0:00:02 > 0:00:05Actress Zooey Deschanel is searching for the truth behind the rumour
0:00:05 > 0:00:07that her father's ancestors were abolitionists.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10"Testimony against the sin of slavery."
0:00:10 > 0:00:12She uncovers conflict...
0:00:12 > 0:00:15List of the slaves? I don't like this.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17- ..bloodshed... - It was basically a battle.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19..and a remarkable woman
0:00:19 > 0:00:21who sacrificed everything for what she believed in.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Oh, my God!
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Born into a show business family, actress and singer-songwriter
0:01:01 > 0:01:07Zooey Deschanel hit the spotlight in the 2003 Christmas classic, Elf.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11Since then, Zooey's versatile career has gone from strength to strength.
0:01:11 > 0:01:16She's released four acclaimed albums with indie duo She & Him
0:01:16 > 0:01:18and stars in the hit sitcom New Girl.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Zooey lives and works in Los Angeles.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27I was born in Santa Monica, California, and I grew up here.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30I am really close with my parents and my sister,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33so family's very important.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37My mother always said we came from a long line of strong women
0:01:37 > 0:01:41and I would consider myself a feminist,
0:01:41 > 0:01:45not even a reluctant feminist, a gung-ho feminist!
0:01:45 > 0:01:49My father's mother, Granny,
0:01:49 > 0:01:52whose real name is Anne Orr Deschanel,
0:01:52 > 0:01:58just passed away and she was a real spitfire.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02She was very into human rights
0:02:02 > 0:02:07and she was very devoted to ending slavery worldwide.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09She comes from a Quaker family.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14The Quakers are activists and they're very liberal.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17So my granny was really political.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22I mean, she got arrested for chaining herself to a fence outside
0:02:22 > 0:02:24a nuclear power plant when she was 80.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27I can see myself in her strong will.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31I can relate to her on those levels and getting up in arms about things.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35So I want to find out who her ancestors were.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39I'm curious about it all because I want to know where I came from
0:02:39 > 0:02:41and all of this contributes to who we are.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45Granny came from a long line of abolitionists
0:02:45 > 0:02:50and in her later years she definitely told a story about
0:02:50 > 0:02:57someone spearheading the abolitionist movement before the Civil War.
0:02:57 > 0:03:03'So I don't know exactly what the connection is there and now that
0:03:03 > 0:03:06'Granny has passed on, I'd really love to find more out.'
0:03:08 > 0:03:11THEY EXCHANGE GREETINGS
0:03:11 > 0:03:13Zooey's starting her journey
0:03:13 > 0:03:16by meeting her parents to see what they can tell her
0:03:16 > 0:03:19about her grandmother's side of the family.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24So I was wondering if you guys could tell me a little bit more
0:03:24 > 0:03:27about Granny's family?
0:03:27 > 0:03:30My mother's side of the family were mostly Quakers.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33- Right.- My grandfather, Adrian Van Bracklin Orr,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35grew up in a little town outside of Philadelphia
0:03:35 > 0:03:38and this is a picture of the family.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Yeah, I've seen this picture before, but I didn't know who was who.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44So, can you tell me?
0:03:44 > 0:03:47- OK, well...- That's Adrian, right? - ..that's my grandfather.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Granny's father.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Yes. And that's my great-grandfather, Joseph.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55And then your great-grandmother, what was her name?
0:03:55 > 0:04:00- Martha Elizabeth, right? Martha Elizabeth Pownall.- Yeah.- OK.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05Zooey has confirmed the name of her great-grandfather - Adrian Orr -
0:04:05 > 0:04:09and Joseph Orr and Martha Pownall - her great-great-grandparents,
0:04:09 > 0:04:14all members of the Quaker religious movement.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17I mean, the Quakers actually were the first religion to come
0:04:17 > 0:04:20- out against slavery.- It's pretty amazing because they believed
0:04:20 > 0:04:22in gender equality, too.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24It's racial, gender, religious freedom.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29The Quakers are pretty much against war of any form and, you know,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32- they've always been... - They're pacifists.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35Yeah, so there were stories about the Pownall family being involved
0:04:35 > 0:04:38with, you know, the abolitionists and that sort of thing
0:04:38 > 0:04:41but I really don't know the details.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43OK, so where do you think I should go to find out more about the
0:04:43 > 0:04:47- Pownall Family?- The Philadelphia Public Library would be great.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49There are a lot of records there
0:04:49 > 0:04:51because Pennsylvania was founded by Quakers.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Great. I guess I'm going to Philadelphia, then.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57- I guess so.- Well, thank you, guys. - All right.- Yeah.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59'It was really fun to sit down with my parents'
0:04:59 > 0:05:02because they've always been interested in family history.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04It's not often you get the opportunity to
0:05:04 > 0:05:07research your roots and be in the place that your ancestors were and
0:05:07 > 0:05:11I think that's a really incredible opportunity and so I am excited.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18Zooey is heading to Philadelphia on the trail of her Quaker ancestors.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29Zooey has arranged to meet Quaker historian Max Carter
0:05:29 > 0:05:32at the Free Library of Philadelphia.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Max has started researching the Pownall family in Pennsylvania.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38He may be able to help Zooey's search
0:05:38 > 0:05:40for abolitionist ancestors.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43So, we did considerable research in the Quaker
0:05:43 > 0:05:45- minutes in the records of Friends meetings.- Ah-ha.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50So, we put together this family tree.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53This is so cool.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55OK, so I see myself and my sister.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57This is my mother and my father.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00And then... Granny Annie.
