Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
"Theft (including swindling/fraud, deception and grand larceny)" |
Sentence: |
"10 months, $500 fine, and to be sold into slavery" |
Years Imprisoned: |
0.83 |
Year Crime: |
1847 |
Year Convicted: |
1847 |
Year Cleared: |
2015 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Delaware |
County or Region of Crime: |
Kent |
City of Crime: |
Dover |
Result: |
Pardoned |
Summary of Case: |
"Samuel D. Burris was wrongly convicted on November 2, 1847 of two counts of "enticing away a slave." Burris was sentenced to 10 months of imprisonment, a fine of $500, and he was to be sold as a slave upon his release from prison. After Burris was released from prison in 1848 he was sold at auction for $500 to abolitionist Isaac Flint, a member of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, which had raised the funds to buy Burris. Burris was then sneaked into Pennsylvania, where he was reunited with his wife and five children in Philadelphia. Rather than return to Delaware, Burris moved to San Francisco, California where he raised money to support freed slaves until his death in 1863. On November 2, 2015 Delaware Governor Jack Markell granted Burris a posthumous pardon, stating that: “This pardon is an extraordinary act in recognition of a historic wrong that cannot be corrected by a single stroke of a pen. But while we cannot change what was done more than 150 years ago, we can ensure that Mr. Burris’ legacy is appropriately recognized and celebrated. We affirm today that history will no longer record his actions as criminal, but rather as acts of freedom and bravery in the face of injustice.” Gov. Markell acted based on the recommendation of the Deleware Board of Pardons that Burris be posthumously pardoned." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On November 2, 2015 Delaware Governor Jack Markell granted Burris a posthumous pardon, stating that: “This pardon is an extraordinary act in recognition of a historic wrong that cannot be corrected by a single stroke of a pen. But while we cannot change what was done more than 150 years ago, we can ensure that Mr. Burris’ legacy is appropriately recognized and celebrated. We affirm today that history will no longer record his actions as criminal, but rather as acts of freedom and bravery in the face of injustice.”" |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
34 |
Age When Released: |
35 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Delaware Pardons an Underground Railroad ‘Hero’, By Daniel Victor, The New York Times, November 2, 2015" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/us/delaware-pardon-underground-railroad-samuel-burris.html?_r=0 |
Information Source 2: |
"Underground Railroad Conductor Pardoned 168 Years After Conviction, By Christopher Klein, History.com, November 3, 2015" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.history.com/news/underground-railroad-conductor-pardoned-168-years-after-conviction |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org