There was, however, a very considerable political and legal aftermath to the proceedings at Philadelphia. The intimation of so eminent4 an authority as a justice of the Supreme5 Court of the United States to the effect that some official duty devolved upon the Lancaster County authorities could not be ignored. Accordingly District Attorney John L. Thompson, who was in his day one of the leaders of the Lancaster County Bar, framed bills of indictment6 to the January Sessions 1852 against many of those who had been arraigned7 for treason in Philadelphia. On Wednesday, December 31, Marshal Roberts brought to the Lancaster County prison from Philadelphia the following persons: Alson Pernsley, Lewis Gales8, Lewis Clarkson, Charles Hunter, Nelson Carter, Thomas Butler, Henry Green, Collister Wilson and George Williams,—all these were on the same evening discharged by the District Attorney, as he deemed the evidence insufficient9 to warrant their detention10.
On the same evening George Williams was arrested as a fugitive11 slave and taken to Penningtonville, where he took advantage of the sleepiness of his captors and walked off, and “straight was seen no more,” to the great chagrin12 of Henry H. Kline, the officer who made the arrest, and of the owner of the slave, who was asleep on the floor.
Saturday, January 3, 1852, Marshal Roberts brought to[Pg 92] Lancaster as prisoners John Morgan, Jacob Moore, Ezekiel Thompson, Isaiah Clarkson, John Williams, John Jackson, Benjamin Johnson, George Read, Daniel Caulsberry, Benjamin Pendergrass, William Williams, John Holliday, William Brown, Elijah Clark, William Brown, Jr., and Henry Sims, as prisoners, and five colored persons as witnesses. The witnesses were discharged on their recognizance to appear at Court to testify.
Public and political interest in the Riot and the Trials was not allowed to flag from inattention to the issues they involved by those high in authority. From “the seats of the mighty” deliverances were heard against what was interpreted in some quarters as successful offensive resistance to law. In his early message to Congress in December, 1851, President Fillmore had these paragraphs, relating to the events at Christiana.
“It is deeply to be regretted that in several instances officers of the Government, in attempting to execute the law for the return of fugitives13 from labor14, have been openly resisted and their efforts frustrated15 and defeated by lawless and violent mobs: that in one case such resistance resulted in the death of an estimable citizen, and in others serious injury ensued to those officers and to individuals who were using their endeavors to sustain the laws. Prosecutions16 have been instituted against the alleged18 offenders19 so far as they could be identified, and are still pending20. I have regarded it as my duty in these cases to give all aid legally in my power to the enforcement of the laws, and I shall continue to do so wherever and whenever their execution may be resisted.”
“Some objections have been urged against the details of the act for the return of fugitives from labor, but it is worthy21 of remark that the main opposition22 is aimed against the Constitution itself, and proceeds from persons and classes of persons many of whom declare their wish to see that Constitution overturned. They avow23 their hostility24 to any law[Pg 93] which shall give full and practical effect to this requirement of the Constitution. Fortunately the number of these persons is comparatively small, and is believed to be daily diminishing; but the issue which they present is one which involves the supremacy25 and even the existence of the Constitution.”
At an anti-slavery meeting, in Philadelphia, held on December 18, 1851, Joshua R. Giddings and Lucretia Mott were speakers. The large audience grew tumultuously enthusiastic over the presentation on the platform of Castner Hanway and Elijah Lewis.
After the trial William H. Seward sent the following Christmas greeting to District Attorney Ashmead, whose son, Henry G. Ashmead, historian of Delaware County and resident of Chester, cherishes the manuscript; Mr. Seward was then in his first term as United States Senator, but had already distinguished27 himself as an anti-slavery leader:
Washington December 25, 1857
My Dear Sir,
I thank you for the kind remembrance manifested by you sending me a copy of your opening Argument on the late Trial for Treason. While I cannot but rejoice in the result of that trial as a new assurance of the security of Popular Liberty, I am not unable to appreciate the ability with which you have maintained the untenable position which the Government was made to assume. The argument is highly logical and eloquent28, and I cannot better manifest my good wishes for you and for the Country than by expressing a hope that it may be the good fortune of the cause of truth and justice hereafter to enlist29 you on their side.
