Austin Bearse

Austin Bearse (1808-1881) was a sea captain from Cape Cod who provided transportation for fugitive slaves in the years leading up to the American Civil War.

Early life

Bearse was born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, on April 3, 1808. As a youth he worked occasionally as a mate on slave-trading vessels off the coast of South Carolina and saw firsthand how cruelly the slaves were treated. Decades later, he recalled in his memoir that "they were separated from their families and connections with as little concern as calves and pigs are selected out of a lot of domestic animals." Often the families and friends of the departing slaves were allowed to spend the night on the ship before it set sail. When morning came, Bearse had the unpleasant duty of warning them that it was time to say goodbye, and, as he put it, "the shrieks and cries of grief at these times were enough to make anyone's heart ache."

Affected by these experiences, Bearse became an abolitionist. He continued working as a seaman, but refused to trade below the Mason–Dixon line. he moved to City Point in South Boston. In one case, the committee hired him to retrieve a fugitive slave named Sandy Swain from the brig Florence, which was moored at Fort Independence after sailing from North Carolina. He brought with him several white abolitionists and a party of black dock workers from Long Wharf, and persuaded the captain of the brig to hand Swain over to him. As they were sailing away, they dressed Swain as a fisherman so he would blend in when they landed at City Point House. From there, Swain was driven to a safe house in Brookline, and continued the next morning on his way to Canada.

On another occasion, Bearse was asked to retrieve a fugitive slave from the Sally Ann, also from North Carolina. He was unable to enlist a party of men to go with him on short notice, so he and his brother decided to try it on their own. The Austin Bearse House in Centerville (built c. 1691) is part of the Centerville Historic District.