The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 required the capture and return of anyone who had escaped from slavery.

On this day in 1851, Edward Gorsuch, a Maryland enslaver, raises a posse and crosses the border into Lancaster County, in the free state of Pennsylvania, aiming to capture four men who had escaped from his farm and were living on the farm of William and Eliza Parker, free Black landowners,a frequent first stop on the underground railroad.

When the posse appears, Eliza blows a horn, which summons neighbors. Soon, the fugitive hunters are confronted by an armed group of Black and white abolitionists. Fighting breaks out and gunshots are fired. The eldest Gorsuch falls dead and the posse retreats.

Thirty-eight men are arrested on charges of treason, but all will be acquitted.