I am, my dear Sir,
Very respectfully & truly
Your friend,
William H. Seward.
John W. Ashmead Esq.,
District Attorney of the United States
Philadelphia.
In his message to the General Assembly of Maryland at the following January Session, Governor Lowe referred at length[Pg 94] to the Gorsuch tragedy. Despite the assurances of the Federal administration through Secretary of State Daniel Webster, that all the energies of the law would be exerted to bring the offenders to justice, Maryland had felt constrained30 to actively31 participate in the prosecution17. “The blood of a Marylander,” he declared, “cried out from the earth; whilst the Genius of the union called aloud for a vindication32 of outraged33 laws.” Otherwise “the flame of excitement would spread from the hills of Maryland to the savannahs of the extreme South, until every Southern State would unite in one common feeling of horror and indignation.” Senator Cooper had been retained by him; and despite the high ability and signal service of both him and Maryland’s Attorney General, there had been a gross miscarriage34 of justice. With a fervor35 of rhetoric36 that was more common then in State papers than it is now, he declared: “Shall domestic feuds37 destroy our power, when the eyes of all nations are turned to the star of our empire, as the harbinger of their deliverance? Shall Kossuth blast Hungary with the breath of our discord38? Shall O’Brien, in his lonely exile, see the hope of Ireland pass down the horizon, with the western sun? May so incalculable a calamity39 be spared to the nations of the earth. And yet, when American blood is made to flow upon American soil, as a grateful libation to American fanaticism40; when whole communities stand listlessly by, and a prostituted press and venal41 politicians are found, in the open day, to glory in the human sacrifice; when the Law proclaims its own weakness from the Bench, and Treason stalks unpunished, through the halls of justice; the Nations can judge of the probable remoteness of that calamity.”
The official report of his Attorney General justified42 the Governor in becoming somewhat heated over the outcome at Philadelphia. Mr. Brent had suffered not only some personal irritation43 over his position there, but a keen professional disappointment in his failure to convict. The blame[Pg 95] for this he distributed very generally among the people of the North who sympathized with resistance to the Fugitive Slave Law; the partisan44 character of the jury panel; the partiality of the daily press reports; the sympathy of the spectators; the treachery of the prison officials; the bribery45 of Scott, the government’s witnesses; and egregious46 errors of law committed by Judge Grier. Even the amiable47 Marshal did not escape criticism, as evinced by this paragraph:
“I brought to the attention of the court, the fact stated in the ‘Pennsylvania Freeman,’ that the Marshal (Mr. Roberts) had actually dined with the prisoners, or some of them, during the trial, on Thanksgiving day, and when I was about to read the article from the paper I was stopped by his Honor, Judge Grier, who in behalf of the Marshal, denied the truth of the statement that he had so dined; but unfortunately for the Judge’s interposition, the Marshal immediately afterwards made his own explanation, and admitted that he had not only assisted at the dinner, ‘but had set down and partaken sparingly’ of the Thanksgiving dinner, with the white prisoners. I cannot but consider such conduct as highly unbecoming that officer from whom, next to the Judge, we had a right to expect impartiality48 and a due regard for decorum.”
It is only fair to all concerned to say that the Attorney General’s indignation was not taken very seriously. Attorney Jackson’s history of the case corrects some of his exaggerations, and especially points out that all of Mr. Brent’s colleagues exculpated49 Marshal Roberts from any misconduct. Judge Kane’s own son, was known to have extended various kindnesses and courtesies to the prisoners.
