Thomas Sims

Thomas Sims has not played any of the last 5 games for Richmond.

Thomas Sims was an African American who escaped from slavery in Georgia and fled to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1851. He was arrested the same year under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, had a court hearing, and was forced to return to enslavement. A second escape brought him back to Boston in 1863, where he was later appointed to a position in the U.S. Department of Justice in 1877. Sims was one of the first slaves to be forcibly returned from Boston under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The failure to stop his case from progressing was a significant blow to the abolitionists, as it showed the extent of the power and influence which slavery had on American society and politics. The case was one of many events leading to the American Civil War.

Sims was born in Savannah, Georgia to James Sims, a white Slave overseer on the Potter Rice Plantation, and Minda Campbell, a slave under rice planter James Potter. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but it is estimated to be around 1828. He was the brother of Isabella, Cornilla and James M. Simms, another notable African American of the time. Before his escape, Thomas Sims worked as a bricklayer for Potter. During this time he also married and had children with a free African American woman.

Sims made his escape on February 21, 1851, by stowing away on the M. & J.C. Gilmore. He was 23 at the time. On March 6, right before the ship's arrival to Boston, the ship's crew discovered Sims. Sims tried to convince them that he was a freed slave from Florida, but the crew did not believe him and locked him up in a cabin. Sims escaped before authorities came, and from then until his arrest in April, he stayed at 153 Ann Street, a boarding house for African American sailors. According to newspaper reports of the time, he "made no effort to conceal himself" while living there, but was not caught until he sent his address to his wife asking for money.

Once James Potter, Sim's owner, realized Sims whereabouts, he sent his agent, John B. Bacon, to capture Sims. Bacon coordinated together with Seth J. Thomas and the authorities of Boston, including U.S. Commissioner George T. Curtis. On April 3, 1851, Sims was arrested. There was a struggle and one of the policemen assigned to the case, Asa O. Butman, was stabbed by Sims in the thigh.

The trial took place three days after his arrest and garnered much attention from the abolitionists and people of the North. Extra precautions were taken at the Court House. Between 100 and 200 policemen were stationed and chains were placed around the courthouse to prevent the crowds from swarming the building.