Sadsbury Township
The Christiana Riots
Christiana, Pennsylvania, a village sitting on the Chester/Lancaster County border, was known as a community of free blacks which harbored runaway slaves from Maryland and Virginia. The community prepared to respond if bounty hunters take them away. In the Summer 1851, Marylander Edward Gorsuch became suspicious that four of his 12 slaves were being harbored in Christiana. Gorsuch traveled to Philadelphia to secure warrants for the arrest of any of his missing slaves found in Pennsylvania as allowed by the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. Knowing the Northerners would oppose his request, he retained U.S. Marshall Henry Kline and six friends and family members to assist him in serving the warrant and recovering his property. After arriving in Christiana, Gorsuch encountered one of his runaway slaves who entered into the home of free black William Parker. As Gorsuch tried to break into his home, the Parker family sounded the alarm, summoning 75 neighbors of both races to defend the Parker household. As the violence escalated, Gorsuch and his son were shot while attempting to club one of his slaves. While his son survived the gunshot, Gorsuch died on the scene. In the end, 25 black and 3 white men were arrested.
Horace A. Beale Moves to Parkesburg
Horace A. Beale (1827-1897) was descended from a family of Chester County natives: His great-grandfather William Beale settled in West Whiteland Township in 1730 from Caln, Wiltshire, England where he owner a large tract of land. John Beale served in the Continental Army under the command of General Marquis de Lafayette, but he was killed in Fall 1777. John's son Joseph grew up near Downingtown. He became a furniture manufacturer, and lived in Philadelphia for most of his life.
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Horace Beale went on to work at numerous places including the Phoenix Iron Works, Laurel Iron Works, and the erecting viaduct at Coatesville. He bought the Deer Creek Woods near Bel Air, Maryland, then leased the Thorndale and the Hibernia Iron Works. In 1872 Beale consolidated operations in Parkesburg, a town that had once been the home to the repair shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He partnered with William H. Gibbons of Coatesville to operate this plant. The consolidated operation was called the Parkesburg Iron Company. The plant became known for its quality of its steam engines. When World War I broke out, the plant made a fortune producing steam locomotive tubes in response to the war's demands for locomotives in America and Europe.
Horace A. Beale, Jr. Wants to Play Ball
While following in his father's footsteps in running the iron works, Horace, Jr. (1870-1927) devoted much of his time to sports including thoroughbred and automotive racing, basketball, and baseball. Out of all the sports followed, baseball became his favorite. So, Parkesburg sponsored a baseball team of semi-professional players and built a small stadium. In a day when places like Philadelphia banned sporting events on Sunday, Beale invited major league teams hop on a train to Parkesburg to challenge his semi-pro team. From 1917 to 1921, Parkesburg hosted both white and black professional baseball teams (baseball was then segregated) including the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies.
Bibliography
Cope, Gilbert and Henry Graham Ashmead. Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Chester and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania, Volume 1. (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1914): 488-489.
"The Parkesburg Iron Co. baseball team." Chester County Sports Hall of Fame. Accessed June 19, 2025. https://www.chestercountysportshalloffame.com/inductees/2018_historical/parkesburg_iron_co_baseball_team.html.