Christiana Incident of 1851

eighteen fifties. And this also offers insights into the lives of the people most impacted by the practice of slavery, black people, both enslaved and free. This is really considered an important moment in the pre Civil War years of the US because it led to the first legal test of the Fugitive Slave Law of eighteen fifty which we'll

talk about in some detail. And in addition to looking at the ways this impacted people's lives, the immediate aftermath of the events at Christiania in eighteen fifty one also gives us a glimpse into how the press, even in abolitionist states, talked about and framed the violence in regard to race. So that's what we're going to talk about today.

So William Parker was born on a Maryland plantation owned by Major William Brogden and the plantation known as Rodown was where his mother, Luisa Simms, was enslaved. Parker shared his story with The Atlantic later in his life. We'll talk about that down the road. And he never mentioned a father in that story. It's a little unclear if his narrative is intended to point to Major Brogden as his father. That seems possible, although that is not his last name, and we don't know where the name Parker

comes from in that case. But he wrote of Brogden quote, my old master died while I was very young, so I know little about him, except from statements received from my fellow slaves or casual remarks made in my hearing from time to time by white persons. I conclude that he was in no way peculiar, but should be classed with those slaveholders who are not remarkable, either for the

severity or the indulgence they extend to their people. Luisa also died when William was a little boy, and at that point his grandmother, who was also enslaved at wrote Down as the cook for the main house, was his nearest relative. She cared for him, but because she was in demand at the house for so much of the day. She only saw William very briefly. The rest of the time, he was looked after by other enslaved people, who he said were abusive to him until he learned to fight back.

After Major Brogden died, the plantation continued for several years before the major's two sons split the property, and William then became enslaved by David Brogden. Parker's account of life enslaved by the Brogdens offers a lot of insight into the various ways that enslaved people were dehumanized. For example, he wrote quote slaveholders are particular to keep the pedigree and age of favorite horses and dogs, but are quite indifferent about the age of their servants until they want

to purchase. He also talks about specific instances of people being sold off and the casual ways that families were separated. Something he said that they all treated like a funeral because they knew they were never going to see those loved ones again. From the time he was young, William, after having seen his first sale of enslaved people that

he had grown up with, plotted an escape. He had tried to convince other young men to join him at various times, but they were all generally too fearful of the very real risks of running away, so he and his brother Charles began just quietly planning to escape just

between themselves. Parker also wrote about how he actually wanted to wait to leave until David Brogden mistreated him in some way, noting quote, I was ignorant enough to think that something besides the fact that I was a slave was necess to exonerate me from blame in running away. A cross word, a blow, a good fright, anything would do.

After a physical altercation with Brogden, in which William defended himself and inflicted some sort of injury that we don't specifically know what, William and his brother Charles just ram He talked about how, even as a fugitive, the promise of freedom quote lends wings to the feet, buoys up the spirit within. The passage through Baltimore to Philadelphia was trickier than the two men anticipated because they didn't realize how quickly the news of their escape and the warrant

for their capture would spread. But they made it to Pennsylvania and took various odd jobs to make money. William wrote quote, I thought of my fellow servants left behind, bound in the chains of slavery, and I was free. I thought that if I had the power, they should soon be as free as I was. And I formed a resolution that I would assist in liberating everyone within reach at the risk of my life, and that I

would devise some plan for their entire liberation. He was able to see William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglas speak together. Parker had met Douglas when both men were enslaved, and he was moved and inspired to see that he had become an important voice in the abolitionist movement. Freshly inspired, one of the things that Parker did was banned together with other formerly enslaved people, to start a mutual protection group.

