William Parker and the 1851 Christiana (PA) Resistance

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1st Lieutenant
Joined
Aug 5, 2011
Location
SE PA
So this flowed past and I'd never heard the tale before....

Shortly before dawn on September 11, 1851, Gorsuch’s party arrived at the Parker house. They were met with William’s assertion that they would fight to the death before surrendering. When Gorsuch tried entering the home, Eliza repelled him by throwing a fishing spear his way. She then went to the window and blew a horn used to alert their neighbors of such trouble. Gorsuch’s party opened fire to stop her, but she kept up the alarm, encouraging all in the house to stand against recapture, no matter the cost. When one of the men in the Parker home suggested surrender, William replied, “Don’t believe that any living man can take you.”

Did some additional digging

The Christiana Resistance (sometimes unkindly called the Christiana Riot or Christiana Rebellion) is considered to have been a turning point in the North’s relationship to the South. The outcome was unheard of in those times: a white man was killed and his black attackers were freed in a subsequent jury trial.
 
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