0:06:00 > 0:06:05Here's Joseph Moffitt Orr and Martha Elizabeth Pownall.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08I saw a picture of her and her family.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13George Pownall, his parents were Levi Pownall and Sarah Henderson.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16My four times great-grandmother.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20Sarah Henderson sounds very familiar to me.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22I know I've heard this name before.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26And then I see her parents -
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Elinor Brinton and Thomas Henderson.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32- So, everyone was Quaker. - Lots of Quaker names there.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35I wonder if there's any way we can find out
0:06:35 > 0:06:37more about Sarah Henderson and her family?
0:06:37 > 0:06:40That would require looking through the male line.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43We can look up the census records
0:06:43 > 0:06:46in the 1800 census.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48And look in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54OK, we're at the Pennsylvania Septennial Census.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Right. The Septennial Census was a census taken by the Commonwealth
0:06:58 > 0:07:02- of Pennsylvania...- OK.- ..to provide records for taxation and...- Right.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07- ..representation.- There it is. Thomas Henderson.- Thomas Henderson.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10"A list of the slaves...?
0:07:13 > 0:07:17"..owned by persons residing within the county of Lancaster."
0:07:19 > 0:07:20I don't like this.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29- Thomas Henderson had one slave. - Mm-hmm.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35My grandmother who... whose family this is...
0:07:35 > 0:07:41she fought worldwide slavery so it's very surprising to find out that
0:07:41 > 0:07:47there was a person in our, in this particular line, that had a slave.
0:07:47 > 0:07:48Well, it's interesting.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52We found that we didn't have Thomas Henderson in the Quaker records.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54So that indicates he was not a Quaker.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57That's very interesting.
0:07:57 > 0:07:58So, why did she marry this dude?
0:07:58 > 0:08:03Because the Quakers are so anti-slavery and for Elinor Brinton
0:08:03 > 0:08:07to marry a man who had a slave, obviously he wasn't Quaker.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Right. Well, Quakers emphasise marriage for love.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14It was one of the few religious professions that gave women
0:08:14 > 0:08:16- equal rights...- Right.- ..with men.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19In the wider society, women didn't have much voice.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23So, Elinor Brinton, your five times great-grandmother, could speak up.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25They made their own decisions.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28And this was uncommon for women in the 1700s to have a voice,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31- to have authority.- Very interesting.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33And so she would have been raised strong.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37- She would have been willing to follow her own heart.- Right.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41- And who knows what the household might have been like...- Right.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44..with a strong Quaker woman marrying a non-Quaker,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47- raising another young Quaker woman. - Yeah.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51I'm thinking Sarah Henderson must have taken after her mother
0:08:51 > 0:08:57since she was Quaker and she married a Quaker, Levi Pownall.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00So, I'm wondering what side of the issue she fell on.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03For that, we'll have to do further research.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06Swarthmore College, which has one of the best repositories
0:09:06 > 0:09:09of Quaker records in North America, is just down the road.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11Wonderful. That's great. Thank you so much.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14I'm really curious about Sarah Henderson
0:09:14 > 0:09:17because I had heard that name before from Granny.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19And then the fact that Elinor,
0:09:19 > 0:09:24my five times great-grandmother married Thomas... I was really
0:09:24 > 0:09:30surprised because she's a Quaker and anti-slavery and he had a slave.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35And, so, I really, really want to find out what kind of person
0:09:35 > 0:09:40Sarah Henderson was as an adult because as a Quaker I would
0:09:40 > 0:09:43think she would have an opinion about slavery.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46I'm assuming she had done something interesting for my grandmother
0:09:46 > 0:09:48to have mentioned her.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Zooey is heading to the Friends Historical Library
0:09:54 > 0:09:59in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, to meet historian Stacey Robertson.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01Stacey has been searching for records
0:10:01 > 0:10:04on Zooey's four-times great-grandmother.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Under both her maiden name, Sarah Henderson,
0:10:07 > 0:10:11and her married name, Sarah Pownall.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13We're going to start with this.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18This is the Sadsbury monthly Quaker meeting women's minutes.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22From 1845 to 1882.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25- I'm wondering who she is at this point.- Exactly.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28Yeah. OK.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30So, Sadsbury monthly meeting,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33fifth day of first month of 1848.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37So, what age would Sarah have been?
