The Christiana Riot and the Treason Trials of 1851: An Historical SketchHensel, W. U. (William Uhler)
History
The Christiana Riot and the Treason Trials of 1851: An Historical Sketch
Hensel, W. U. (William Uhler)
Christiana (Pa.) -- History; Riots -- Pennsylvania -- Christiana
At Norristown we rested a day. The friends gave us ten dollars,
and sent us in a vehicle to Quakertown. Our driver, being partly
intoxicated, set us down at the wrong place, which obliged us to stay
out all night. At eleven o’clock the next day we got to Quakertown.
We had gone about six miles out of the way, and had to go directly
across the country. We rested the 16th, and set out in the evening for
Friendsville.
A friend piloted us some distance, and we travelled until we became
very tired, when we went to bed under a haystack. On the 17th, we took
breakfast at an inn. We passed a small village, and asked a man whom we
met with a dearborn, what would be his charge to Windgap. “One dollar
and fifty cents,” was the ready answer. So in we got, and rode to that
place.
As we wanted to make some inquiries when we struck the north and south
road, I went into the postoffice, and asked for a letter for John
Thomas, which of course I did not get. The postmaster scrutinized
us closely,--more so, indeed, than any one had done on the Blue
Mountains,--but informed us that Friendsville was between forty and
fifty miles away. After going about nine miles, we stopped in the
evening of the 18th at an inn, got supper, were politely served,
and had an excellent night’s rest. On the next day we set out for
Tannersville, hiring a conveyance for twenty-two miles of the way. We
had no further difficulty on the entire road to Rochester,--more than
five hundred miles by the route we travelled.
Some amusing incidents occurred, however, which it may be well to
relate in this connection. The next morning, after stopping at the
tavern, we took the cars and rode to Homerville, where, after waiting
an hour, as our landlord of the night previous had directed us, we
took stage. Being the first applicants for tickets, we secured inside
seats, and, from the number of us, we took up all of the places inside;
but, another traveller coming, I tendered him mine, and rode with the
driver. The passenger thanked me; but the driver, a churl, and the most
prejudiced person I ever came in contact with, would never wait after a
stop until I could get on, but would drive away, and leave me to swing,
climb, or cling on to the stage as best I could. Our traveller, at last
noticing his behavior, told him promptly not to be so fast, but let all
passengers get on, which had the effect to restrain him a little.
At Big Eddy we took the cars. Directly opposite me sat a gentleman,
who, on learning that I was for Rochester, said he was going there too,
and afterwards proved an agreeable travelling companion.
A newsboy came in with papers, some of which the passengers bought.
Upon opening them, they read of the fight at Christiana.
“O, see here!” said my neighbor; “great excitement at Christiana; a--a
statesman killed, and his son and nephew badly wounded.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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