Philip A Hoyne (1825-1894)
OFFICE LOCATION: Chicago, IL
TENURE: 1/9/1855 – 1894
HEARINGS: 1
RENDITIONS: 0
CASES:
Eliza Grayson Case (1860) – 1 rescued
- Nebraska territory slaveholder Stephen F. Nuckolls attempted to use an 1858 warrant of arrest made out by Springfield, Illinois commissioner Stephen A. Corneau, after learning new information about the whereabouts of alleged fugitive Eliza Grayson, who was living in Chicago. When Commissioner Hoyne’s deputy marshals refused to execute the warrant, Hoyne apparently used his expansive powers under Section 5 of the law to deputize a local Democrat named Jake Newsome, who promptly seized Grayson. Yet when authorities attempted to move Grayson to the jail, she was rescued by a crowd of African Americans and anti-slavery activists, and ushered away to freedom. Nuckolls subsequently brought charges against seven individuals who allegedly helped rescue Grayson. [1860-11-13 Chicago Tribune; 1860-11-13 Chicago Evening Journal]
NOTES:
- Hoyne was appointed U.S. Commissioner on January 9, 1855. [A.T. Andreas, History of Chicago, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, (Chicago: A.T. Andreas, 1885), 2:453-454, [WEB]
- Occurring just days after Lincoln’s election in 1860, the Eliza Grayson Case assumed added significance amidst the growing sectional crisis. With a tinge of satire, the Chicago Tribune reported that Newsome “held out the American Eagle, and asked Eliza if she wanted to destroy the Union, wanted to see our flag rent in twain….” [1860-11-13 Chicago Tribune]
- Concerns arose about Newsome’s credentials as a deputy of U.S. Commissioner Hoyne, especially after the Tribune reported that Newsome was never formally sworn into office. An editorial in the Tribune called Newsome “a pretended Deputy U.S. Marshal.” [1860-11-16 Chicago Tribune]