Christiana Resistance trial

After Edward Gorsuch was killed Sept. 11, 1851, when he came to Christiana to retrieve some escaped slaves, Lancaster police, federal marshals and U.S. Marines descended on the area to search for those involved.

In all, 141 people were arrested and had a preliminary hearing Sept. 23 at the courthouse in Lancaster Square. Lancaster abolitionist and Congressman Thaddeus Stevens was among the attorneys for the defendants.

At the preliminary hearing, charges were dismissed against all of the women and some of the men, leaving 38 charged with treason, the most ever accused of that crime in U.S. history. Those accused included Castner Hanway, who had initially urged Gorsuch’s posse to leave the house where it had come to find the escaped slaves.

Hanway, as the first white man to arrive on the scene, was assumed to be the leader and was thus the first person to be tried.

The trial, held that December in Philadelphia on the second floor of Independence Hall, drew national attention. The government’s case fell apart when the judge told the jury he didn’t think there was treason since there was no proof of a conspiracy to resist the law.

The trial ended when the jury returned a “not guilty” verdict for Hanway after deliberating for 15 minutes. After that decision, the charges against all the other defendants were dropped.

Early industrial center

Christiana began because of the industries that flourished around the railroad stop that opened in 1834. It continued to grow through the end of the 19th century as population grew and business activity increased.

In the 1880s, Christiana had 800 residents — about 300 fewer than today — as well as a newly chartered bank and one of the most active business communities in Lancaster.

At the time, Christiana had four general stores, one hardware store, one grocery, three hatmakers, two drug stores, two pharmacies, two restaurants, a bakery and three shoe shops. There was also one tailor, one barber, two tin shops, two blacksmiths, an agriculture implement warehouse, three livery stables and a coal and lumber yard.

‘Ben Franklin of Lancaster County’

Christiana Andrew Jackson Melcher.jpg

A plaque outside Andrew Jackson Melcher's former home on Harrison Avenue. 

Inventive and entrepreneurial, Andrew Jackson Melcher was dubbed the “Ben Franklin of Lancaster County” in a 1976 history of Christiana.

Born in Philadelphia in 1859, Melcher established a printing business there before moving to Christiana in 1883 to help start the Christiana Ledger.

A couple of years later, Melcher noticed that his newspaper presses were releasing an abundance of excess steam. So he purchased a dynamo to convert steam to electricity and made the electricity available to private homes, as well as for street lights through his Christiana Electric Light Co.

Melcher also founded The Christiana Telephone Co. and The Christiana Steam Heat Co., which utilized excess steam from his printing press to heat neighboring homes. For that project, he got permission from borough officials to dig up streets to run steam lines.

In addition, Melcher operated a movie theater in Christiana, where he also served as a school director, bank director and justice of the peace. He was also a talented baseball pitcher. A plaque outside his former home on Harrison Avenue describes him as “one of the first people in the country to throw a ‘curved ball.’ ”

Melcher died in 1927 at age 68.

Town historian honored

Laverne D. "Bud" Rettew

Laverne D. "Bud" Rettew, shown here in July 2013, was the longtime borough manager of Christiana and had recently served as mayor. 

The official name of the Christiana municipal building is the LaVerne D. “Bud” Rettew Building, in honor of the longtime borough manager.

Rettew began working for the borough in 1967. In addition to serving as secretary and treasurer, Rettew spent 20-plus years as borough manager. In that capacity, he helped secure funding to create the current Moores Memorial Library in a former bank building.

Rettew also acted as the historian of Christiana, helping to edit a borough history book that was released in 1994 during a centennial celebration of the borough’s incorporation.

Rettew, who helped found the Christiana Historical Society, also wrote “Treason at Christiana,” a book on the Christiana Resistance.

Rettew died in May 2014, three years after Christiana’s municipal building was named for him.