(1814? - December 13, 1875) He was an African-American fugitive slave from Virginia who escaped in 1850 and reached Boston. He is known for being freed from a courtroom in Boston after being captured by United States marshals under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 . White and black members of the Boston Vigilance Committee freed and hid him, helping him get to Canada via the Underground Railroad . Minkins settled in Montreal where he raised a family. Two men were prosecuted in Boston for helping free him, but they were acquitted by the jury. Minkins was born into slavery about 1814 in Norfolk, Virginia . He escaped from slavery as a young man in 1850 and reached Boston, Massachusetts , where he became a waiter. Later that year, Congress enacted the Fugitive Slave Law , which allowed federal agents to seize escaped slaves living in free states and return them to their owners. It required la...