Edward G. Loring

Edward Greely Loring (b.January 28, 1802- d. 1890) was a Massachusetts judge who ignited controversy by ordering Thomas Sims and Anthony Burns be forced back into slavery under the federal Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.

Loring was born in Boston and educated at Harvard University, graduating in 1821. He studied law afterward, and was admitted to the Suffolk County bar.

Loring served as the probate judge of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, and at the same time as the U.S. commissioner of the Circuit Court in Massachusetts. As commissioner he was responsible for issuing warrants for arrest and ruling in the cases under the Fugitive Slave Law. In 1851 an escaped slave named Thomas Sims was captured in Boston, and Loring ordered for him to be returned to slavery in the South, sparking outrage from Boston abolitionists. In 1854, Loring ordered another escaped slave, Anthony Burns, to be returned to slavery in Virginia.

Following the the Burns decision, abolitionists, led by William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips, agitated for Loring to be removed from his office as probate judge, circulating petitions and arguing before the Massachusetts legislature. Called as a friend of the court to assist Burns in the court proceedings, Richard Henry Dana, Jr. later defended Loring before the legislature. Under pressure from an increasingly antislavery public, the legislature made two unsuccessful attempts to remove him from office by passing a [http://www.article8.org/docs/general/HistoryOfBOA.htm Bill of Address] in 1855 and 1856, but Governor Henry J. Gardner declined to remove him.

In 1857, Nathaniel Prentice Banks was elected governor of Massachusetts as a Republican, and the legislature passed another Bill of Address against Loring. The new governor complied, and Loring was removed from office. [http://www.article8.org/docs/general/HistoryOfBOA.htm] .

In May 1858, President James Buchanan appointed him to the United States Court of Claims to replace the late John J. Gilchrist. The Senate approved the nomination by a vote of 27-13 on May 6, 1858. Judge Loring retired December 14, 1877.

References

* William E. Cain (1995), "William Lloyd Garrison and the Fight against Slavery: Selections from The Liberator". Boston: Bedford Books. 150, note.
* Article 8 Alliance, [http://www.article8.org/docs/general/HistoryOfBOA.htm History of the Bill of Address]
* Charles Emery Stevens (1855), [http://docsouth.unc.edu/stevens/stevens.html "Anthony Burns: A History"] .
* Henry David Thoreau (July 4, 1854): [http://eserver.org/thoreau/slavery.html "Slavery in Massachusetts"]
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