0:10:37 > 0:10:43Well, actually, we know that Elinor was married in 1791.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46OK. So if this is 1848.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50- Sarah couldn't have been older than 57.- Right.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54"A joint committee of men and women friends..."
0:10:54 > 0:10:57- And friends means Quakers...- Exactly.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59"..were appointed to confer
0:10:59 > 0:11:04"encouraging the members of our society to be faithful
0:11:04 > 0:11:07"against the sin of slavery.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11"To which service the following friends were appointed."
0:11:11 > 0:11:13Sarah Pownall.
0:11:15 > 0:11:16That's wonderful.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18So, she has been appointed to a committee
0:11:18 > 0:11:21that is rallying to inspire
0:11:21 > 0:11:25a more impassioned approach to ending slavery.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27That's exactly what she's doing.
0:11:27 > 0:11:33For a person to be an abolitionist in this time, was that a common thing?
0:11:33 > 0:11:35Not at all.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37In fact, for Sarah to participate in this committee
0:11:37 > 0:11:40meant that she was willing to be an outspoken opponent of slavery
0:11:40 > 0:11:43in a time when being an outspoken opponent of slavery
0:11:43 > 0:11:45- was very dangerous.- Really?- Yes.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48As you know, 1848 is about 13 years
0:11:48 > 0:11:51- before the beginning of the Civil War.- Right.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53- The north had already freed slaves by this time.- Right.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56But that didn't mean that northerners, by and large,
0:11:56 > 0:11:58were abolitionists. They really weren't.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02- Yeah.- So, they condemned these people as fanatics and zealots.- Wow!
0:12:02 > 0:12:04Abolitionists who spoke out
0:12:04 > 0:12:08- in mainstream northern society were often mobbed.- Really?
0:12:08 > 0:12:10They were kicked out of their own churches.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14It was a very, very brave and courageous thing for her to do.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16- It's really inspiring.- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20So, I'm wondering, what would Sarah and the other members
0:12:20 > 0:12:24of this committee have done to help fight slavery?
0:12:24 > 0:12:28We have one more document for you to look at.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30It is related to this committee.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33OK. Sadsbury monthly meeting.
0:12:33 > 0:12:351848.
0:12:35 > 0:12:41- OK, so this is a little, sort of, pamphlet.- Mmm-hmm.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44"Dear Friends. We feel constrained to invite you to join us
0:12:44 > 0:12:47"in the inquiry against slavery,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50"seeing that the evil has been steadily increasing.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54"Our moral vision has been measurably obscured.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57"We have been content to live upon the labours of others,
0:12:57 > 0:13:00"forgetting that it is in the sweat of our face
0:13:00 > 0:13:02"that we are to eat bread."
0:13:02 > 0:13:05So, meaning, we need to do work ourselves.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08- We shouldn't have slaves do it. - Exactly.- Yeah, OK.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12"And whether we are not striking hands with the oppressor,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15"when we lend our support to a government that sanctions
0:13:15 > 0:13:17"and perpetuates his wrongs.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20So, basically, they're saying that they don't want to support
0:13:20 > 0:13:22a government that is turning a blind eye
0:13:22 > 0:13:27to people who are using slave labour and owning slaves.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30It's a real condemnation of a government that accepts slavery.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34That's a really strong statement. Wow!
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Slavery was an incredibly powerful institution.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45So, what they're talking about is really serious.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49The fact that these people stood up and said, "This is not OK,
0:13:49 > 0:13:53"we have been...we have been desensitized
0:13:53 > 0:13:55"to how terrible this thing is."
0:13:55 > 0:13:57It's incredible and horrible
0:13:57 > 0:14:00to think that it was accepted amongst so many people.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02And it was.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06I mean, and the bravery of these people is pretty amazing.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09- Yes.- I'm sorry. It's really...
0:14:09 > 0:14:13- I know!- This letter's so beautiful. OK.
0:14:13 > 0:14:18"We believe a responsibility therefore rests on us
0:14:18 > 0:14:20"to enter into...
0:14:20 > 0:14:25"an individual examination, how far we are guilty
0:14:25 > 0:14:30"concerning our brother in that we see the anguish of his soul
0:14:30 > 0:14:32"and will not hear him."
0:14:32 > 0:14:36And that's saying we can't let these people be enslaved.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39- They're our brothers.- Exactly.- OK.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42And then it is signed, Sarah Pownall.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45- There's my relative, one of 12 people.- Yeah!- In this letter.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47- Exactly!- It's so exciting.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49I think it's six men and six women.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52So, another testimony to their commitment to equality.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55- That's really cool.- Yeah.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57- What an impassioned letter. - Isn't it?
0:14:57 > 0:14:59Yeah! It's truly moving.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03I feel honoured to be related to one of these people.
