Pennsylvania Quest for Freedom Lancaster County Guide Script Guide Script . 1–27 Introduction . 1–3 Christiana . 4–5 Stop No. 1: Site of Christiana Resistance . 6–7 Stop No. 2: Christiana Underground Railroad Center . 8–10 Stop No. 3: Mt. Zion AME Church . 11 Bird-in-Hand. 12 Stop No. 4: Bird-in-Hand Bake Shop. 13 Gibbons Farm . 14 Stop No. 5: Lampeter Friends Meeting House . 15 Lancaster. 15–17 Stop No. 6: Bethel AME Church. 18 Stop No. 7: Stevens/Smith Historic Site . 19 Stop No. 8: Thaddeus Stevens Gravesite . 20–21 Columbia . 21 Stop No. 9: Zion Hill Cemetery . 22 Stop No. 10: First National Bank Museum . 23–24 Stop No. 11: Wright’s Ferry Mansion . 25 Stop No. 12: Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge . 26–27 Resource and Source Materials . 28–29 Appendix . 30–44 This Quest for Freedom script was created by Terri R. Durden of Tribute at Freedom’s Crossing, Inc., with assistance from Cara O’Donnell and Darlene Colon. Local community experts also added information and research to aid in the completion of this project. Tribute at Freedom’s Crossing Terri Durden P.O. Box 1088 Lancaster, PA 17608-1088 717-481-7935 [email protected] PA Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau | QUEST FOR FREEDOM: LANCASTER COUNTY | 10/24/06 Pennsylvania Quest for Freedom Lancaster County Guide Script INTRODUCTION: To be delivered upon meeting the group or immediately following boarding of motorcoach. Good morning/afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I’d like to take a moment to welcome you to a Lancaster County you may have never seen before. Most of you are probably already familiar with the peaceful countryside of Lancaster County. We’re known for our Amish community — the oldest in the United States — as well as for our rolling hillsides, quiet country lanes, handmade crafts, and sense of history and tradition. Pennsylvania was, after all, founded by an English Quaker, William Penn, as a colony of people of different religions who were suffering persecution in Europe. Among the many religious groups who sought freedom by braving the dangerous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean were Mennonites and Amish. But what many of you may not know about the history of Lancaster County is its prominent place in the story of the Underground Railroad. Today, I’m going to lead you on a journey that will take us along the back roads where the activity of the Underground Railroad took place. The Underground Railroad in U.S. history was neither “underground” nor a “railroad,” but was a loosely organized network of aid and assistance for helping fugitive slaves escape to areas of safety in free states. The escaped slaves were called passengers, the homes and other facilities where they were sheltered were called stations, and the persons providing aid and assistance to the fugitive slaves were conductors. PA Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau | QUEST FOR FREEDOM: LANCASTER COUNTY | 10/24/06 | 1 During our journey today, we’ll: • Give you a general overview of Lancaster County’s Underground Railroad. • We’ll discuss the role of abolitionism in our area. • And we’ll explore escape routes used by the enslaved and meet the many fascinating people and places associated with the Underground Railroad. NOTE: You may want to edit the following few paragraphs if your particular tour does not plan to visit the entire Quest for Freedom trail in Lancaster County. We’ll visit the roads surrounding the Christiana Resistance — which some later called the very first shots of the Civil War. We’ll meet some Quaker abolitionists who helped these freedom seekers in towns now more well-known for their Amish communities. We’ll travel through the city of Lancaster, America’s largest early inland city and a very important place for free Blacks and for those still in search of their freedom. And we’ll venture to Columbia, a gateway of sorts for Underground Railroad activity. Positioned along the Susquehanna River north of the Mason-Dixon Line, Columbia was one of the very first places where the enslaved could believe that they had achieved their quest for freedom. Today we’ll be traveling along the paths and routes the enslaved took to freedom. You’ll be drawn back to a time rich in history, filled with lessons that you can carry away with you. Get an emotional feel of what it was like under the quilt of night, being hunted by slave-catchers and their bloodhounds. You can only imagine what it may have been like being on the run... almost free, then being caught and taken back into bondage, only to flee again! PA Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau | QUEST FOR FREEDOM: LANCASTER COUNTY | 10/24/06 | 2 Imagine what it must have felt like to be whipped, to