In a pre–Civil War Ohio courtroom, the freedom of an enslaved family from Kentucky hinges on a slave owner’s demand for compensation for the loss of property because of an altered fradulent document, forcing a jury to decide whether a flawed legal authority can justify the capture and return of fugitive's to the plantation, monetary restitution to the owner for loss of labor, or freedom for the family.

SYNOPSIS:

Act I

In 1852, Sandusky, Ohio, Weimer and Gibbons, plantation owners in Kentucky, brings a lawsuit against Rush R. Sloane, demanding compensation of $4,000 for a enslaved family (George, Ellen, and Matilda) he claims as his property, who escaped and were later seized by slave catchers under disputed circumstances on the steamship ARROW. The fugitives are taken to Mayor Follett’s office, where a heated discussion occurs on the legality of the arrest between slave catchers Patton, Hedges, and a local attorney, Rush Sloane. At the heart of the conflict is not the escape itself, but the legality of the arrest: whether the slave catchers who captured the fugitives, Patton and Hedges, were truly authorized to act on Weimer and Gibbons behalf. The discussion results in the three fugitives being hustled out of the Mayor’s office in haste.

Act II

As testimony unfolds in the courtroom, the fugitives are not present. They were quickly sequestered by Sloane, Beecher, and others back to the steamship ARROW and sent to Canada. While the attorneys argue over a single document, a power of attorney, that allegedly grants Patton the authority to arrest fugitives under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Evidence reveals a critical irregularity. While plantation owners Weimer and Gibbons initially executed the document in Kentucky, as federal law required, the agent’s name was either missing or listed as someone other than Patton. Later, after crossing into Ohio, the document was altered to include Patton’s name, without any legal acknowledgment or validation in that state. The defense argues that this flaw strips Patton of lawful authority, rendering the arrest an unauthorized act, whereas, at the very least, it is argued that he should have had an arrest warrant.

Act III

As the fugitives land in Canada, Judge Leavitt delivers a decisive decision. Under federal law, the altered power of attorney is invalid; Patton and Hedges had no legal right to seize the fugitives. With this guidance, the jury returns its verdict that, because of a technical failure to comply with the law, the Power of Attorney was invalid in Ohio; however, since the fugitives are no longer in the United States, the claimants, Weimer and Gibbons, would receive restitution of $4,000 ($183,000 today) for the loss of their labor and court costs. The citizens of Sandusky rally behind Mr. Sloane, who is now revered, and raise the funds to repay him for his fearlessness against all odds.

THE ARROW