Entreaty for Help from a Political Prisoner
SCQ Patricia A. Kaufmann EntreatyEntreaty forfor HelpHelp fromfrom aa PoliticalPolitical PrisonerPrisoner adison Y. Johnson was an attorney engaged for the defense in a murder trial in Galena, Illinois, on August 28, 1862, when he was seized in the court house and taken to the passenger train depot. From there he was taken to Chicago, where he wasM confined for two days, then taken to New York City, and imprisoned in what was known as the “Inner Temple,” on Elm street. He was confined there for twenty-four hours, then taken to Fort Hamilton for processing. Johnson was conveyed by boat to Fort Lafayette in New York Harbor, where he was detained as a political prisoner for two months.1 (Figure 2) Figure 4. Cover from political prisoner M.Y. Johnson to Darius Hunkins, “Examined D.D. Per- kins, Lt. Col. Comdg Fort Dela- ware Dec 8th [1862].” It bears a 3¢ rose 1861 issue postmarked Delaware City, Del., in blue. Washington, D.C.’s Willard’s Hotel—where Abraham Lincoln slept the night before his inauguration in January 1861 3030 • •Kelleher’s Kelleher’s Stamp Stamp Collector’s Collector’s Quarterly Quarterly • •Second Second Quarter Quarter 2017 2017 Photo taken in 1919. Kelleher’s Stamp Collector’s Quarterly • Second Quarter 2017 • 31 Subsequently, Johnson was transferred to Fort Delaware, a military fortification in the Delaware Bay on Pea Patch Island, there con- fined until released. (Figure 3) The cover shown in Figure 4 is addressed in the hand on M. Y. Johnson to Darius Hunkins, Esq., Care of Willards Hotel, Washington City, D.C.
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