Sept. 11 will mark the anniversary of two significant events in American history &tstr; the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the Christiana Riot, or rebellion, of 1851.

The Scribbler recently heard an interesting story related to the latter.

On Sept. 11, 1851, Edward Gorsuch and five other armed men traveled to the Christiana home of William Parker. They were searching for four of Gorsuch's slaves who had run away from his Maryland farm.

Parker refused to give up the slaves. Dozens of blacks and several whites from the neighborhood gathered at the house. They and the Marylanders exchanged gunfire and blows by other weapons. Gorsuch died and his son was critically wounded.

Afterwards, 39 of the slaves' protectors were charged with and acquitted of treason for obstructing provisions of the nation's Fugitive Slave Act.

In 1896 &tstr; 45 years after the incident &tstr; two of the men who had opposed the slave catchers posed for a picture in front of the Parker house.

In the photo, Peter Wood, who appears to be the older man, is seated. Samuel Hopkins is standing, brandishing a corn cutter.

This story is about that corn cutter.

Kerry Glenn, a Columbian who grew up in Parkesburg, across the Chester County border from Christiana, knew a woman who had lived in Parkesburg most of her 89 years.

Elizabeth Cooper Gibson served as a teacher and elementary school principal in the Coatesville School District for nearly 40 years. She died five years ago in North Carolina.

Gibson was a direct descendant of Samuel Hopkins, the corn cutter brandisher.

The late Herb Krumrine, a distant cousin of Glenn's, told him that he was discussing the Christiana rebellion with Gibson one time when the woman excused herself and left the room.

She returned, Glenn relates, "carrying an ancient corn cutter, obviously hand-made by an old-time blacksmith, with a rough wooden handle."

She told Krumrine that it was the implement that Hopkins held in the 1896 photo.

"It had secretly been passed down through her family to her," Glenn says. "Legend is that it was the same corn cutter used to kill slaveholder Edward Gorsuch during the 1851 riot."

Gibson had one son, Brig. Gen. George H. Walls Jr., of Cary, N.C. Glenn suspects Walls inherited the corn cutter.

Traveling 300 miles by scooter

Mr. and Mrs. Benuel Fisher Jr. recently scooted 300 miles from their upstate New York home to Dauphin County, according to Isaac L. Stoltzfus.

"New scooters enabled them to finish the trek in three days, since Dauphin is lower in elevation," reports Isaac L. Stoltzfus, Gordonville correspondent for The Diary, an Old Order Amish publication produced monthly in Lancaster County.

Stoltzfus did not reveal why anyone would travel a hundred miles a day on a scooter, but the Scribbler speculates that an upcoming TV show may provoke more long-distance scooting.

It would provide a novel way to escape Banshees.

Yes, it has finally happened: a TV script has associated the serenity of Amish country with the chaotic world of psychotic zombie outlaws.

The cable network Cinemax is working on a series set in a small town in "Pennsylvania Amish country" called Banshee, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"Banshee" is also the name of the show.

The program, scheduled to air next year, will feature "an enigmatic ex-con who's also an expert in martial arts." The ex-con will pose as "a murdered sheriff, imposing his own brand of justice while also cooking up plans that serve his own interests."

You might need something faster than a scooter, Benuel, to escape that mayhem.

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Contact The Scribbler: jbrubaker@lnpnews.com or 291-8781.