Reports of the trials of Colonel Aaron Burr, (late vice president of the United States,) for treason, and for a misdemeanor, in preparing the means of a military expedition against Mexico, a territory of the King of Spain, with whom the United States were at peace. In the Circuit court of the United States, held at the city of Richmond, in the district of Virginia, in the summer term of the year 1807. To which is added, an appendix, containing the arguments and evidence in support and defence of the motion afterwards made by the counsel for the United States, to commit A. Burr, H. Blannerhassett [sic] and I. Smith to be sent for trial to the state of Kentucky, for treason or misdemeanor, alleged to be committed there
Upholstered wingback commode chair has four turned Sheraton legs. Has replacement of original soiled handsewn homespun linen (remnants in this file), now an orange fabric with potted and vining flower design. Solid pinewood seat under cushion has center hole with fitted removable wooden disc.
This chair was from the Pownall home at Gap, where it was used by Dickinson Gorsuch, Maryland slaveholder, during his recovery from wounds sustained during the Christiana Riot of Sept. 11, 1851. His father and two others were killed during the skirmish at the home of freedman William Parker, and Dickinson was transported to the Pownall home for recovery. William Parker later published his story in the "Atlantic Monthly" in 1866, making it highly publicized.
This incident "is an important example of the struggle over the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act and the escalating tension between the North and the South. This act gave slave owners broad powers to recapture runaway slaves". (ExplorePAhistory.com)
Polaroid photos of chair before re-upholstery, in file.
Likely Lancaster or Chester Co.
Provenance
Provenance: Chair owned by the Pownall family & given in 1973 to the Lancaster County Historical Society by Mrs. Levi Pownall of Lancashire Hall (569-7279).
It was initially loaned to the Heritage Center (# L.77.9 and # 161.64.80) but soon donated to HCLC. Board minutes of Dec. 8, 1975 include Richard F. Smith's Museum Committee report noting a donation of a "Sheraton armed wing chair commode, used by the Pownall home in nursing Dickinson Gorsuch following Christiana Riot in 1851." Later unsigned note (Bruce Shoemaker?) states John Aungst of LCHS was consulted & chair was removed 11/9/84 from list on LCHS loan form, settling an apparent question of ownership.
Insert 1 Land draft, for land sold by Jacob Eshleman to Levi Pownall. [Should include site of William Parker's house.] 23 March 1803.
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.)
Admin/Biographical History
The Christiana Resistance, commonly referred to as the "Christiana Riot" occurred in September of 1851 in Christiana, Pennsylvania, a borough in Lancaster County. The events known as the Christiana Resistance include an attack from slaveholders in Maryland on the inhabitants and home of William Parker a free black man living in Christiana, Pennsylvania. The slaveholders crossed the state border, and attempted claim and return the freedom seekers as their property, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
The violent confrontation resulted in the death of Edward Gorsuch, a slaveholder, and the escape of William Parker to freedom in Canada. Edward's son, Dickinson Gorsuch, was wounded and taken to the farm of Levi Pownall, where the Pownall family nursed him back to health. Historically, this event challenged the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and is considered a precursor to the Civil War.
System of Arrangement
Series 1 Manuscript and Printed Material, 1803-1955
The digital images of the manuscript and printed material are 300 dpi JPGs; the photographs are 600 dpi JPGs.
Object Name
Deed
Draft
Container
Moores Memorial Library Series 1 Folder 1, Insert 1 Land Draft Land draft, for land sold by Jacob Eshleman to Levi Pownall. [Should include site of William Parker's house.] 23 March 1803 Moores Memorial Library Series 1 Folder 1, Insert 2 Deed Deed. Jacob Eshleman of Strasburg Township to Levi Pownall of Sadsbury Township. 204 acres and the allowance for roads. (Original housed in oversized box.) 2 April 1803
Language
English
Object ID
Christiana S01 F01
Location of Originals
Moores Memorial Library
9 West Slokom Avenue
Christiana, PA 17509
chrlib@christianalibrary.org
610-593-6683 or 610-593-6687
Related Item Notes
Christiana Resistance Collection (CHRISTIANA RESISTANCE) https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/1287a022-e430-4f3f-bc97-330571018105
Access Conditions / Restrictions
The attached images have been provided for research. The original items are restricted for preservation purposes.
Copyright
The attached images may be used for research purposes only.
Please contact Moores Memorial Library for a high resolution image and permission to publish:
Moores Memorial Library
9 West Slokom Avenue
Christiana, PA 17509
chrlib@christianalibrary.org
610-593-6683 or 610-593-6687
Credit
Christiana Resistance Collection, Series 1, Folder 1, Moores Memorial Library
Classification
CHRISTIANA RESISTANCE
Christiana S01 F01
Description Level
Folder
Custodial History
Moores Memorial Library (Christiana, Pa.) owns some of the most significant manuscript material relating to the Christiana Resistance. The staff of Moores Memorial Library, part of the Library System of Lancaster County, and the Lancaster County Historical Society worked together to arrange and preserve the collection and create a finding aid to make the materials accessible to the public.
The collection contains correspondence to and from the Pownall family regarding the incident, notes regarding kidnappings in the area from 1850-1851, photocopied pages of Dickinson Gorsuch's diary, and published accounts. An 1896 photograph shows Peter Woods and Samuel Hopkins, survivors of the riot. There are also photographs of the Christiana Riot House, the Pownall farm, and key figures in the riot and at the Treason Trials of 1851.