There were often kidnappers in the area looking for black people to drag to slave states, hoping for a payoff, whether those people had been enslaved previously or not. Before the Christiania incident we're talking about today, Parker was involved in a number of conflicts that often included physical altercations, as he and others in their protection group fought with

kidnappers to get black captives away from them. When the wife of a friend suggested that maybe they shouldn't be so ready to fight, and that they could perhaps avoid trouble instead of getting into it. Parker later said that he told her quote, we must have trouble before we

could have peace. He was very frank in telling his life story that these altercations often resulted in injuries and even deaths for both kidnappers and protectors, but that even knowing that could happen, their group always answered the call when someone raised the alert that people were in danger

of being snatched. On one occasion, Parker and his group learned that a black man who lived near Christiana had been taking people who had run from enslavement into his own home and then gaining their trust enough to get their stories, and then turning and relaying their location to their enslavers so that they could be recaptured. And William's words quote at last, the betrayer's connection with these transactions was clearly tracked, and it was decided to force him

to quit the nefarious business. This man was actually difficult for Parker and his associates to corner, so after a long run of failures, they decided to burn his home to the ground, which they did. This is a pretty good indicator of just how serious William Parker was about ending enslavement for as many people as possible and through whatever means. It took.

a refuge for people escaping enslavement In Maryland. Parker and his wife, Eliza Ann Howard, who had also been enslaved, rented a two story home that welcomed people in need of shelter.

of course became the fugitive slave law. This was not the first fugitive slave legislation, there had been one in seventeen ninety three, but the eighteen fifty Act, part of the Compromise of eighteen fifty, which sought to relieve some of the tension between North and South over the issue of slavery, gave a lot more agency and power to enslavers and rendered some of the legal workarounds that had been found to thwart the seventeen ninety three law useless.

This act stated that if a person quote held to service or labor i e. Enslaved or to escape, that the quote person or persons to whom such service or labor may be due, or his her or their agent or attorney, duly authorized by power of attorney in writing, acknowledged and certified under the seal of some legal officer or court of the state or territory in which the say may be executed, may pursue and reclaim such fugitive person.

This could be done quote by seizing and arresting such fugitive, where the same could be done without process, and by taking or causing such person to be taken forthwith before such court, judge or Commissioner, whose duty it shall be to hear and determine the case of such claimant in

a summary manner. The law clearly stated that the testimony of the apprehended person would not be admitted into evidence, and that they could be taken back to the state they ran from, even if they were captured in a state that did not have legal enslavement.

Read that section quote that any person who shall knowingly and willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent such claimant, his agent or attorney, or any person or person's lawfully assisting him, her, or them from arresting such a fugitive from service or labor, either with or without process, as aforsaid, or shall rescue or attempt to rescue such fugitive from service or labor from the custody of such claimant, his or her agent

or attorney, or other person or person's lawfully assisting as aforesaid, when so arrested, pursue it to the authority herein given and declared, or shall aid a bet or assist such person so owing service or labor as aforesaid, directly or indirectly to escape from such claimant, his agent or attorney, or other person or persons legally authorized as aforesaid, or shall harbor or conceal such fugitive so as to prevent the discovery and arrest of such person after notice or

knowledge of the fact that such person was a fugitive from service or labor, as aforesaid, shall or either of set offenses be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars and imprisonment not exceeding six months.

and the Hammonds, and he received those warrants. The US Deputy Marshall HH Klein was authorized to arrest the men and two Philadelphia police officers, John Agent and Thompson Tully, were brought onto the team by Gorsicch to back up climb.

out for Christiana together on foot. In addition to the men already mentioned, the party included Gorsich's son Dickinson and his nephew Joshua, as well as three other men acquainted with the Gorsics family. Those were Nathan Nelson, Thomas Pearce, and Nicholas Hutchings. They also had a guide who met them as they approached Christiana. That guide, William Paget, had given Gorsich information about where to find the escaped men in exchange for payment. He did not stay with the

group once they reached their destination of Parker's home. That is probably because Paget, who was a white farm hand, eventually was revealed to have been a person who would feign to be friendly to black people who had escaped enslavement and then get their stories, and then he would sell them out. So he probably did not want anyone

at William Parker's home to see him. According to Parker's account, he had heard that slaveholders were planning to show up at his house, but he also didn't think much of it because he heard that literally all the time. He was so involved in this fight that there was always someone coming to get him. But there was also another

group of people heading to his house. Because while William Parker had not been convinced of the imminent arrival of the Gorsach Posse, many people in Philadelphia were, and they had been organizing their own counter attack. There had been numerous instances in the twelve months since the Fugitive Slave Act was passed of people being taken from Christiania, never to be heard from again, and no follow up ever presented as to what had become of them, and that

had put the area's residence on very high alert. Since the passing of the eighteen fifty Fugitive Slave Law, a resistance force against kidnappers who planned to invoke it had been organizing and they knew that Parker's house was a target.

