peter woods the sole survivor—castner hanway’s later days—the descendants and relatives of the principal actors in the drama—concluding reflections on the affair.

the sole survivor of those who were directly involved in the events that have been narrated is peter woods, a very respectable colored man, who does not know his own age, but who likely is an octogenarian and was twenty years old when the riot occurred. he lives on his little farm of fifty-eight acres, in colerain township, just south of bartville, with his good wife, and the youngest of his thirteen living children, the family being much esteemed by those who know its members. he was a soldier in the union army, having served nearly three years in the third regiment, colored u. s. infantry. during the war he met alex. pinckney, at charleston, s. c., who was also a soldier in one of the northern regiments. recently his pension was increased through the influence of congressman w. w. griest, of the lancaster district—who is a son of major ellwood griest, author of the vigorous bart resolutions of 1850. in the absence of precise proof that peter woods was above seventy-five years of age, the united states government assumed that it would not have indicted a boy of fifteen for treason.

the descendants of edward gorsuch maintain the high social station of their family in maryland. they were methodists in religion and whigs in politics, and are now republicans; during the civil war they zealously supported the union cause.

edward gorsuch’s immediate descendants are mrs. w. w. campbell and children, of orwig’s mills, md.; mrs. t. b.[pg 126] todd, jr., of fort howard, md., who is a daughter of alex. morrison; mrs. e. d. duncan, of govans, md.; mrs. fannie thomas, wilmer black and anna black, the last four being children of melinda gorsuch, intermarried with robert black; and mrs. r. f. mitchell, wife of dr. f. g. mitchell, of glencoe, md. (who was the daughter of dickinson gorsuch), her son and two daughters, the youngest of whom, as an infant, appears in the arms of “mammy” kelly, one of the illustrations of this volume.

joseph scarlet died july 8, 1882; his descendants are as follows:

i. children—joseph scarlett, 5313 master street, philadelphia; annie v. scarlett, mary e. scarlett, 1413 peach street, philadelphia; william scarlett, 5444 girard avenue, philadelphia; mrs. ella a. jackson, 304 north franklin street, west chester, pa.

ii. grandchildren—j. ralph scarlett, inda scarlett conrow, elsie j. scarlett, edwin w. scarlett, anne scarlett custer, dr. charles j. morell, florence m. christ, t. harold jackson, william scarlett, leslie scarlett, richard scarlett.

iii. great-grandchildren—lavinia scarlett, helen scarlett, john s. custer, charles j. morell, jr.

elijah lewis died oct. 18, 1884, aged 86; his descendants are as follows:

i. children—mrs. martha a. cooper, palmyra, n. j.

ii. grandchildren—samuel brinton, farmer, west chester, pa., r. f. d.; henry brinton, 2408 bryn mawr avenue, west philadelphia; edwin brinton, 5584 hunter avenue, west philadelphia; mrs. emma b. maule, r. f. d., cochranville, pa.; alfred brinton, christiana, pa.; mrs. clara b. maule, gum tree, chester county, pa.; harry p. cooper, 14 ruby street, lancaster, pa.; mrs. d. w. miller, linfield, montgomery county, pa.; mrs. anna cooper, santa barbara, california; mrs. george paschall, jr., port kennedy, pa., and miss mary cooper, 2408 bryn mawr avenue, west philadelphia, pa. (w. l. cooper, superintendent of the[pg 127] bedford division p. r. r., who recently met tragic death by drowning in the susquehanna river, was a grandson.)

iii. great grandchildren—roy cooper, fairmount, w. va.; herbert cooper, parkesburg, pa.; helen cooper, santa barbara, cal.; clement s. brinton, 213 euclid avenue, haddonfield, n. j.; francis d. brinton, west chester, pa.; willard c. brinton, 70 west 46th street, new york; ellen s. brinton, r. f. d., west chester, pa.; robert f. brinton, r. f. d., west chester, pa.; wilfred cooper, bedford, pa.; c. burleigh cooper, christiana, pa.; harry brinton, 2408 bryn mawr avenue, philadelphia, pa.; lewis brinton, octoraro, lancaster co., pa.; thomas brinton, minister, octoraro, pa.; mrs. jesse webster, mrs. john dochter, christiana, pa., and evan j. lewis, george school, bucks co., pa.