Mr. Brent’s complaint on this score seems almost ridiculous when one reads the full particulars of the affair, as published in the Philadelphia Freeman of December 4, 1851. That newspaper says:
“It affords us great pleasure to state, that the Christiana prisoners were not wholly forgotten on Thursday last in the[Pg 96] distribution of the good things pertaining50 to Thanksgiving. Thomas L. Kane, Esq. (son of the Judge), sent to the prison for their use six superior turkeys, two of them extra size, together with a pound cake, weighing 16 pounds. The turkeys were cooked with appropriate fixings, by order of Mr. Freed, the Superintendent51, in the prison kitchen, by a female prisoner detached for the purpose. The dinner for the white prisoners, Messrs. Hanway, Lewis and Scarlet52, was served in appropriate style in the room of Mr. Morrison, one of the keepers. The U. S. Marshal, A. E. Roberts, Esq., several of the keepers and Mr. Hawes, one of the prison officers, dined with the prisoners as their guests. Mayor Gilpin coming in, accepted an invitation to test the quality of the pound cake, Mrs. Martha Hanway who has the honor to be the wife of the ‘traitor’ of that name, and who has spent most of her time with her husband since his incarceration53, served each of the 27 colored ‘traitors54’ with a plate of turkey, potatoes, pound cake, &c., and the supply not being exhausted55, all the prisoners on the same corridor were similarly supplied.
“Who will stand best with posterity—the father who prostitutes his powers as a judge to procure56 the conviction of peaceable citizens as traitors for refusing to aid in the capture of fugitive slaves, or the son who ministered to the wants of those citizens while incarcerated57 in a loathsome58 prison? Need we answer the question?”
The Maryland witnesses do not appear to have had as cheery a Thanksgiving as the prisoners. Dickinson Gorsuch’s diary had this entry:
“Thursday, Nov. 27. Thanksgiving Day. This has been a great holiday here; there was no court today. We went to Mr. Ashmead’s office and stayed awhile. John Bacon went home after the clothes I wore when I was shot.”
During their imprisonment59 the colored people and their families were largely supported by outside friends and sympathizers; and many an item such as this, recorded in the[Pg 97] cash book of B. L. Wood (father of Mrs. David W. Jackson), is set down to the credit of sympathetic friends:
10th mo. 8, 1851. Dr. 1 pair of pants and 1 shirt given to Elijah Clark in Moyamensing; also sent his wife qr. middlings.
In another respect the official complaints of Maryland’s Governor and Attorney General against Pennsylvania justice call for correction at even this late day. Both aver26 that “the murder” of Kennedy, a slave owner, at Carlisle, killed in resistance of the fugitive slave law, went utterly60 unpunished: The facts are that in that offense61 the rioters and rescuers were led by John Clellans and he and thirty-six others were indicted62. Besides Clellans twelve of the accused were convicted of riot and of riotously63 rescuing fugitive slaves from the lawful64 custody65 of their owners. Judge Hepburn sentenced them to solitary66 confinement67 at labor in the Eastern Penitentiary68 for three years. Charles Gibbons represented them on an appeal to the Supreme Court; and Deputy Attorney General (District Attorney) Bonham for the Commonwealth69, argued before that tribunal that Pennsylvania followed the law of England, which upon conviction for riot authorized70 fine, imprisonment and the pillory71, and therefore sentence to the penitentiary was lawful. Justice Burnside delivering the opinion of the Supreme Court, declared “it was an aggravated72 case of riot”; but that as Pennsylvania had adopted the English common law, the imprisonment must be in the county jail, and the final judgment73 of the court was that as the prisoners had been confined in the Eastern Penitentiary about three-fourths of a year, “we deem this as severe a punishment as if they had been confined in the county jail, where they legitimately74 should have been sent, for two years.” (Clellans vs. Com. 8 Barr. 223.)
Meantime the friends of Hanway, Lewis and others, incensed75 at the continued prosecutions in Lancaster county, assumed the aggressive.
[Pg 98]They procured76 the indictment to the January Sessions, 1852, No. 38, in Lancaster County, of Deputy Marshal Henry H. Kline, for perjury77. It was laid in this indictment that he had sworn falsely at the hearing before Alderman Reigart, wherein he averred78 that he had shown his warrant to Hanway, asked him and Lewis to spare his men, that they defied the warrant and encouraged the rioters and in various other particulars. Upon this bill of indictment appeared the names of a large number of witnesses, and Kline was held in $1,000 bail79 before Charles G. Freeman, alderman of Philadelphia, to answer at the Lancaster Court.