According to Parker, this group was known as the Special Secret Committee, and a member of this group, Samuel Williams, had done some very impressive and really courageous spy work in tailing Kleine as he made his way through Pennsylvania, and Samuel also got close enough to the Gorsach gang to gather all of the pertinent information about their plans at Parker's farm, and then he carried that information back

to the organized group. When the Gorsach posse approached the house, they found the group who had assembled to keep them from kidnapping anyone, but the Gorsach group yelled for the escaped men to come out. When nobody did, there were threats that they would burn the house down and shoot

everybody inside, but still no one emerged. At this point, there were seven people in the house, William Parker and his wife Eliza, Eliza's sister Hannah, Hannah's husband Alexander Abraham Johnson, and two of the men Gorsuch was hunting, Nelson Ford and Joshua Hammond. After making several demands that the escaped men come out, Gorsich and his men advanced toward the home, and at that point they saw a black man running

from it. Gorsuch believed it had been one of the men he wished to apprehend, and Cleine pursued him, although then Kleine fell when he encountered an obstacle in the yard. Several other members of Gorsich's group entered the house through the open door and continue their demands that the sought

after men come down, but again nobody did. They attempted to climb the stairs, but they were met with a fish gig that is a tool that looks kind of like a trident, and then an axe was allegedly thrown down at them, and they went outside at that point and yelled up at the second story windows, although Kleine, who had recovered his balance and come into the house, tried shooting up the stairs, but he didn't hit anything

of note. According to Parker's version of events, he had been the one who actually met them on the stairs. He doesn't mention holding this fish gig, but he did tell them to leave. The Gorsach party once again asserted their legal right to be there and to pursue the men who had escaped enslavement. As all of this was playing out, a black passerby saw this commotion, and when he tried to approach the scene, somebody brandished a gun

at him. He left, but he spread the news as quickly as he could that there were kidnappers at William Parker's house, and soon more men started to arrive on the scene, carrying a variety of makeshift weapons. In addition to the mostly black crowd, there were two white Quakers, Castner Hanway and Elijah Lewis, who arrived on site. Hanway was a miller and Lewis was a shopkeeper. The members of Gorsuch's group had mixed reads of what their intent was.

Klein believed they were there to help with the seizure of the escaped men, but they did not. Hanway actually tried to disperse both sides of the dispute, telling Klein that if they proceeded with their plan, it would likely go very badly. He also tried to motion to the

assembled black crowd to back down. According to accounts relayed later, Klein took off into an adjacent field, calling to the other members of the Gorsach group to retreat, but Edward Gorsich would not, and was adamant that he was going to retrieve his property. The tension of the situation escalated.

occurred at Christiania, Lancaster County, yesterday morning. Mister Gorsuch, the owner of the slave, was killed and his son mortally wounded. Several other persons were injured. The officers were driven from the ground by eighty armed negroes. That number of armed black men was wildly different from account to account, and when I say wildly, some account say fifteen, some say two hundred. That's a big range.

Additional details that appeared in early news coverage make it clear that the information journalists received was not entirely accurate. For example, that same account says that Gorsuch was hunting two men, not four, and that his two sons were with him rather than a son and a nephew. One update to this story stated that Dickinson Gorsich had also been killed. That was incorrect, although he did sustain serious injuries.

Black men assembled are also described as all carrying guns, but in reality, there were just a couple of guns. Most of them were carrying things like axes and corn knives, things they could just pick up on. Really short notice. Some accounts stated that a horn had been blown in the house, which called between sixty and eighty armed black men out of the woods. There was a horn, and it was blown by Parker's wife, Eliza, both to warn

people and to call for help. She was shot at as soon as she started blowing it, but the bullets missed and she kept going ducking down in the window for safety. So these first ride ups, which informed early opinions on what had happened, had a range of errors, some of them relatively harmless, but others that really misrepresented the situation. And because Edward Gorsuch had been killed, authorities were eager to arrest someone that they could charge with the murder.

