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
Two months from the day I landed in Toronto, my wife arrived, but
without the children. She had had a very bad time. Twice they had her
in custody; and, a third time, her young master came after her, which
obliged her to flee before day, so that the children had to remain
behind for the time. I was so glad to see her that I forgot about the
children.
The day my wife came, I had nothing but the clothes on my back, and was
in debt for my board, without any work to depend upon. My situation was
truly distressing. I took the resolution, and went to a store where
I made known my circumstances to the proprietor, offering to work for
him to pay for some necessaries. He readily consented, and I supplied
myself with bedding, meal and flour. As I had selected a place before,
we went that evening about two miles into the country, and settled
ourselves for the winter.
When in Kingston, I had heard of the Buxton settlement, and of the
Revds. Dr. Willis and Mr. King, the agents. My informant, after stating
all the particulars, induced me to think it was a desirable place; and
having quite a little sum of money due to me in the States, I wrote for
it, and waited until May. It not being sent, I called upon Dr. Willis,
who treated me kindly. I proposed to settle in Elgin, if he would loan
means for the first instalment. He said he would see about it, and I
should call again. On my second visit, he agreed to assist me, and
proposed that I should get another man to go on a lot with me.
Abraham Johnson and I arranged to settle together, and, with Dr.
Willis’s letter to Mr. King on our behalf, I embarked with my family on
a schooner for the West. After five days’ sailing, we reached Windsor.
Not having the means to take us to Chatham, I called upon Henry Bibb,
and laid my case before him. He took us in, treated us with great
politeness, and afterwards took me with him to Detroit, where, after
an introduction to some friends, a purse of five dollars was made up.
I divided the money among my companions, and started them for Chatham,
but was obliged to stay at Windsor and Detroit two days longer.
While stopping at Windsor, I went again to Detroit, with two or three
friends, when, at one of the steamboats just landed, some officers
arrested three fugitives, on pretence of being horse thieves. I was
satisfied they were slaves, and said so, when Henry Bibb went to the
telegraph office and learned through a message that they were. In
the crowd and excitement, the sheriff threatened to imprison me for
my interference. I felt indignant, and told him to do so, whereupon
he opened the door. About this time there was more excitement, and
then a man slipped into the jail, unseen by the officers, opened the
gate, and the three prisoners went out, and made their escape to
Windsor. I stopped through that night in Detroit, and started the next
day for Chatham, where I found my family snugly provided for at a
boarding-house kept by Mr. Younge.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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