0:15:03 > 0:15:04They were very brave.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06Supporting my mother's theory that I come
0:15:06 > 0:15:08from a long line of strong women,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11but it's an even longer line than I realised.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13Absolutely. This is one strong woman.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17Yesterday, all I had was a family tree,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20but now I have an identity for this woman.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24I can't wait to find out more. She's so exciting and interesting.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26She is. She is.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Well, we're actually going to send you
0:15:29 > 0:15:32- to the Lancaster Historical Society. - Oh, great!
0:15:32 > 0:15:36Right, which is the location where Sarah lived in Lancaster County
0:15:36 > 0:15:39and this is a location that is really
0:15:39 > 0:15:42kind of a hotbed of abolitionism.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45OK. Thank you so much for showing this to me.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Oh, you are so welcome!
0:15:47 > 0:15:49It's so exciting.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52It was really interesting today to look at some of the records
0:15:52 > 0:15:56from the anti-slavery committee that my ancestor Sarah
0:15:56 > 0:15:59was a part of, because to have been a woman
0:15:59 > 0:16:06and stand up for what she believed in at that time, it's really moving.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10It does make me feel closer to my granny, because she was a person
0:16:10 > 0:16:14that devoted herself in a way that I think was really admirable.
0:16:14 > 0:16:20I like seeing that spirit come up, generation after generation.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24Sarah was very passionate and so I'm just curious to see
0:16:24 > 0:16:28what other things she did to fight against slavery.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32And I'm hoping to see a picture of Sarah.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35Zooey is heading to Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
0:16:35 > 0:16:37to try to find out more about Sarah Pownall's work
0:16:37 > 0:16:42in the anti-slavery movement. She's meeting Dr Nikki Taylor.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45I'm hoping she can tell me more about Sarah Pownall's work
0:16:45 > 0:16:47in the anti-slavery movement.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52- Hi!- Hi.- I'm Nikki Taylor. Have a seat.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56So, I know that my four times great-grandmother, Sarah Pownall,
0:16:56 > 0:17:01was a part of an anti-slavery committee here in Lancaster County.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05And I wanted to find out more about the work that they did.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09And I was wondering why Lancaster County
0:17:09 > 0:17:12had so much abolitionist activity.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14There are two reasons why this community
0:17:14 > 0:17:17was so strongly committed to abolitionism.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20- The first is the high population of Quakers here.- Yes.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24And the second is the county's proximity to the Mason-Dixon Line,
0:17:24 > 0:17:27which, as you know, was the dividing line
0:17:27 > 0:17:31between the slave state of Maryland and the free state of Pennsylvania.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35Let me show you a document that the Lancaster County History Community
0:17:35 > 0:17:39has put together that documents some key historical events
0:17:39 > 0:17:43- in the abolitionist movement. - OK, great!
0:17:43 > 0:17:48So, this map has Lancaster County and the Mason-Dixon Line.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50I can only imagine
0:17:50 > 0:17:55- that there might have been some underground railroad...- Exactly.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57..sort of activity around here.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01OK, so, Sadsbury Township.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04There's where my four times great-grandmother,
0:18:04 > 0:18:06Sarah Pownall, was from.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Parker House at Pownall Farm!
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Is that my...
0:18:19 > 0:18:22- is that my Pownall? - Yes, yes.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Oh my gosh! OK.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29Parker House at Pownall Farm, demolished in the 19th century.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32"This was a great loss to America's historical and cultural landscape.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35"It was located a short distance to the southeast
0:18:35 > 0:18:39"on the farm of Levi and Sarah Pownall, Quaker farmers."
0:18:39 > 0:18:43- So, this was on my family's farm? - Exactly. Exactly.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45Very interesting!
0:18:45 > 0:18:48The Parker House was the home of William Parker and his wife.
0:18:48 > 0:18:55And William Parker was a man who had been born into slavery in Maryland.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59He escaped and ended up in Lancaster County where he settled.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04- He rented land from Sarah and Levi Pownall for years.- Oh, wow!
0:19:04 > 0:19:08But the most important thing about Parker is that he was a conductor
0:19:08 > 0:19:13- and a station master on the Underground Railroad.- Oh!
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Highly illegal, the Underground Railroad
0:19:16 > 0:19:19was a vast network of people, helping slaves escape
0:19:19 > 0:19:21to free states or Canada.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Station masters hid runaways in their homes,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27while conductors guided them from one station,
0:19:27 > 0:19:29or safe house, to the next.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33Hundreds of abolitionists, black and white,
0:19:33 > 0:19:37risked their lives to help roughly 100,000 slaves to freedom.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41On their land, it was there that he hid a lot of fugitive slaves.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43- How wonderful!- Yeah.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46- So, he played a huge part in the Underground Railroad.- Yes, he did.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48So, this brings us to the question
0:19:48 > 0:19:51of how much did they know about what he was doing.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55I can only imagine that they must have known
0:19:55 > 0:19:59and approved of this Underground Railroad station.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02So, I'd like to read a few things on this map,
0:20:02 > 0:20:07because I'm looking at it and it has the Christiana Riot marker.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10"This Pennsylvania state historical marker
0:20:10 > 0:20:14"describes the tenant home of William and Eliza Parker,
0:20:14 > 0:20:16"site of the Christiana Riot."
