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Elijah Lewis

Released
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1800s
State:Pennsylvania
Support
Abolitionism
Elijah Lewis

Biography

Defendant in the federal treason prosecution following the September 11, 1851 Christiana Resistance — an armed defense by free Black and formerly-enslaved residents of Christiana, Pennsylvania against slave-catcher Edward Gorsuch, who was killed in the confrontation. The Fillmore administration charged 38 men with treason in what was then the largest federal treason prosecution in U.S. history. White Quaker shopkeeper who similarly refused to assist the marshal. Outcome: charges dropped after Hanway acquittal.

Case

Charges: Treason against the United States (Christiana Resistance, September 11, 1851).
Arrested: Sep 15, 1851
Sentenced: Dec 12, 1851
Sentence: Charges dropped. Verdict as recorded: No — charges dropped after Hanway acquittal.
Convicted: No — acquitted