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Burns (ANTHONY a fugitive slave born)
ANTHONY, a fugitive slave, born in Virginia in 1836; arrested in Boston in 1854, under the Fugitive Slave Law. An indignation meeting, in which Theodore Parker and Wendell Phillips participated, was held in Faneuil Hall, while a premature and unsuccessful attempt to rescue Burns under the leadership of Thomas W. Higginson resulted in bloodshed and the death of one of the deputies. When the courts decided that the extradition was legal, Burns was escorted by a strong guard to a revenue cutter, and a riot was barely averted. Burns afterward regained his liberty, studied at Oberlin College, and became a Baptist minister in Canada.
He died in St. Catharines, Canada, July 27, 1862.