To the Governor of Pennsylvania:
The undersigned, citizens of Pennsylvania, respectfully represent:
That citizens of a neighboring State have been cruelly assassinated by a band of armed outlaws, at a place not more than three hours’ journey distant from the seat of government and from the commercial metropolis of the State.
That this insurrectionary movement, in one of the most populous parts of the State, has been so far successful as to overawe the local ministers of justice, and paralyze the powers of the law.
That your memorialists are not aware that “any military force” has been sent to the seat of the insurrection, or that the civil authority has been strengthened by the adoption of any measure suited to the momentous crisis.
They, therefore, respectfully request the chief executive magistrate of Pennsylvania to take into consideration the necessity of vindicating the outraged laws, and sustaining the dignity of the Commonwealth on this important and melancholy occasion.
John Cadwalader, R. Simpson, John Swift, Thomas McGrath, S. R. Carnahan, Samuel Hays, Geo. H. Martin, A. L. Roumfort, W. Deal, John W. Forney, Isaac Leech, Jr., C. Ingersoll, James Page, Harry Connelly, Frederick McAdams.
John Cadwalader, R. Simpson, John Swift, Thomas McGrath, S. R. Carnahan, Samuel Hays, Geo. H. Martin, A. L. Roumfort, W. Deal, John W. Forney, Isaac Leech, Jr., C. Ingersoll, James Page, Harry Connelly, Frederick McAdams.
The Governor, who, as far as was in his power, had apprized himself of the facts of the case, and had taken the measures which devolved upon him by reason of his office, replied immediately. He knew the danger of inflaming the public mind upon a subject which was then exciting the whole Union. The law had prescribed the proper officers to act in every emergency, and he knew they were upon the alert, with their police force strengthened for the occasion. Whatever might have been the motive for addressing the Governor, the following letter was a full and sufficient answer.
Philadelphia, Sept. 14, 1851.
To Messrs. John Cadwalader, A. L. Roumfort, Jas. Page, C. Ingersoll, Isaac Leech, Jr., R. Simpson, W. Deal, George H. Martin, Samuel Hays, S. R. Carnahan, Thos. McGrath, John Swift, Frederick McAdams:
Gentlemen—Your letter, without date, was this afternoon put into my hands by one of the servants of the hotel. The anxiety which you manifested to maintain the laws of the land and the public peace, is fully appreciated, and I have great pleasure in informing you that, more than twenty-four hours before the receipt of your letter, the parties implicated had been, through the vigilance and decision of the local authorities, arrested, and are now in prison, awaiting an inquiry into their imputed guilt. The District Attorney and Sheriff of Lancaster county, acting in concert with the Attorney-General of the State, deserve especial thanks for their prompt and energetic conduct. This was all done early on Saturday morning, and duly reported to me by the local officers.
The testimony taken by the U. S. Commissioner, who arrived at a later period on the ground, a printed copy of which has accidentally reached me this afternoon, confirms me in the belief that the State authorities had vindicated the law, and, to a large extent, arrested the perpetrators of the crimes.
The cruel murder of a citizen of a neighboring State, accompanied by a gross outrage on the laws of the United States, in the resistance of its processes, has been committed; and you may be assured that so soon as the guilty agents are ascertained, they will be punished to its severest penalty by the law of Pennsylvania. I am very proud that the first steps to detect and arrest these offenders have been taken by Pennsylvania officers.
Permit me, gentlemen, having thus removed all just cause of anxiety from your minds, respectfully to suggest that the idea of rebellion, or “insurrectionary movement” in the county of Lancaster, or anywhere else in this Commonwealth, has no real foundation, and is an offensive imputation on a large body of our fellow citizens. There is no insurrectionary movement in Lancaster county, and there would be no occasion to march a military force there, as you seem to desire, and inflame the public mind by any such strange exaggeration. I do not wish our brethren of the Union to think that, in any part of this State, resistance to the law goes undetected or unpunished, or that there exists such a sentiment as treason to the Union and the constitution. The alleged murderers of Mr. Gorsuch, whose crime is deep enough without exaggerating it, have been arrested, and will be tried, and they and their abettors be made to answer for what they have done in contravention of the law. But in the meantime, let me invite your co-operation, as citizens of Pennsylvania, not only to see that the law is enforced, but to add to the confidence which we all feel in the judicial tribunals of the land, by abstaining from undue violence of language, and letting the law take its course. Depend upon it, gentlemen, there is in Lancaster county a sense of duty to the laws of the land, manifested in the easy and prompt arrest of these offenders, which will on all occasions show itself in practical obedience.