The affair was even worse than what we had suspected. It was evidently a conspiracy planned beforehand to resist the officers of the law and the execution of their duty. And even then it was not confined to the negroes,

but was apparently under the guidance and control of whites. So, according to Dickinson Gorsuch's version of the story, as relaid by the New York Times, when a Quaker white man rode up on a horse, this was Castner Hanway, who, by the way, rode up on a horse because he really was not in great health and couldn't walk the short distance to the house that this arrival inspired the

crowd quote with renewed hostility. Dickinson also claimed that Hanway threatened the officers after he refused to help them apprehend the fugitive men, and this narrative carried with it a decidedly anti abolitionist take quote, no plea of conscience or regard for divine law will be made by the perpetrators of this outrage. A man would be adjudged insane who should seriously claim that God's law required him to murder men charged with the execution of the laws of the land.

The write up goes on to claim that the writer respects that different people have different values, noting, however, that quote the laws excuse the Quakers who plead regard for a higher law as a reason for not obeying the law which enjoins the performance of military duty. But it would scarcely tolerate an armed attempt on the part of the Quakers to prevent anybody else from obeying the law. The truth is, as we said, we do not know with certainty exactly how things played out in the conflict,

as accounts differ greatly. But even in those examples we've been reading, right, it sounds almost like in the warning that Hanway gave to the Gorsach people to go away, he was trying to say, if you believe one version, hey, this is not going to go well. For everyone's safety, you should leave. And in the Dickinson version he was threatening them that they had to leave. So what gets interesting is that even accounts given by the same witness

changed in some instances. So US Deputy Marshall Henry Klein, who as we've been talking about, was part of the crew that Gorsetch rode into Christiana with gave testimony on the stand that Castner Hanway had started the violence by riling up the black resistors, but that story changed when he was cross examined. Once he was asked more pointed questions, the truth came out he had actually hidden in the cornfield when things got contentious, so he didn't really see

what happened. After that bit of detail emerged, Hanway's defense team had literally dozens of character witnesses who were willing to state that Klein was known to be an habitual liar, a known kidnapper of black people for his own benefit, and a completely untrustworthy person. And the trial in which all of that came out was the treason trial of Castner Hanway. He and two other Quakers, Elijah Lewis and Jeremiah Scarlett, had been arrested and charged, as well as

twenty five black men. There were a total of thirty nine indictments, but not all of those named on the indictments could be found. It was believed those outside the twenty eight in custody had escaped. To be clear, there were a lot more arrests than that, because once the dust had self professed quote, slave catchers came out of the woodwork. They captured any person of color they saw in the hopes that they could profit from it. But other than the thirty one people mentioned, no charges were

made against the dozens of others taken in. William Parker had made his way to Canada to avoid arrest. Hanway, Lewis, and Scarlett were allowed to spend their days together in a cell. In the two months in change that they were held before the trial. They had a lot of regular visitors who brought them food and kept them company. The black detainees, by contrast, were not allowed to socialize even with one another. The plan was to try all

of these people for treason against the United States. If acquitted on that charge, there would be a second round of charges of murder, and then, if acquitted, a third charge of obstructing the marshal and aiding enslaved people in escape. But the prosecution had opted to try each defendant separately, and Hanway's trial was first, as he had been characterized as the ring leader of the group that overtook Gorsich

and his crew. The thinking on the part of the prosecution was that if they could get a guilty verdict against him.

fourth and running until December sixteenth. The opening statement of the defense lays the groundwork to discredit the treason charge for all of the men arrested for the incident in Christiana, although the primary setup establishes that Castner Hanway was not

responsible for any of it. Quote, this defendant gentleman, is not here, through his council, to defend those sad deeds which disgraced the sweet and peaceful valley near Christiani on the ninth of September last, or by one unkind or reproachful word to open again the yet fresh wounds of any member of that family which suffered so deeply there. It is no part of his defense to defend those

who took part in that conflict. His defense is simply that he was in no way a party to these outrages, but as a precaution, I shall pass beyond this line, and added to this will open to you that, however grave and serious may be and is the offense of those who took part in those outrages, yet it does not amount to the offense charged in the indictment on

the borders of Lancaster County. Their realty is a band of miscreants who are well known to the laws and well known to the records of the penitentiary in this state. They are professional kidnappers. These men, by a series of lawless and diabolical outrages, have invaded the peace of this valley, begetting and every household and a general sense of insecurity in every home. Treason shall consist only in levying war against the United States. Do the facts of the case sustain the charge?