The staff of Moores Memorial Library, part of the Library System of Lancaster County, and the Lancaster County Historical Society worked together to arrange and preserve the collection and create a finding aid to make the materials accessible to the public. Funds for this project were provided by the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) in 2001.
Journal of the Senate of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, : which commenced at Lancaster, the third day of December, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and five, and of the independence of the United States of America the thirtieth. : Volume XVI
Journal of the session which began Dec. 3, 1805 and concluded Mar. 31, 1806.
Jasper Yeates's Colonial Law Library.
Signature of Yeates at top of title page.
Book number 28 as assigned by Yeates.
"Appointments made by the governor of Pennsylvania, since March seventeenth, one thousand eight hundred, (the date of the last report of the secretary of the commonwealth, to the legislature) with the dates of their commissions, and the names of their sureties ..."--Page 423-461.
"Expiration of the appointments of the members of Senate."--Page 478.
Report of a committee 21 pages printed by William Hamilton.
Shaw & Shoemaker
Full tooled leather binding with maroon title on spine.
Journal of the first session of the tenth House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, : which commenced at Lancaster, on Tuesday, the third day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, and of the Commonwealth the twenty-fourth
"Appendix. Receipts and expenditures in the Treasury of Pennsylvania, from the first of January to the thirty-first of December, 1799, both days inclusive."--Page 59, [1] p. at end, with separate title page.
"Report of the register-general of the state of Pennsylvania for the year 1799"--18 p. at end, with separate title page.
Journal of the seventeenth House of Representatives of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, : commenced at Lancaster, on Tuesday, the second day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and six, and of the commonwealth the thirty-first
Journal of the session which began Dec. 2, 1806 and concluded Apr. 13, 1807.
Error in paging: p. 496 misnumbered 474.
Last page blank.
Signature of Yeates at top of title page.
Jasper Yeates's Colonial Law Library.
Book number 28 as assigned by Yeates
"Index to the Journal of the seventeenth House of Representatives of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Lancaster: Printed by William Hamilton, West King-Street. 1807"--Xxxix p., 2nd count. With separate title page.
Journal of the Senate of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, : which commenced at Lancaster, the third day of December, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and five, and of the independence of the United States of America the thirtieth. : Volume XVI
Journal of the session which began Dec. 3, 1805 and concluded Mar. 31, 1806.
"Appointments made by the governor of Pennsylvania, since March seventeenth, one thousand eight hundred, (the date of the last report of the secretary of the commonwealth, to the legislature) with the dates of their commissions, and the names of their sureties ..."--p. 423-461.
"Expiration of the appointments of the members of Senate."--p. 478.
Copy 1 "Jacob Weaver 1827" and Copy 2 inscribed "Amos Slaymaker" on cover.
Journal of the first session of the thirteenth House of Representatives of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania : which commenced at Lancaster, on Tuesday, the seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and two
Journal of the eighteenth House of Representatives of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, : commenced at Lancaster, on Tuesday, the first day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seven, and of the commonwealth the thirty-second
Vol. 1 contains the proceedings from the start of the session on Dec. 1, 1807 through Jan. 28, 1808; v. 2 contains the proceedings from Jan. 29, 1808 through Mar. 28, 1808.
Title of v. 2 varies, with addition of "Vol. II."
Imprint of v. 2 varies: Lancaster, Printed by Benjamin Grimler--1808.
Vol. 1: 442 p.; v. 2: 455, [1], 16, 40 p.
Errors in paging: v. 1, p. 10, 211 misnumbered 01, 111; v. 2, p. 203 misnumbered 103.
"In the House of Representatives, Saturday, March 26th, 1808. Resolved, that the clerk of the House of Representatives insert at the end of the Journal of this session, the titles of all petitions, reports, bills and resolutions, that have, or may be acted upon and left unfinished ..."--V. 2, 16 p., 2nd count.
"Index to the Journal of the eighteenth House of Representatives of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Lancaster, Printed by Benjamin Grimler. 1808"--V. 2, 40 p., 3rd count. With separate title page.
Jasper Yeastes's Colonial Law Library.
Signature of Yeates at top of title page of volume 1.
Book number 29 as assigned by Yeates.
Shaw & Shoemaker
Full leather binding with maroon spine title.with Yeates 157 above title.
Laws of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania: : from the sixth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and three, to the third day of April, one thousand eight hundred and four. : Published, under the authority of the legislature, by Thomas M'Kean Thompson. : Vol. VI
Added title page (p. [1]): Acts of the General Assembly of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania: passed at a session, which was begun and held at the borough of Lancaster, on the sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and three and of the independence of the United States of America the twenty-eighth. Published by authority. Octoraro: Printed by Francis Bailey. 1804.
"Secretary's-Office, Lancaster, June 29, 1804. I certify, that ... the laws comprised in this volume, and passed during one session of the legislature, commencing on the sixth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and three ... have been collated with and corrected by the original rolls. T.M. Thompson, secretary of the commonwealth."--Title page verso.
"Table of private acts."--Page [iii]-iv, 1st count.
v. 1. The cases from the beginning of Easter term, 1802 to the end of Easter term, 1804 -- v. 2. The cases from the beginning of Trinity term, 1804 to the period of Lord Redesdale's resignation of the Great Seal [i.e. 1807].