The people of that county are men of peace and good order, and not easily led aside from the path of duty which the Constitution prescribes. They, and every Pennsylvanian, love the Constitution and the Union. They will detect, as they have done in this case, and arrest and punish all who violate the laws of the land. There is no warrant, depend upon it, for representing the men of Lancaster county as traitors, and participants in an “insurrectionary movement.” You do them, unintentionally I have no doubt, great injustice.
I am deeply indebted to you for affording me this opportunity of expressing my views. But for your communication I might not have been able to do so. You, and my fellow-citizens at large, may be assured of my firm determination, at all hazards, and under all circumstances, to maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and enforce obedience to the laws alike of the United States and of this Commonwealth.
In order that I may be sure that my answer may reach its destination, (your letter having but accidentally come to my hands,) I have requested Mr. White to put it in the hands of Mr. John Cadwalader, whose signature, I observe, is first.
I am, with great respect,
Your obedient servant,
Wm. F. Johnston.
The Governor, however, had been misinformed, and was wrong in stating that the murderers of Edward Gorsuch had been arrested. Every man who was in Parker’s house, including Parker himself, escaped. As was afterwards proven, not one of the guilty parties was secured. So soon as this was ascertained the following proclamation was issued:
PROCLAMATION.
In and by the authority of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I, William F. Johnston, Governor of said Commonwealth, do hereby issue this
PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, it has been represented to me that a flagrant violation of the public peace has occurred in Lancaster county, involving the murder of Edward Gorsuch, and seriously endangering the lives of other persons; and whereas, it has also been represented to me that some of the participants in this outrage are yet at large; now, therefore, by virtue of the authority in me vested by the Constitution and laws, I, William F. Johnston, Governor of Pennsylvania, do hereby offer a reward of ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons guilty of the murder and violation of the public peace as aforesaid.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the great seal of the State, this fifteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
Attest, A. L. Russell,
Secretary of the Commonwealth.
For days after the melancholy tragedy, the vicinity of Christiana was in possession of police officers of different classes and grades. Many of them displayed their vigilance and valor in a way that rendered them ridiculous in the eyes of all, except of those who were the objects of their zeal. Passing by a number of outrages, perpetrated, in the name of justice, by men who were clothed with a little authority, and who delighted in terrifying helpless women and inoffensive children, we have to speak only of those arrests which were made seriously and in good faith, and to tell, so far as there are any records in existence, how the authorities arrested, by wholesale, men who afterwards were found to have been miles from the scene of action.
On the day of the affray it seems that no action was taken at Christiana for the arrest of any parties. All was confusion. The next morning (the 12th of Sept.) Kline went before Joseph D. Pownall, Justice of the Peace of Lancaster County, for the township of Sadsbury, and on oath charged Elijah Lewis, Castner Hanway, John Morgan, Henry Simms, Charles Valentine, Lewis Clarkson, Charles Hunter, Lewis Gales, George Williams, Alson Parnsley, Light Stewart, Hezekiah Clemens, George Wells, Walter Harris, Abraham Clinch, Nelson Carter and Jacob Phillips, with “aiding and abetting in the murder of Edward Gorsuch on the morning of the 11th September, 1851,” and warrants were issued for their arrest. As soon as Lewis and Hanway heard of this, they went over to Christiana and surrendered themselves to the authorities. They and the colored men were carried to Lancaster that night, to await a further hearing before Alderman J. Franklin Reigart, of the city of Lancaster.