castner hanway suffered most in expense and anxiety from the trial. he resided for years after it ended in chester and lancaster counties, but in 1878 removed to wilber, nebraska. his first wife, martha, daughter of jesse and letitia lamborn, who was with him during his trial, died august 20, 1855. later he married hannah, daughter of moses and mary pennock, who died january 1, 1864. later he married a miss johnston, a relative of governor johnston, who was the chief executive of pennsylvania in 1851. she is still living. castner hanway himself died may 26, 1893; his remains were brought east and buried in the cemetery at the famous longwood meeting house of the progressive friends, in chester county, made memorable by anti-slavery meetings addressed by whittier, lucretia mott and others eminent in literature; and in which quiet graveyard are the chaste tombs of bayard taylor, poet, novelist, traveler, journalist and diplomat, and of his brother, colonel frank taylor, one of the heroes and martyrs of gettysburg.

the longwood yearly meeting soon after hanway’s death adopted a memorial prepared by patience w. kent, which said of him:

“one week ago the earthly form of castner hanway was[pg 128] laid in yonder cemetery. a quiet, unobtrusive man, he gave no token that his name was one to conjure newspaper notoriety, or stir the wrathful vengeance of the baffled slave power, as it did at one time. yet in him, was the stuff of which heroes are made. ‘he stood by his colors’ when that was all he could do. during the ninety-seven days that he was in prison he never once complained. he wrote to his wife from there, ‘i do not regret my course; i have simply done my duty.’ with a nature capable of asserting such a beautiful sentiment in the face of so great mental and financial agony, surely the reward in the eternal kingdom would be: ‘well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, i will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joys of thy lord.’”

hanway left no descendants. his collateral relatives, so far as known, were:

jackson hanway, deceased, a brother, whose children are: ida hanway whiteside, christiana, pa.; ella hanway skelton, 1725 lindenwood street, philadelphia; wilmer everett hanway, 1716 north 55th street, philadelphia.

john hanway, deceased, a brother, leaving a son, joseph hanway, hamorton, chester county, pa.

ellis hanway, deceased, a brother, whose children are: mrs. louisa booth, gap, lancaster county, pa., and william hanway, 1038 lowell street, new york city, n. y.

washington hanway, deceased, a brother, leaving one child, mrs. clara hanway pierce, 317 south queen street, york, pa.

phoebe h. gray, deceased, a sister, whose son is albert gray.

hannah ellis h. fairlamb, deceased, a sister, who left children: elizabeth barnes, west chester, pa.; and robert fairlamb.

rebecca h. mcdade, deceased, a sister, late of norristown, pa.

[pg 129]“after life’s fitful fever” they who fought and suffered and died all “sleep well.” “there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave.” while governments shall endure and organized society of human order shall continue, the ceaseless contest will go on between law and liberty. as the temperaments of men vary they will differ as to which side of that struggle they should or will espouse; and human wisdom will forever be insufficient to avert occasional conflict. from it, however, will emerge peace; and as the parties to the struggle and their children’s children look back upon the contention that once raged, they will come more and more clearly to see that it was inevitable; and they will look with kindlier judgment upon the motives which inspired antagonistic forces. they will also see in the outcome and settlement a final cause, shaping events and determining results, one that could not be recognized in the smoke and dust of the immediate battle; but which the clear, cold light of history makes visible to all who would see the truth. in his matchless lyric of the civil war, the most sublime note that has been sounded from all the literature inspired by that great national crisis, will m. thompson, in his “high tide at gettysburg,” attains this lofty strain:

but who shall break the guards that wait

before the awful face of fate?

the tattered standards of the south

were shriveled at the cannon’s mouth,

and all her hopes were desolate.

in vain the tennessean set

his breast against the bayonet;

in vain virginia charged and raged,

a tigress in her wrath uncaged,

till all the hill was red and wet!

above the bayonets mixed and crossed

men saw a gray, gigantic ghost

receding through the battle cloud,

and heard across the tempest loud

the death cry of a nation lost!

the brave went down! without disgrace[pg 130]

they leaped to ruin’s red embrace;

they only heard fame’s thunder wake,

and saw the dazzling sunburst break

in smiles on glory’s bloody face!

they fell who lifted up a hand!

and bade the sun in heaven to stand;

they smote and fell who set the bars

against the progress of the stars,

and stayed the march of motherland!

they stood who saw the future come

on through the fight’s delirium;

they smote and stood who held the hope

of nations on that slippery slope,

amid the cheers of christendom!

god lives! he forged the iron will,

that clutched and held that trembling hill!

god lives and reigns! he built and lent

the heights for freedom’s battlement,

where floats her flag in triumph still!

fold up the banners! smelt the guns!

love rules. her gentler purpose runs,

a mighty mother turns in tears

the pages of her battle years,

lamenting all her fallen sons!