have your back checkered, then to have salt or pepper poured into the open wounds. We want to leave an indelible impression on the minds of each and every one that is willing to venture into the unknown. We want to give you a more complete history of Lancaster County, to carry away with you the rich stories of this land. We want you to leave more knowledgeable than when you arrived. And to educate and empower you through past events that took place right here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. En route to Christiana Most of you are probably aware of the general timeline of the Civil War and the Underground Railroad activity that took place during that time. But, can any of you tell me when the anti-slavery movement and the Underground Railroad began in Lancaster County? We’ll start our journey by giving you a brief history of the events surrounding this area — a timeline of facts starting in: 1775: The Pennsylvania Abolitionist Society is established to protect fugitives and free Blacks unlawfully held in bondage. 1780: March 1st, Pennsylvania passes the gradual Abolition Act [children born after March 1st, 1780, to be indentured until the age of twenty-eight]. 1790: The census reflects 545 free Blacks and 348 enslaved Blacks in Lancaster County. 1817: About 50 persons of color meet on June 10th in Lancaster at the house of James Clendenin to discuss the establishment of a separate black congregation. 1820: Select and common councils of Lancaster pass ordinance on May 13th requiring “every free person of color” to register with the mayor’s office. PA Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau | QUEST FOR FREEDOM: LANCASTER COUNTY | 10/24/06 | 3 Nearing Christiana We’re getting close now to where our story begins — the village of Christiana. The village is very charming and quaint with big, old Victorian houses in the center of town. But just outside the town itself — in an overgrown field along a creek — stands a historic marker identifying the location of the “Christiana Resistance” — which some call the beginning of the Civil War. This single event secured Lancaster County’s place as a hotbed of Underground Railroad activity. To understand what happened at Christiana, you need to know a little more about the two men who emerged as the main characters. Edward Gorsuch First, we have Edward Gorsuch, a Maryland slave owner and wealthy owner of several thousand acres of land in what is now Baltimore. Edward Gorsuch, a church-going man, was known in his community as “class leader.” Gorsuch was said to have given some of his slaves their freedom, once they had served him for 28 years. After they were given their freedom they were paid wages to stay on and work for their master; they still had their cabins, just the same as in the slavery days. They could go if they wanted to, but some chose to stay on and work for the wages. NOTE: Pose a few questions to the visitors at this point. (Sample questions below.) • Why do you think the slaves would choose to stay on with their master once freed? • Do you think it was because they were so comfortable and happy? • Was it due to familiarity or was it that they were scared of the unknown? William Parker Our other leading man, so to speak, is William Parker. Will Parker was born into slavery on a plantation in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He ran off from the plantation as a teenager with his brother and eventually the pair headed north and crossed into Lancaster County into freedom. PA Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau | QUEST FOR FREEDOM: LANCASTER COUNTY | 10/24/06 | 4 William Parker, continued He was known as a “fighting buck” and a defender of the rights of Blacks. Legend even tells that he once stood on the courthouse steps with an escaped slave in one arm while fending off two slave catchers with the other arm. Parker rented a home in Christiana and became a leader of sorts. He always considered himself equal to whites, and so he naturally concluded that enslaved Blacks were greatly wronged. As a result, Parker became well-known for his assistance to those who were traveling along the Underground Railroad. NOTE: Notice the similarities between Parker and Gorsuch — that both men were “class leaders” in their communities. The Christiana Resistance Now that you’ve met the characters that start our story, let’s delve into why this tiny village of Christiana is so crucial to the story of the Underground Railroad and the Civil War in general. It was December of 1849 when Edward Gorsuch, the slave owner from Maryland, discovered that four of his slaves had run off. Gorsuch set out to recapture what the law considered his “property” — along the way enlisting the help of a group of slave catchers.