0:20:16 > 0:20:18What does that mean?
0:20:18 > 0:20:20Right now, we call it the Christiana Resistance,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23but back then, it was denounced as a riot.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27What it was was an event in which free blacks from Lancaster County
0:20:27 > 0:20:31had a stand-off with slave owners from Maryland.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35It was one of the most important events in American history,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38- leading to the Civil War, in fact. - Really? Yes.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41I've arranged for you to have a private tour at the Pownall farm.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45- Really?- Yeah. For you to learn more about the Christiana Resistance.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48Wow! That's so exciting! Thank you so much!
0:20:48 > 0:20:52I'm really curious to find out what happened
0:20:52 > 0:20:56on my four times great-grandparents' farm.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00I mean, even just to have been there for this major historical event
0:21:00 > 0:21:03must have been incredible.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07I don't know how violent or how dramatic this resistance was.
0:21:07 > 0:21:12So, I am a little bit nervous, because I really admire Sarah.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16I do feel protective of her.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20So, I'm really curious to go to the farm
0:21:20 > 0:21:22and hear what happened there.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26I can only imagine she must have been involved.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Zooey is heading to the Pownall family farm
0:21:33 > 0:21:36to meet historian, Fergus Bordewich,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39and find out more information about the Christiana Resistance.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46- It's a pleasure to meet you. - Pleasure to meet you, too!
0:21:48 > 0:21:49Here we are.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52This is where William Parker's house stood,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55- right out in the middle of this ploughed field.- Wow.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59In fact, Sarah's house was right over there
0:21:59 > 0:22:01about a quarter of a mile away.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04As you know, this was the centre of the Underground Railroad
0:22:04 > 0:22:06in this area.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09- And William Parker was himself a fugitive slave.- Right.
0:22:09 > 0:22:15And Parker also headed, essentially, an Underground Railroad militia,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19made up of African-Americans who were determined to fight,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22rather than to allow anybody to be carried back into slavery.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27It seems that the state of affairs with slavery had gotten worse.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31Well, the fugitive slave law was one of the nastiest, cruellest
0:22:31 > 0:22:35pieces of legislation ever passed by the United States Congress.
0:22:35 > 0:22:40The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 required the federal government
0:22:40 > 0:22:44to help slave owners and bounty hunters capture fugitive slaves
0:22:44 > 0:22:47in northern free states and return them to slavery.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51Because accused runaways weren't represented in court,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54even free men were dragged away and sold,
0:22:54 > 0:22:56without any chance to defend themselves.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00This contentious law also required citizens, like Sarah,
0:23:00 > 0:23:02to turn in fugitive slaves
0:23:02 > 0:23:05and threatened to imprison anyone who refused.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Suddenly, no African-Americans were guaranteed freedom.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14And the Underground Railroad became more important than ever.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17So, basically, the Federal Government was saying it was illegal
0:23:17 > 0:23:21not to return slaves that had run away.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23- That's precisely what the law was. - That's shocking.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28The Fugitive Slave Law turbocharged the abolitionist movement.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31The Underground Railroad was the radical edge of abolitionism.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33They were the people who were willing to put their lives
0:23:33 > 0:23:37on the line, breaking the law, in order to help fugitives.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40So, what was the Christiana Resistance?
0:23:40 > 0:23:44It happened September 11th, 1851.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48There was a slave owner named Edward Gorsuch.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52- Several of his slaves had run away from Maryland.- OK.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56Edward Gorsuch learned that two of those fugitives
0:23:56 > 0:24:00were here in Lancaster County, and Gorsuch came up here,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03seeking those fugitive slaves. And he traced them
0:24:03 > 0:24:07- to William Parker's house. - Right on my family's farm.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12Yes. In fact, Sarah could see and probably hear
0:24:12 > 0:24:16- everything happening here out her window.- Oh, my gosh.
0:24:16 > 0:24:21So, I'm wondering if you have any information about her involvement.
0:24:21 > 0:24:22I do.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26This is an excerpt from one of the best and earliest accounts
0:24:26 > 0:24:30of the Underground Railroad, written just after the Civil War.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34"For some days before this conflict, reports afloat that an attack
0:24:34 > 0:24:37"was soon to be made on Parker's house.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41"Sarah Pownall had a conversation with them, the night before the riot,
0:24:41 > 0:24:43"and urged him, if slaveholders should come,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47"not to lead the coloured people to resist the Fugitive Slave Law
0:24:47 > 0:24:50"by force of arms, but to escape to Canada.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54"He replied, 'The laws for personal protection are not made for us
0:24:54 > 0:24:56"'and we are not bound to obey them.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59"'If a fight occurs, I want the whites to keep away.
