Biography
John C. Cluer was an abolitionist speaker jailed in Boston during the prosecution of people accused of attempting to rescue Anthony Burns from rendition under the Fugitive Slave Act. Arrested on May 27, 1854, he was committed to jail on allegations that included involvement in the death of James Batchelder. A June 7 newspaper report listed him as discharged. His later federal prosecution with other abolitionists ended in 1855; that proceeding does not establish uninterrupted jail time until then. At an antislavery meeting in July 1854, Cluer spoke publicly about his imprisonment and reaffirmed his commitment to abolition.
Theodore Parker’s 1855 account lists John C. Cluer among defendants facing similar federal indictments. Its introduction identifies Benjamin F. Hallett, District Attorney, and Elias Merwin as government counsel in the April 3, 1855 federal proceedings. This attribution concerns the later federal phase, separately from the 1854 state complaint; it does not establish additional custody or continuous detention through 1855.
Theodore Parker, The Trial of Theodore Parker (1855), introduction, printed pages xvii–xx.
