Monday, September 14, 2009 10:53 AM CDT
Play examines Lincoln's role in Matson trial
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
OAKLAND -- Abraham Lincoln is the historical star of the Matson slave trial story, but the heart of this tale is a woman trying to free her children and herself from bondage.
The story of that woman, Jane Bryant, and others involved in the trial will be told Friday and Saturday during the “Trial & Tribulations: The Story of the 1847 Matson Slave Trial” living history and theatrical program in Oakland.
Former Eastern Illinois University President David Jorns, who has a background in theater, wrote a drama titled “Three-Fifths of a Man” for the program. Jorns has long been a student of history but said he did not have a full sense of the tragedy of slavery until he researched Bryant’s story.
“It’s made me extremely angry that slavery ever existed in the United States,” Jorns said.
Slave owner Robert Matson, a Kentuckian, brought Bryant and her four children to live on his farm east of Newman. His white housekeeper subsequently threatened to send the children south to be sold.
Bryant and her husband, Anthony, a free man, took the children to Matt Ashmore’s tavern in Oakland on the belief that since they were in a free state, they should be free. Matson filed a complaint with Coles County officials to recover his “property,” which resulted in the trial.
Jorns said slave owners looked upon their slaves as being possessions. He said it was disturbing to see legal references to slave children at birth already owing service throughout “their natural lives” to their owners.
“Slaves were treated literally as non-humans,” Jorns said.
What has made the Matson trial historically notable is that Lincoln, who later became known as “The Great Emancipator,” served as the slave owner’s attorney. Jorns said this trial was an anomaly for Lincoln because he never represented any other slave owners.
“The conclusion we reached is we are not sure what made him do this,” Jorns said.
Jorns said Lincoln may have been influenced by being born in Kentucky and by his wife being from a slave owning family there. He added Lincoln’s early opposition to slavery was based on his belief this institution would destroy the union, not the human toll of slavery.
“I think we did show the issues he struggled with at that time (in 1847),” Jorns said.
“Three-Fifths of a Man” includes actors playing Lincoln and other participants in the trial as well as abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison and Southern wife and diary keeper Mary Chestnut, who offer broader perspectives on the tragedy of slavery.
Jorns said conversations between the characters are facilitated by three female interlocutors, modeled after the three female fates that control people’s destinies in Greek mythology.
The stage in the Columbian Building on the town square serves as a stand-in for various locations in Oakland, the court room, and more historically or physically distant perspectives on slavery.
One of the Oakland locations depicted in the play, the Rutherford House, will be part of the overall “Trial & Tribulations” program.
Costumed interpreters will be at the Rutherford House near the town square and at the Independence Pioneer Village on the north side of town. Visitors there will be able to speak to Dr. Hiram Rutherford, who helped shelter the slave family, to Jane Bryant, and to other historical figures.
Jorns said speaking with the interpreters and visiting the Rutherford House will give visitors a glimpse of what life was like in 1847 in Oakland and learn more about the participants in the Matson slave trial.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 238-6861.
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