0:24:59 > 0:25:05"'They have a country and may obey the laws, but we have no country.'"
0:25:05 > 0:25:08- Wow.- Quite a statement, isn't it? - Yeah, it is quite a statement.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13He's making it clear that he and his group are going to fight.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16And Sarah and Levi Pownall were Quakers,
0:25:16 > 0:25:19so they did not believe in violence.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23So, after this conversation, what did William Parker do?
0:25:23 > 0:25:30Did he listen to Sarah or did he stay and try to fight a battle?
0:25:30 > 0:25:32He armed himself.
0:25:32 > 0:25:38On the morning of September 11th, Edward Gorsuch and the posse
0:25:38 > 0:25:40that he collected in Philadelphia,
0:25:40 > 0:25:45that included members of his own family, his son, Dickinson Gorsuch,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48and a number of police, they came up the road
0:25:48 > 0:25:50you see across the valley here.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52They surrounded the house. They were armed.
0:25:52 > 0:25:58Parker and his men, and his very brave wife, Eliza, are in the house.
0:25:58 > 0:25:59They're all armed.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03When it becomes pretty clear that there's going to be a confrontation,
0:26:03 > 0:26:08Eliza, who herself is an escaped slave, takes a horn
0:26:08 > 0:26:11and trumpets across the valley.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14Maybe as many as 60 people, mostly African-Americans,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17drop their work implements and they come running
0:26:17 > 0:26:20here to the house and including...
0:26:20 > 0:26:24- So, there was...it was basically a battle.- It was a battle.- Oh, my God!
0:26:26 > 0:26:30I mean, I can't imagine being Sarah and Levi Pownall
0:26:30 > 0:26:35looking out their window and seeing, basically, a battle on their land.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38- I think it must have hurt them. - Yeah.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41As people of deep Quaker conviction, to see violence
0:26:41 > 0:26:45about to happen on their property right in front of them,
0:26:45 > 0:26:47and to be powerless to stop it.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Right. So, tell me what happened when the battle started.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53The two groups collided outside the house.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Shots were fired on both sides.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59Edward Gorsuch was killed.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03His son, Dickinson, was almost killed, shot, beaten to the ground.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07There was a melee. The police ran.
0:27:07 > 0:27:08Oh, my goodness!
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Most people were frightened of black people
0:27:11 > 0:27:15and they were frightened of black people with weapons in their hands
0:27:15 > 0:27:18beating, shooting white people, even though...
0:27:18 > 0:27:19They were defending themselves.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22..even though they were defending themselves.
0:27:22 > 0:27:23The fugitives were not captured.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27- They were saved and they were protected.- That's amazing.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31So, what was the aftermath of the Christiana Resistance?
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Everybody knew about this.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37Newspapers across the United States reported on what happened here.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40President Fillmore is following it.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43The President's chief advisor told him there has to be a reaction.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45- The government has to act.- OK.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48This led to a reign of terror in Lancaster County.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52It was said, at the time, that Negros were hunted
0:27:52 > 0:27:56like partridges across Lancaster County. Their homes were invaded.
0:27:56 > 0:28:01People were dragged out, arrested, interrogated, beaten.
0:28:01 > 0:28:06White abolitionists were also dragged in by the authorities.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08People didn't know WHAT was going to happen to them.
0:28:08 > 0:28:14So, to be an abolitionist at this time must have been dangerous?
0:28:14 > 0:28:15Wow!
0:28:15 > 0:28:18You always think, Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21but there were so many people that assisted.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25People like William Parker, his wife, Eliza Parker,
0:28:25 > 0:28:29- emancipated themselves.- Right. - They didn't wait for Abraham Lincoln
0:28:29 > 0:28:33and they did it with the assistance of people like Sarah Pownall.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38OK. So, the Christiana Resistance happened here.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42My ancestors are right over there on that farm.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44What did they do?
0:28:44 > 0:28:47That is a good question and there's a lot to say about it.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51Let's go over to Moore's Memorial Library in Christiana,
0:28:51 > 0:28:54and I think you'll see things that'll interest you.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56- OK. Great!- Let's go.
0:28:56 > 0:29:01It's shocking to think that this sort of violent turning point
0:29:01 > 0:29:04in the road leading up to the Civil War
0:29:04 > 0:29:09happened on my ancestors' property.
0:29:09 > 0:29:15It seems to speak about a government that was incredibly flawed.
0:29:15 > 0:29:20So, I'm really proud that my ancestors were involved,
0:29:20 > 0:29:25at this time, in the abolitionist movement.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27I don't know what I'm expecting to see.
