In 1851, Fairbank helped a slave named Tamar escape from Kentucky to Indiana.

On November 9 of that year, with the connivance of the sheriff of Clark County, Indiana and Indiana Governor Joseph A. Wright, marshals from Kentucky abducted Fairbank and took him back to their state for trial.

After going to Kentucky in 1851 to aid in another escape, Fairbank was successful in helping an enslaved woman get to Indiana.  There, he was apprehended by Kentucky state marshals, who took him back to Kentucky to stand trial for violating the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. He was sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor in prison, where he was singled out for exceptionally harsh treatment.  Fairbank was whipped on a regular basis, and he calculated that over the duration of his imprisonment he received over 35,000 lashes.  His health suffered greatly.  

Source: nationalabolitionhalloffameandmuseum.org

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