William Parker (1821 – April 14, 1891) was an American former slave who escaped from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, where he became an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

and anti-slavery activist in Christiana. He was a farmer and led a black self-defense organization. He was notable as a principal figure in the Christiana incident (or riot), 1851, also known as the Christiana Resistance. Edward Gorsuch, a Maryland slaveowner who owned four slaves who had fled over the state border to Parker's farm, was killed and other white men in the party to capture the fugitives were wounded. The events brought national attention to the challenges of enforcing the

Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern interests in slavery and Northern Free-Soilers. The Act was one of the most cont ...

. Upon Gorsuch's death, Parker fled the area, traveling by the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, where he met with

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

. Douglass arranged for Parker and his party to take a ferry across the Niagara River to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, where they gained freedom. Settling in

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.North Star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude tha ...

'' newspaper. Forty-one men were indicted in the Christiana case, mostly on charges of treason for trying to thwart the Fugitive Slave Law. A white man, Hanway, was tried in the

US District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

in Philadelphia, Judge

John K. Kane John Kintzing Kane (May 16, 1795 – February 21, 1858) was an American lawyer who served as the 21st Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1845 to 1846 and a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States Distri ...

presiding. After he was acquitted by the jury in 15 minutes, the US Attorney's office decided against trying others. Frederick Douglass in his autobiography discusses several incidents of resistance to the Fugitive Slave Law. He ranked the events at Christiana that, "more than all else, destroyed the fugitive slave law".Frederick Douglass, ''The Essential Frederick Douglass'', Wilder Publications, 2008, p. 434. Ten years before the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, the events in Christiana generated the following headlines, "Civil War, The First Blow Struck", foreshadowing events to come and highlighting the historical significance of the event. William Parker became renowned for his activism against

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, and his bravery in the protection of his and other blacks'

civil and political rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

. He assisted many runaway slaves and was one of many people in the area involved in the Underground Railroad. His boldness and leadership in the resistance at his house in Christiana inspired people in the neighborhood. For years the events of the resistance there had been largely attributed to the leadership of white

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

. But accounts reported they were there in support of their black neighbors and were not openly engaged in the resistance.

Early life

William Parker was born into slavery on Roedown Plantation in

Anne Arundel County, Maryland Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, wh ...

, to Louisa Simms, an enslaved woman. His father was likely a white man, as Parker was of

mixed race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

. His mother died when Parker was very young. In his memoir and slave narrative, ''The Freedman's Story'', Parker later wrote that he learned how to fight as a young boy to gain a spot by the warmth of the fire. He dreamed of being free, especially to avoid the regular sale and separation of family members and loved ones. Parker likened the experience of such sales to death and a funeral, as loved ones were usually never seen again. He was approximately seventeen when he ran away to seek his freedom.

Freedom

Parker eventually reached the free state of Pennsylvania, where he settled in Christiana in Lancaster County. He met and married Eliza Ann Elizabeth Howard.

Abolitionist and self defense

After being inspired by speeches by

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was a prominent American Christian, abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. He is best known for his widely read antislavery newspaper '' The Liberator'', which he foun ...

and

, Parker encouraged the formation of a mutual protection society of members from the black community. Christiana was not far from the Maryland border. Slave catchers, including the infamous Gap Gang (see Gap, Pennsylvania), came into the area seeking fugitive slaves to return to their slaveholders. They were paid lucrative bounties for their services; they also often kidnapped free blacks to sell into slavery, as demand was so high for slaves in the Deep South that slave catchers were willing to take the risk. Parker and other members of the mutual protection society used force to prevent the recapture of blacks in the area. They developed an intelligence network to send alerts so that their neighbors would know when slave catchers were about; they would quickly spring into action to retrieve any captives before they could be taken back across state lines. If the laws of the country would not protect them, their family, friends and neighbors, then they would protect themselves.

