Inscription
Among the events in the 1850s that helped drive the nation into civil war, the Christiana Riot put a controversial new law to a bloody test. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 ordered federal officers to arrest suspected runaway slaves; it also threatened imprisonment to anyone aiding a runaway. In 1851, Edward Gorsuch, a Maryland farmer, heard that four of his escaped slaves had been seen in southern Pennsylvania. With an armed posse, Gorsuch arrived at William Parker's Christiana home, where fugitives had been hiding. Parker, an escaped slave himself from Maryland, had passed first through York before settling in Christiana. After neighbors gathered to oppose the posse, Gorsuch was shot and killed. Federal authorities charged participants with treason, but all were acquitted. Southerners fumed over the verdict. John Brown's raid on the Federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, lit the country's already short fuse. The Federal force sent after Brown included York resident Lieutenant Michael P. Small. Among Brown's raiders was Osborne Perry Anderson who escaped to Chambersburg on foot. From there he turned to the Underground Railroad for safety. A local conductor, Freedman William C. Goodridge, hid him in York. Anderson eventually escaped to Canada.
Details
| HM Number | HMF4W |
|---|---|
| Series | This marker is part of the Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Civil War Trails series |
| Tags | |
| Historical Period | 19th Century |
| Historical Place | Town |
| Marker Type | Historic District |
| Marker Class | Historical Marker |
| Marker Style | Free Standing |
| Year Placed | 2009 |
| Placed By | Civil War Trails |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Saturday, September 20th, 2014 at 11:52am PDT -07:00 |
Pictures
Locationbig map
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 18S E 352423 N 4425022 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 39.96248333, -76.72788333 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 39° 57.749', W 76° 43.673' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 39° 57' 44.9400" N, 76° 43' 40.3800" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 717 |
| Can be seen from road? | Yes |
| Is marker in the median? | No |
| Which side of the road? | Marker is on the right when traveling South |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 13 W Market St, York PA 17401, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.
Nearby Markersshow on map
Comments 0 comments