on the stand. Most of them were caught in lies, just as Klein had been. While the various witnesses called by both sides told different versions of the story, a few facts were consistent throughout, and most damning was that it had actually been or such as group that had been the first to become violent. When the court proceedings concluded, the jury only deliberated for fifteen minutes before coming back with a not guilty verdict for Hanway, and the opposite

of the prosecution's plan played out from there. Because Klein had been the lynchpin of their entire case and their plan going forward with all of the subsequent charges, and when he was discredited in the first trial and no other hard evidence had been presented, there really wasn't anything to move forward with. The grand jury dismissed all remaining charges and all of the men who had been charged

were released by January sixteenth, eighteen fifty two. The result of the trial incensed many Southerners, who felt it was always unfairly biased because it took place in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. There had already been a sentiment that the Fugitive Slave Law was a case of the federal government infringing on states' rights, but as the prosecution failed to establish any real evidence for their narrative in the case against Tanway or any

of the defendants, really that point is almost moot. Just the same, the controversy over the outcome only added to the already tense relations between the northern and Southern states. It's sometimes called the first Battle of the Civil War.

In a surprising coda to this story, Edward Gorsuch's son Dickinson, who as we mentioned, had been really seriously injured, was nursed back to health by a Christiana Quaker named Levi Pownall, and over the course of receiving Pownall's care, it appears that Dickinson actually had a fairly significant change of heart regarding the situation, and he eventually sought to reconcile with the people that his family had fought against, and he

reportedly enjoyed a pretty positive relationship with many of Christiana's citizens up until his death. In eighteen eighty two, William Parker relocated to Buxton, cam and settled there while he had initially run away from Christiana without Eliza. The two of them were reunited in Canada, although he eventually left Eliza for another woman, and eighteen sixty six The Atlantic

Monthly published his life story in two parts. That is the piece which we quoted from a good bit in the early part of this, and I will say there are some general notations about like we don't know how accurate his version is or not, But to me it's his lived experience and thus becomes a pretty important narrative of what was going on at the time. As for the four men whose escape started the whole thing, Noah Bulee Nelson for George Hammond and Joshua Hammond, what happened

to them after the incident is not known. They were not captured, and it is often speculated that they followed William Parker to Canada.

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inspired me. I couldn't take the time off of work to go to Nevada for six weeks, but I did take a few days and took off for the coast all alone, my first trip by myself in six years. It was a big step for me at the time, and I'm happy to say I'm doing much better these days, and I'm very happy to be an independent person again. I'm so glad you were doing well since my divorce. I've had a second Spotify profile sitting around collecting dust. When you released your episode on yan Arison, I was

struck with inspiration. I sent my grandma up on Spotify and I'm happy to report this. She's becoming an avid listener. She's been telling all her elderly friends about your show and was thrilled to discover a distant personal connection to Joan Arison. One of her lifelong friends has Icelandic ancestry and claims as many do Joan Arison as a direct ancestor. I have attached my pet tax to Bambino sphinxes. The big Siamese is Quirk, my fat little boy, built like

a bulldog and easily confused. The Tortoiseshell is Dax, my frail, middle aged old lady eternally grumpy unless she's in a lap. Also a picture of Evi and Xander grazing two of my favorite horses at the Thoroughbred Sanctuary. I love these pet tax pictures. I love these names for your cats. Hello, little Star Trek reference makes me happy, and the horses are absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much for sharing this

story with us. I love the idea that you turned your grandma on to new things and new ways to talk about history. I love it so much. So I'm glad you're doing well, James, and I will be thinking of you if you would like to write to us, you can do so at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. If you would like to subscribe to the show and you haven't gotten around to it yet, I promise is so easy. You can do that on the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows.