The Christiana Riots of 1851

In our Maryland Rare collection is a book, The Christiana Riot and the Treason Trials of 1851: An Historical Sketch by W. U. Hensel. This volume tells the story of one of the most violent conflicts in response to the Fugitive Slave Act. Written for the 60th anniversary, our edition includes a few extras.

In 1850, tensions between the Northern free states and Southern slave states continued to heighten, and a series of compromises were made by Congress. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was one of them. This was an amendment to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. Both allowed slaveholders to reclaim African Americans who had escaped to Northern states on their way to freedom. The Act of 1850 strengthened the existing 1793 act and fined officials who failed to comply up to $1,000, nearly $40,000 today. Suspects could be arrested on the testimony or affidavit of the slaveholder. Outrage against this act was a factor in the formation of the Republican Party.

On September 9, 1851, Edward Gorsuch left his farm near Glencoe, Maryland, for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to swear out a federal warrant to reclaim his “property,” four formerly enslaved African Americans - George Hammond, Joshua Hammond, Nelson Ford, and Noah Buley. Gorsuch brought with him a Federal deputy, Henry Kline, and two hired Philadelphia policemen, John Agan and Thompson Tully. Several others also joined Gorsuch. The group was observed by Samuel Williams of the Special Secret Committee, a General Vigilant Committee of abolitionists out of Philadelphia that aided fugitive slaves by offering legal aid, medical help, and transportation. Williams was able to warn the African American community around Christiana, but Kline and Tully knew Williams was following them and returned to Philadelphia. They met up with the Gorsuch party in Sadsbury on the 10^th, and by this point the group included Edward Gorsuch and his son Dickinson, his nephews Joshua M. Gorsuch and Dr. Thomas Pearce, Kenry Kline, Nicholas T. Hutchings, and Nathan Nelson.

Just after midnight on the 11^th, they set out with a hired guide, headed to the home of William Parker, a free African American, in Lancaster County where supposedly two of the former enslaved men were hiding. When they reached the house, the guide departed, having deposited them, knowingly or unknowingly, into the heart of the resistance. Parker and other local abolitionists were aware of the group and were trying to speed up the African Americans’ journey to Canada. As the group approached the house, they came upon Joshua Kite, one of the former slaves. Kite ran to the house yelling a warning as he went. The house armed themselves and signaled to the local African American community for assistance while a US Marshall of the party announced their legal authority. A violent clash between the two groups began and ended with the death of Edward Gorsuch and the serious wounding of several of his group. This event was a harbinger of the nationwide conflict that would be the American Civil War.

The former enslaved men were able to make it to Canada and freedom. William Parker also fled and was given refuge by Frederick Douglass at his house. Parker and Douglass knew each other when they were both enslaved in Maryland. In October, forty-one men, thirty-six of whom were African American, were charged with treason over the incident. The first trial was of Castner Hanway, a white Quaker and abolitionist, and alleged ringleader. Thaddeus Stevens headed his defense team. Stevens was a “Radical Republican” and a fierce opponent of both slavery and discrimination against African Americans. He brought forth a strong defense, especially calling out the absurdity of the United States for claiming a group of poorly armed Quaker farmers had waged war against it. After only fifteen minutes of deliberation, Hanway was acquitted, and the charges against the rest were withdrawn. William Parker joined his family in Canada.

 

The author W. U. Hensel claims that his historical sketch relays a factual account of this charged event and does not dwell on opinion. Since this book was published in 1911, this claim may need to be taken with a grain of salt, especially as this volume was shared by descendants of the Gorsuchs. Sometimes he refers to the event as the Gorsuch Tragedy. The author does pull from contemporary published accounts, including William Parker’s own story from the Atlantic Monthly in 1866. Examination of this event is important to understand the trajectory that led to the Civil War and the longstanding efforts before the war to address the injustice of slavery.

 

This volume was gifted by Miss Mary B. M. Mitchell, a descendant of Edward Gorsuch, to Lemar Beeman Browne. Pasted in the front pages are articles on the fire that destroyed the Gorsuch house, the monument to Edward Gorsuch, and an obituary of another Mitchell. In the back of the book are photographs showing the house and grounds of Mary B. M. Mitchell in Fall and snow.