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Thomas Sims was an African American slave who escaped from Georgia to Boston, Massachusetts in 1851. A little later in the same year, however, he was arrested under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, tried, and returned to slavery. Sims was one of the first slaves to be successfully returned from Boston under the act and the failure to stop his case from progressing was a significant blow to the abolitionists.

Early Life & Family
Sims was born in Georgia to James Sims and Minda Campbell, both slaves under rice planter, James Potter. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but is estimated to be around 1828. He had several brothers and sisters, including James M. Simms, another notable African American of the time. Thomas Sims worked as a bricklayer and eventually got married to and had children with a free African American woman.

Escape from Slavery
Sims made his escape on February 21, 1851 by stowing away on the M. & J.C. Gilmore. He was twenty-three at the time. Sims was actually caught on March 6, right before the ship's arrival to Boston, but managed to escape off the ship before the authorities came. Him lived in Boston for about a month and a half, staying 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,” but it was only when he sent his address to his wife asking for money that Potter found where Sims was staying.