Christiana Resistance (earlier known as the Christiana Riot)

On September 11, 1851, Edward Gorsuch, a slaveholder from Maryland, came bearing a warrant to recover his slaves. Gorsuch had information that his slaves were at Parker's farmhouse. Parker had received intelligence that Gorsuch and a federal marshal and others were on their way to his farmhouse, so when Gorsuch arrived, Parker and his fellow defenders were prepared. Eliza, Parker's wife, sounded a horn alerting neighbors that slave catchers were out and that help was needed. Both sides were resolute in their determination to prevail: Parker convinced of the immorality of slavery, and Gorsuch confident in the law and his right to own slaves. There are conflicting stories of why and how the shooting started, but it resulted in the death of Gorsuch and severe wounding of his son Dickinson. William Parker went into hiding that evening. Using connections on the

to evade federal arrest, he made his way to

. Noted abolitionist and leader

assisted his passage into Canada by ferry across the Niagara River. He, his wife Eliza, and their three children eventually settled in a black community in Buxton, Ontario, where they purchased a lot of land. They had more children in Canada. A federal grand jury indicted 41 men in the events (including Parker ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in ab ...

''). Believing that a former slave was not the leader, they first tried Castner Hanway, a white neighbor of Parker. He was acquitted by the jury after 15 minutes of deliberation. The

Christiana Resistance The Christiana Riot, also known as Christiana Resistance, Christiana Tragedy, or Christiana incident, was the successful armed resistance by free Blacks and escaped slaves to a raid led by a federal marshal to recover four escaped slaves owned by ...

was a major sore point for slavery proponents in the years leading up to the Civil War.

Life in Canada

Parker continued his activism against slavery from his new home in Canada. He turned his attention to acquiring new skills in the fight to gain freedom and improve the race. He attended school in Buxton to become literate. Shortly thereafter he became the Kent County correspondent for the ''North Star'', Frederick Douglass's newspaper published in

. It promoted freedom, and the intellectual and moral improvement of blacks. Parker was also elected to and wrote many communications for the Court of Arbitration (the governing body of the Buxton settlement, a self-governed community). He was elected to the Raleigh Township Council from Buxton, and was repeatedly re-elected by both white and black voters.

Legacy and honors

* The Christiana Historical Society installed a plaque in Parker's honor at the memorial to the Resistance in Christiana. * Buried with Masonic honors following his death on April 14, 1891, at the age of 70 (Kenton, OH)

In popular culture

*2009, Warren Oree's jazz opera, ''Never Back Down,'' is based on the Christiana Resistance; it premiered at

Cliveden House Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern H ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. It was supported by a grant from the Quest for Freedom program, which promoted the city's

history.Shaun Brady, "Oree's 'Never Back Down' jazz opera explores 1851 Christiana riot"
''The Inquirer'', April 28, 2011, accessed March 2, 2014 *Actress

Zooey Deschanel Zooey Claire Deschanel (; born January 17, 1980) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She made her film debut in '' Mumford'' (1999) and had a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film '' Almost Famous'' (2000). Deschanel is known for h ...

is the descendant of Quaker abolitionists Sarah and Levi Pownall, who owned the land on which the Christiana Resistance occurred. They both housed the wounded Dickinson Gorsuch after the confrontation and aided William Parker in his escape. "Who Do You Think You Are - Zooey Deschanel"
/ref>

References

Bibliography

*W. U. Hensel

(tarlton.law.utexas.edu)] *William Parker, "The Freedman's Story - Parts I & II", ''Atlantic Monthly'', Vol. XVII, March/February 1866 *Jonathan edKatz, ''Resistance at Christiana: The Fugitive Slave Rebellion'', Crowell, 1974 *Thomas P. Slaughter, ''Bloody Dawn - The Christiana Riot and Racial Violence in the Antebellum North'', Oxford University Press, 1991
William Parker and His Impact on the Christiana Resistance
(millersville.edu) *John Gartrell

(msa.md.gov/msa/mdslavery) *Victor Ullman, ''Look to the North Star - A Life of William King'', Toronto: Umbrella Press, 1969 *Frederick Douglass, ''The Essential Frederick Douglass'', Wilder Publications, 2008 *Forbes, David, ''A True Story of the Christiana Riot'', The Sun Printing House, 1898 *Whitson, Thomas, "William Parker, The Hero of the Christiana Riot", ''Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society'', Vol. 1, No. 1 *Gwendolyn Robinson and John W. Robinson, ''Seek the Truth - A Story of Chatham's Black Community'', 1989 *Bryan Prince, ''I Came as a Stranger - The Underground Railroad'', Tundra Books, 2004

External links

Christiana Underground Railroad Center at Historic Zercher's Hotel

* ttp://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/resources/hcmc-975-04-012 William Parker scrapbooka
Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, William Underground Railroad people African-American abolitionists People from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania 19th-century American slaves 1821 births 1891 deaths People from Anne Arundel County, Maryland People who wrote slave narratives