March 2001
Updated June 2001
Christiana Resistance Collection
Series 1 Documents
Folder 1 Land Draft and Deed
Insert 1 Land draft, for land sold by Jacob Eshleman to Levi Pownall. [Should include site of William Parker's house.] 23 March 1803.Folder 2 Letter. To "Dear Sir" from W. Arthur Jackson in Philadelphia, regarding whereabouts of Nelson Ford, Joshua Hammond, and others; who occupied Parker's house; who was in Parker's house that night; and how long Parker, Pinkney, and Johnson had lived in Pennsylvania. [Possibly written to the Pownall family.] 10 November 1851.Insert 2 Deed. Jacob Eshleman of Strasburg Township to Levi Pownall of Sadsbury Township. 204 acres and the allowance for roads. 2 April 1803. (Original housed in oversized box.)
Folder 3 Notes on "kidnappings" in the area, 1850-1851. Also unfinished notes regarding the Christiana Riot. 11 September 1851. Unsigned. No date. [Referenced as "Pownall Journal" in Ella Forbes'But We Have No Country.] (page 1 -- page 2 -- page 3 -- page 4 -- page 5)
Folder 4 Letter, from Elizabeth Pownall to her aunt. Describes the Pownall family's experience of the Resistance and also the scene in Christiana. Written shortly after the incident. [1851]. (page 1 -- page 2 -- page 3)
Folder 5 Photocopied pages from Dickinson Gorsuch's diary. 6 September to 21 September 1851. (page 1 -- page 2 -- page 3 -- page 4 -- page 5)
Folder 7 Book. History of the Trial of Castner Hanway and Others for Treason at Philadelphia in November, 1851, by W. Arthur Jackson. Philadelphia, 1852. (cover -- page 3 -- pages 4/5 -- pages 6/7 -- pages 8/9 -- pages 10/11 -- pages 12/13 -- pages 14/15 -- pages 16/17 -- pages 18/19 -- pages 20/21 -- pages 22/23 -- pages 24/25 -- pages 26/27 -- pages 28/29 -- pages 30/31 -- pages 32/33 -- pages 34/35 -- pages 36/37 -- pages 38/39 -- pages 40/41 -- pages 42/43 -- pages 44/45 -- pages 46/47 -- pages 48/49 -- pages 50/51 -- pages 52/53 -- pages 54/55 -- pages 56/57 -- pages 58/59 -- pages 60/61 -- pages 62/63 -- pages 64/65 -- pages 66/67 -- pages 68/69 -- pages 70/71 -- pages 72/73 -- pages 74/75 -- pages 76/77 -- pages 78/79 -- pages 80/81 -- pages 82/83 -- pages 84/85 -- page 86)
Folder 8 Letter, from Dickinson Gorsuch, Baltimore, to Levi Pownall regarding the Pownall family nursing him back to health and asking them to visit. 18 October 1852. (page 1 -- page 2 -- page 3)
Folder 9 Printed account, "Christiana Riot." Compliments of E. P. Zane, Jeweler, Christiana, Penna. No date.
Folder 10 Letter, to Dr. L. W. Pownall, Christiana, from W. U. Hensel, Lancaster, regarding a 60th anniversary celebration of the Christiana Riot. 30 January 1911. (page 1 -- page 2)
Folder 11 Request for payment for local expenses for the 1911 "Commemoration of the Christiana Riot and the Treason Trials of 1851." (envelope -- page 1 -- page 2 -- page 3 -- page 4 -- page 5)
Folder 12 Special announcement from the Papers of the Lancaster County Historical Society for the "Commemoration of the Christiana Riot and the Treason Trials of 1851." 4 August 1911. (page 1 -- page 2 -- page 3 -- page 4)
Folder 13 Souvenir program, "Commemoration of the Christiana Riot and Treason Trials of 1851," Lancaster County Historical Society. 1911. (page 1 -- page 2 -- page 3 -- page 4 -- page 5 -- page 6 -- page 7 -- page 8 -- page 9 -- page 10 -- page 11 -- page 12 -- page 13 -- page 14 -- page 15 -- page 16 -- page 17 -- page 18 -- page 19 -- page 20)
Folder 14 Newspaper article, "'Christiana Riot,' 100 Years Ago, Forerunner of Bloody Civil War," by Joseph T. Kingston. Incomplete. [1951]. (page 1 -- page 2)
Folder 15 Program, "Commemorative Exercises of the Lancaster County Historical Society on the Centennial of the Christiana Riot." 9 September 1951. (page 1 -- page 2 -- page 3 -- page 4 -- page 10)
Folder 16 Newspaper article, "'He Died for Law' in Christiana Riot," by Benjamin Herman. The Sun, Baltimore. 11 September 1955. (illustration)
Folder 17 Photocopy and transcription of letter from William H. Seward, Washington, to John W. Ashmead, District Attorney of the United States, Philadelphia. 25 December 1951.
Folder 18 Memoir, "Some Recollections of a Long and Unsuccessful Life," by George Steele. 1918. (cover -- page 1 -- page 2 -- page 3 -- page 4 -- page 5 -- page 6 -- page 7 -- page 8 -- page 9 -- page 10 -- page 11 -- page 12 -- page 13 -- page 14 -- page 15 -- page 16)
Folder 19 Documentary
drama for radio, "Inquest at Christiana," by Jonathan Katz. 1967.
