The Mayor's Court was established at the incorporation of the City of Lancaster in 1818, and was composed of the mayor, recorder, and aldermen with powers and jurisdiction analogous to the Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer, and Jail Delivery. It was abolished on 6 February 1849.
System of Arrangement
Organized by court term.
Arranged with general materials first, then constables reports, tavern licenses, un-numbered cases, and numbered cases.
Marriage applications completed by the bride and groom contain the names, ages, places of birth, current residences, occupation of groom, if either party had been married before and the results of that union, signatures of applicants, if African-American, and degree of kinship, if any. Parental consent forms, filed with marriage applications, were completed by parent or guardian of under-age applicants and contain the name of parent or guardian, place of current residence, residence of child or ward, and signature of parent or guardian. Files may contain both an application and consent form or forms, an application, or a consent form or forms.
System of Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by year and then by application number within that year. Box 2 has additional files for 1895 that were not able to be included in Box 1.
Coroners' Inquests are inquests conducted by six men, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, into the cause of a person's death. Inquests include: municipality; name of coroner; signatures of the six jurors; name of decedent; date of inquest; reason for death; name of coroner's physician, and names of witnesses to the inquest. Handwritten on printed form.
Record of financial contributions for local expenses for the 1911 "Commemoration of the Christiana Riot and the Treason Trials of 1851."
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
Record, Bookkeeping
Container
Moores Memorial Library Series 01 Folder 11 Record of financial contributions Record of financial contributions for local expenses for the 1911 "Commemoration of the Christiana Riot and the Treason Trials of 1851." 1911
Language
English
Object ID
Christiana S01 F11
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 reolution 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 11, Moores Memorial Library
Classification
CHRISTIANA RESISTANCE
Christiana S01 F11
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.
Court martial records of the Pennsylvania Militia from the War of 1812. Docket book entries include charges, pleadings, witness accounts, court minutes, and judgments. Summons papers include defendant's name, name of commanding officer, appearance date, and amount of fine.
System of Arrangement
Arranged by regiment and company, then numerically by case number.
A writ of habeas corpus is a procedure for obtaining a judicial determination of the legality of an individual's custody. This collection includes petitions for writs of habeas corpus and the writs themselves, showing the names of petitioners, persons to be brought to court, nature of dispute or alleged crime, dates of writs and accompanying documents, names of judges, and names of persons that the writs are filed against. Petitioners include indentured servants, Freedom Seekers, free persons of color, convicted prisoners, those awaiting trial, relatives of prisoners, parties in child custody disputes, and relatives of army recruits and draftees. Handwritten, handwritten on printed forms, and a very few typewritten.
Petitions from landowners to the Court of Common Pleas requesting an order to the sheriff to issue deeds for property purchased at the previous sheriff's land sales. Petitions show names of petitioner, former owner, and former sheriff; signature of petitioner; a brief description of the property; location; purchase price; and date. Arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by purchaser's name. Most are handwritten on printed forms.
System of Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by purchaser's name.
This record group contains canceled orders that were issued by the county commissioners for payment to be made by the county treasurer. The orders show date, order number, amount, name of payee, purpose, and signatures of the county commissioners. In the case of "poor children," teachers were reimbursed by the county for tuition and/or the supplies purchased for students whose parents were unable to pay. Orders include: Poor Children, Almshouse, Bridges, Coroners' Inquests, Prisons, Roads, Court House, and Tax Exonerations.
System of Arrangement
The record group is organized chronologically, then arranged by order number within each year.
