Goodman stood up, put on his slouch hat, and calmly walked out of the courtroom. He was in the corridor before the alarm was sounded, and he then bolted out of the courthouse door, with Bailiff Robert Hughes in pursuit. Despite the manner of his escape, the person whom Douglass blamed most for the getaway was the veteran guard Thomas Young, who had not only granted Goodman these favors in the first place, but also allowed him to have visitors who gave him whiskey while in jail. According to the press, both the bailiffs and Marshall Douglass decided that “there was too much allowance made for the duties of each other, or rather too much taken for granted,” and Douglass stated that Tom Young was fully responsible for being overly relaxed about his jailing duties. Washington , 29 March 1877; Indianapolis (Ind.), 1: 307–08 (February 1892). His neglect consists of
two omissions. First in failing to securely Iron the Prisoner, and secondly
in leaving the Door which he was guarding without giving notice to any
Baleif to take his place. This last charge he denies and says he told Baleif
Hughes⁴Robert B. Hughes (1815–92) was born in Virginia. Hughes had moved to Georgetown by 1850, and by at least 1867 had become a bailiff in the District’s courts. By 1886 he seems to have moved up in rank to deputy marshal, according to later listings in the city directories. He was buried in the Glenwood cemetery in Washington. 1850 U.S. Census, District of Columbia, Washington, 222A; 1870 U.S. Census, District of Columbia, Washington, 345B; “U.S., City Directories, 1822– 1995”; Find a Grave (online). that he was going a way and to take care of the Prisoners. Hughes
denies that Young told any such thing.

The Attorney General will see that as I <am> held responsible for the
safety of Prisoners outside of jail that I ought to have a guard in whom I
have full confidence.

Respectfully Yours

FREDK DOUGLASS⁵Douglass added the following information after his signature: “U.S. Marshal of the D.C.”

ALS: Miscellany File, reel 31, frames 318–19, FD Papers, DLC.