0:29:27 > 0:29:29I think I know who Sarah Pownall is.
0:29:29 > 0:29:34I think I know how she would react to this.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38I think she would help William Parker and his family
0:29:38 > 0:29:45and I'm just hoping to see some evidence of this.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52I've asked the library to pull some documents for us.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54I can't wait.
0:29:56 > 0:30:02Some Recollections Of A Long And Unsuccessful Life by George Steele.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05- He had a sense of humour. Let's go to page ten.- OK.
0:30:05 > 0:30:06Let's start there.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08I'm interested to see what this is.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13"When the fighting was over at the riot house,
0:30:13 > 0:30:17"Parker and Levi Pownall Junior ran to get a horse and wagon.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19"But before they geared up,
0:30:19 > 0:30:21"a neighbour brought the wounded man over.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24"At night, the day of the riot, Dickinson Gorsuch,
0:30:24 > 0:30:27"the wounded man, was not expected to live.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29"There were a great many of his friends and neighbours
0:30:29 > 0:30:33"in the Pownall house and the house was surrounded by a crowd."
0:30:33 > 0:30:35Interesting. So, they actually took in...
0:30:35 > 0:30:38Dickinson Gorsuch, the son of Edward Gorsuch.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40I'm so surprised.
0:30:40 > 0:30:45Well, I guess they were, sort of, kindly, Quaker folk
0:30:45 > 0:30:49and if there was an injured man they would take him in.
0:30:49 > 0:30:54"Elizabeth Pownall, who afterwards became my wife..."
0:30:54 > 0:30:57So this is written by the son-in-law of Sarah Pownall.
0:30:57 > 0:30:58- Exactly.- OK.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01"..and her sister Ellen were washing dishes in the kitchen
0:31:01 > 0:31:05"when Parker and Pinkney walked in through the out kitchen door."
0:31:05 > 0:31:08Can you just remind me who Pinkney is?
0:31:08 > 0:31:11He was William Parker's brother-in-law.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14Right. So, they're in hot water and they have to flee. OK.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18"Fortunately, the girls had presence of mind enough to blow out
0:31:18 > 0:31:21"the candles and open the stair door
0:31:21 > 0:31:24"and motion to the two men to go upstairs."
0:31:24 > 0:31:27- So they concealed them? - Yes.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29Wow. This is amazing.
0:31:29 > 0:31:30"Then Mrs Sarah Pownall,
0:31:30 > 0:31:34"who was the best and most capable woman I ever knew,
0:31:34 > 0:31:37"whispered to the girls, 'Get a clean pillowcase,
0:31:37 > 0:31:39"'and fill it with bread and meat.'
0:31:39 > 0:31:42"There was a whispered remonstrance, 'All these people in the house
0:31:42 > 0:31:44"'to feed and barely enough bread for breakfast.'
0:31:44 > 0:31:48"Mrs Pownall whispered back, 'Mix more bread.'
0:31:48 > 0:31:50"The pillowcase was filled.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54"Levi Pownall Junior went upstairs
0:31:54 > 0:31:56"and provided the men with clothes and hats."
0:31:56 > 0:31:58So, he gave them disguises.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01"George Pownall took the pillowcase of food out to the orchard,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04"and left it at the foot of the queen apple tree."
0:32:04 > 0:32:07So, that's my three times great-grandfather.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09So, he was passing food to them,
0:32:09 > 0:32:13and his brother, Levi Pownall Junior, was disguising them.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18"At a favourable time, the two coloured men were brought down
0:32:18 > 0:32:23"and the two Miss Pownalls walked beside them to the gate.
0:32:23 > 0:32:24"If the guards saw them,
0:32:24 > 0:32:28"they supposed them to be callers on the young ladies."
0:32:28 > 0:32:30They had the enemy in their house
0:32:30 > 0:32:33and they were able to disguise Parker and Pinkney
0:32:33 > 0:32:36as gentlemen callers. Yes.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39"One morning when the Pownall Family came down
0:32:39 > 0:32:41"they found a letter under the front door addressed
0:32:41 > 0:32:44"to Elizabeth B Pownall. It said,
0:32:44 > 0:32:47"'Parker is safe in Canada.'"
0:32:47 > 0:32:50So, that's pretty extraordinary.
0:32:50 > 0:32:54It was an incredibly heroic operation.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56Clearly, it was very complex.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59It was undertaken while the entire community
0:32:59 > 0:33:02was under hostile occupation.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06That would seem to me that they have done this before.
0:33:06 > 0:33:07No question about it.
0:33:07 > 0:33:12This is proof that your ancestor, Sarah Pownall, and her entire family
0:33:12 > 0:33:16were deep, deep, deep in the Underground Railroad.
0:33:16 > 0:33:17Wow.
0:33:19 > 0:33:24It's so encouraging to think that at this time a woman could have been
0:33:24 > 0:33:30doing something this brave and this cutting edge and this political.