It appears from the subsequent history of the case that all parties involved were by this time willing to have “somebody help them to let go”; and accordingly at the January Sessions, Joseph McClure, of Bart township, being foreman of the jury, this bill against Kline for perjury, being No. 38, was ignored, and also the following, indictments80 all to the same sessions and for Riot: No. 57, William Brown; No. 58, Wm. Williams; No. 59, Henry Green; No. 60, William Brown, Jr.; No. 61, Benjamin Johnson; No. 63, Daniel Caulsberry; No. 64, George Wells; No. 65, George Williams; No. 66, Alson Pernsley; No. 67, Lewis Gales; No. 68, Lewis Clarkson; No. 69, Chas. Hunter; No. 70, Nelson Carter; No. 71, Jacob Woods, a brother of Peter Woods; No. 72, Peter Woods; No. 73, Israel Clarkson; No. 74, John Williams; No. 75, John Jackson; No. 76, Castner Hanway; No. 77, Elijah Lewis; No. 78, John Morgan; No. 81, Benjamin Pendergrass; No. 82, John Holliday; No. 83, Thomas Butler; No. 84, Elijah Clark; No. 85, Collister Wilson.
With this termination of the cases in the local courts all prosecutions were finally ended except that of Samuel Williams, in the United States District Court at Philadelphia. He was there charged with interfering81 with the execution of warrants for the arrest of Noah Buley and Joshua Hammond, runaway82 slaves. His case was first called for trial on[Pg 99] January 5, and continued until January 12. Mr. Ashmead and Messrs. Ludlow appeared for the prosecution, and R. P. Kane, W. S. Pierce and David Paul Brown for the defense83. The following jury was empanelled to try his case; the last name on the list will be recognized as that of an estimable citizen of Lancaster County:
Pratt Roberts, Chester County; Thomas Vaughan, Philadelphia; Henry McMahen, Philadelphia; Patrick McBride, Philadelphia; Michael Keenan, Philadelphia; Fredk. Boley, Sr., Philadelphia; Joseph Dowden, Chester County; Samuel Culp, Germantown; Minshall Painter, Delaware County; Joseph Thornton, Philadelphia; Francis Parker, Chester County; Peter McConomy, Lancaster.
Kline was the principal witness on this trial, and his testimony84 was practically a repetition of what he had sworn to in the Hanway case. The trial judge fell ill during the progress of the case and it was continued the third time and resumed on February 2, argued to the jury on February 3, and, on February 4, a verdict of “not guilty” was rendered.
This closes the record of all judicial85 proceedings arising out of the Christiana Riot.
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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indictment
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| n.起诉；诉状 | |
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arraigned
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| v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；传讯；指责 | |
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gales
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| 龙猫 | |
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insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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detention
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| n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下 | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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frustrated
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| adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧 | |
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prosecutions
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| 起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事 | |
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prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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offenders
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| n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物） | |
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pending
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| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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avow
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| v.承认，公开宣称 | |
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hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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aver
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| v.极力声明；断言；确证 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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enlist
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| vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍 | |
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constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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actively
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| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
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vindication
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| n.洗冤，证实 | |
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outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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miscarriage
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| n.失败，未达到预期的结果；流产 | |
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fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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feuds
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| n.长期不和，世仇( feud的名词复数 ) | |
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discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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fanaticism
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| n.狂热，盲信 | |
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venal
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| adj.唯利是图的，贪脏枉法的 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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bribery
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| n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿 | |
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egregious
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| adj.非常的，过分的 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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impartiality
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| n. 公平, 无私, 不偏 | |
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exculpated
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| v.开脱，使无罪( exculpate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pertaining
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| 与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to) | |
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superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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incarceration
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| n.监禁，禁闭；钳闭 | |
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traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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incarcerated
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| 钳闭的 | |
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loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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indicted
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| 控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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riotously
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| adv.骚动地，暴乱地 | |
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lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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penitentiary
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| n.感化院；监狱 | |
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commonwealth
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| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
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authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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pillory
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| n.嘲弄；v.使受公众嘲笑；将…示众 | |
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aggravated
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| 使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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legitimately
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| ad.合法地；正当地，合理地 | |
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75
incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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76
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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perjury
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| n.伪证；伪证罪 | |
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averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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80
indictments
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| n.（制度、社会等的）衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 )；刑事起诉书；公诉书；控告 | |
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81
interfering
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| adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词 | |
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82
runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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84
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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85
judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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