(intro -- cover -- cast -- page
4 -- page 5 -- page
6 -- page 7 -- page
8 -- page 9 -- page
10 -- page 11 -- page
12 -- page 13 -- page
14 -- page 15 -- page
16 -- page 17 -- page
18 -- page 19 -- page
20 -- page 21 -- page
22 -- page 23 -- page
24 -- page 25 -- page
26 -- page 27 -- page
28 -- page 29 -- page
30 -- page 31 -- page
32 -- page 33 -- page
34 -- page 35 -- page
36 -- page 37 -- page
38 -- page 39 -- page
40 -- page 41 -- page
42 -- page 43 -- page
44 -- page 45 -- page
46 -- page 47 -- page
48 -- page 49 -- page
50 -- page 51 -- page
52 -- page 53 -- page
54 -- page 55)
Folder 20 Newspaper article, "Anniversary of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society." The New York Herald. Whole no. 6926. 12 October 1851. (Original housed in oversized box.) (page 1 -- page 2)
Christiana Resistance Collection
Series 2 Photographs
Folder 1 Historical marker, "Site of Christiana Riot 700 Yards South." No date.Folder 2 Christiana Riot Monument
Insert 1
1. Christiana Riot Monument.
2. Christiana Riot Monument, "Wm. L. Jackson with some boys who were playing nearby." (William L. Jackson is the grandfather of G. Walter Jackson and sister of Mary Louise J. Maule.)
(These two photographs were donated by Mary Louise J. Maule)
Folder 3 "Christiana Riot House." 2 originals printed by Harry's Studio, No. 210 Locust Street, Columbia, Pa. Also 3 copies.
(Donated by Mrs. Barnard (Jean) Pownall)Folder 4 "Christiana Riot House"
Insert 1 "Christiana Riot House." No date. (black and white copy)
Insert 2 "Christiana Riot House." [1895]. Original printed by Howard C. Moore, Christiana, Pa. Also 1 copy.
(Original donated by Mrs. Barnard (Jean) Pownall)Insert 3 "Christiana Riot House." No date. Also 2 copies.
(Original donated by Mrs. Barnard (Jean) Pownall)Insert 4 "Christiana Riot House (South View)." No date. Also 1 copy.
Insert 5 "Christiana Riot House" with unidentified woman standing by tree. No date.
Folder 5 Ruins of the "Christiana Riot House"Insert 1 Ruins of the "Christiana Riot House." [1896, 1898].(view 1 -- view 2 -- view 3 -- view 4)
Insert 3 The Pownall farm. 1971.Folder 6 Home of Levi Pownall
(Photograph owned in 1990 by Ms. C. Ammon of Christiana)
Insert 2 Home of Levi Pownall, East View, "W.R.M. 8/10/69" (text on back of photo) (one copy)
Folder 7 Dickinson Gorsuch. No date.
2 photographic copies of daguerreotype (first copy and second copy). 1 photograph of Dickinson with a dog.Folder 8 Zercher's Hotel, where the body of slave owner Edward Gorsuch was taken for viewing and inquest before it was returned to his home in Maryland. Harrarís Store in 1895. Later, Christiana Machine Company offices. Photograph [1895].
Folder 9
Insert 1 Castner Hanway, in his later years. No date.Folder 10Insert 2 Castner Hanway, Elijah Lewis, Joseph P. Scarlet. "Taken soon after the Treason Trials." No date. (Black and white copy)
Insert 1 John W. Ashmead, "U.S. Attorney who conducted the prosecution." No date.Folder 11 Samuel Hopkins and Peter Woods. "Survivors of the Christiana Riot taken at the scene, 1896."Insert 2 Thaddeus Stevens, "In the days of his Congressional Leadership." No date.
Insert 3 Hon. John K. Kane, "United States District Judge at the time of the Treason Trials." No date.
Folder 12
Front Row, left to right: Mrs. Peter Woods, Peter Woods,
Aunt Mary
Back Row, left to right: Howard Woods, Susan Woods, James
Woods, Annie Woods, Percy Woods, Harry Woods, Leora Woods, Eugene Woods.
Note: Other children of Peter Woods not shown are: Jacob,
Sumner, Ida, Tillie and Peter Woods Jr.
(Information by Mrs. Lillian Speed of Parkesburg,
Pa.)(copy one
and two)
Insert 2 Centennial Commemoration Ceremony, 9 September 1951.
Folder 13 Mount Zion AME Church, Back of Photo reads: "Located between Atglen and Christiana. The congregation of the church was organized in 1817. Church was built in 1820. It was a station on the ëUnderground Railroad.í It observed its 116th anniversary in 1936. Destroyed by fire in 1937 and was immediately rebuilt with various changes in construction." (Black and white copy)Back to topFolder 14 Gorsuch Tavern, Hereford, Maryland. [1971].
Historical Marker reads: "At '19 Mile Stone' on York Road built in 1810 by Capt. Joshua Gorsuch, a shipbuilder. The tavern was the meeting place of the Baltimore Countians who went to Pennsylvania to reclaim their slaves. Thus bringing on the Christiana Riot of 1851." (Front view and side view)Folder 15 Daguerreotype of Dickinson Gorsuch. No date.
Corresponds with Series 2, Folder 7.
