When rumor had spread abroad the result of this sad affray, the neighborhood was appalled. The inhabitants of the farm houses and the villages around, unused to scenes of this kind, could not at first believe that it had occurred in their midst. Before midday, exaggerated accounts had reached Philadelphia, and were transmitted by telegraph through the country. The first information the public received, was that “the negroes had determined to prevent the arrest of the slaves; that about eighty of them, armed with guns, &c., had formed an ambush in the neighboring woods and cornfields, and that when the party arrived in search of the fugitives, they had surrounded them, and poured upon them a deadly fire, killing Mr. Gorsuch, _mortally_ wounding one of his sons, and badly wounding an officer from Baltimore.” These were given as “leading facts.” The next day’s news contained the information that the U. S. Marshal, the U. S. District Attorney, a special Commissioner from Washington city, a company of U. S. Marines, and fifty of the Marshal’s police, had gone to the scene of action from the city. It was also announced to be the intention of the U. S. Marshal to “_scour_ the neighborhood,” and that Judges Grier and Kane (of the U. S. Courts, before whom the case was afterwards tried,) had _decided_ the offence of the rioters to be treason against the U. S. Such statements as these naturally aroused the whole community, and it was not until a few days had developed the exact truth, that public excitement began to subside. Believing the published accounts of the transaction to be correct, a number of the citizens of Philadelphia addressed the following letter to the Chief Executive of the State, who happened then to be in the city, urging upon him prompt action, in what they considered an important crisis: _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.