Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Isaac Castner HANWAY
Hanway was the first to be tried of 41 men indicted for treason at Christiana, Pennsylvania, in resisting the recovery by the Marylander Edward Gorsuch [who arrived fortified by a warrant, friends, and arms] of his runaway slave. Some of the slave's friends, also black, arrived at the scene, ready to fight, along with Hanway and another white man. "When Deputy Marshal Kline tried to deputize these two men, they refused and instead urged the outnumbered Gorsuch party to leave.
This warning was ignored, and a skirmish soon ensued. When it was over Gorsuch was dead, his son was severely wounded, and other members of the party had either been hurt or fled the area...The Christiana riot was the most violent episode in the struggle against the Fugitive Slave Act.
Hanway had taken no positive action against Gorsuch and his party. But he had refused to either join the posse or try to prevent the blacks from attacking the slave catchers...On the last day of the trial, Justice Grier charged the jury that the act of refusing to aid in the rendition of a fugitive slave did not constitute treason." Id. After retiring for fifteen minutes, the jury acquitted him; the prosecution dropped the charges against the other men.
"Omaha Daily Bee May 28, 1893, Page 5.
Demise of a Nebraskan
Castner Hanway, a Distinguished Mason and
a Man with a History
Wilber, Neb., May 27 - [Special Telegram to The Bee] -
Mr. Castner Hanway died at his home here last night, aged 73.
He was a distinguished Mason, a member of Pittsburg Valley, Pa. consistory thirty-second degree, and was an honorary member of every Masonic lodge in Pennsylvania. He had also the distinction of being the last man living who was ever tried for treason against the United States on which charge he was tried in the United States circuit court at Philadelphia in November 1851, for his connection with what was known as the Christiana tragedy in Lancaster county. After a trial lasting seventeen days, he was acquitted."
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