0:33:31 > 0:33:37- I'm... It's really exciting to think that this is my family.- Indeed.
0:33:37 > 0:33:42So, it sounds like Christiana was in real turmoil at this point,
0:33:42 > 0:33:46and I'm wondering what happened in the aftermath
0:33:46 > 0:33:51and where the Pownalls were in all of this?
0:33:51 > 0:33:55The Pownalls are not arrested. Remarkably, considering that we know
0:33:55 > 0:33:59they were harbouring the two most wanted men in Lancaster County.
0:33:59 > 0:34:05- Right.- 38 of their neighbours, black and white, are arrested
0:34:05 > 0:34:08and put on trial for treason
0:34:08 > 0:34:13for making war against the United States - for daring to fight back.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17- Wow.- They see those neighbours who is one of them
0:34:17 > 0:34:19going to trial for treason.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23Now, it took the jury only 15 minutes to acquit that man,
0:34:23 > 0:34:25because the evidence didn't back it up.
0:34:25 > 0:34:30The government was so humiliated by that defeat that it abandoned
0:34:30 > 0:34:33charges against the remaining people.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38And the result was a collapse, really, of federal prosecutions.
0:34:38 > 0:34:43Now, there's a man who is so affected by what's happened here
0:34:43 > 0:34:47that it helps embitter him against the United States government.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50He's a friend of the Gorsuch family.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52His name is John Wilkes Booth.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54Oh, my God.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58Oh, my God.
0:35:01 > 0:35:06And Booth writes how deeply he was angered by the crime committed
0:35:06 > 0:35:11against the Gorsuch Family and how it was never paid for.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13And this is one of the things that John Wilkes Booth
0:35:13 > 0:35:15is carrying with him in 1865.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17Was the anger about the Christiana Resistance.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19Yeah, and assassinates Abraham Lincoln.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24That's incredible.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26Open this.
0:35:29 > 0:35:30Oh, my goodness.
0:35:32 > 0:35:33There she is.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37That's Sarah Pownall? Wow.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43- She has a very kind face. - Yes.
0:35:45 > 0:35:46This is wonderful to see.
0:35:47 > 0:35:52This means so much more to me knowing what she did in her life
0:35:52 > 0:35:55and what kind of a person she was.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00I feel I have a real respect for this great woman.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04In fact, I think to me she's a hero.
0:36:05 > 0:36:13And I just admire her intelligence and her bravery.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17They believed in a higher law that required them to do the right thing,
0:36:17 > 0:36:22rather than something that happened to be legal, but was morally wrong.
0:36:22 > 0:36:23Yeah.
0:36:25 > 0:36:30Cos this is so much greater than just a family.
0:36:30 > 0:36:35This is a huge movement and led to the...
0:36:36 > 0:36:40..free country we live in now.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44She made a direct contribution to that here at Christiana.
0:36:45 > 0:36:47Well, that's really amazing.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53So, I knew cos I had read it in my family tree
0:36:53 > 0:36:59that Sarah Pownall had passed away in September of '52.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02She died within that year of the resistance.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05- Do we know how she died? - I don't think we do.
0:37:05 > 0:37:11Perhaps the stress of the resistance really weighed on Sarah.
0:37:13 > 0:37:19I've brought you a map of the Sadsbury cemetery.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23- So she's buried not far from here. - A few minutes' drive.
0:37:23 > 0:37:27I think I'm going to go pay my respects.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33I've become so attached to this person over the past few days,
0:37:33 > 0:37:37and to see her face and put a face with the name, and the story,
0:37:37 > 0:37:41and all of the things that she did really completed the picture.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47I was really sad to learn that Sarah Pownall died right after
0:37:47 > 0:37:53the Christiana Resistance because she died before the Civil War
0:37:53 > 0:37:56and before emancipation.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01To not have been able to see that in her lifetime is sort of sad.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05So, visiting Sarah Pownall's grave
0:38:05 > 0:38:09I think will be a really sweet ending to this journey.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24I can see some of the qualities that I see in Sarah Pownall,
0:38:24 > 0:38:28you know, in my grandmother and Granny,
0:38:28 > 0:38:32and to see how far back it goes is really exciting.
0:38:38 > 0:38:44To truly understand how extraordinary it was for a woman
0:38:44 > 0:38:48at this time to be involved politically like Sarah Pownall was
0:38:48 > 0:38:50is just incredible.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54And it makes me realise how much we can change.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58It makes me really inspired
0:38:58 > 0:39:01to encourage the next generation of strong women.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07I don't think I could've possibly been prepared for how moving
0:39:07 > 0:39:11and amazing this journey was,
0:39:11 > 0:39:18and I don't think I could have ever imagined I came from such heroes.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27This journey makes me want to be a better person,
0:39:27 > 0:39:30and you can't put a price on being inspired.