On September 8, 1851, Gorsuch took an express train to Philadelphia, arriving ahead of his party.  On September 9, he secured four warrants authorizing capture authorizing capture of his slaves under the federal government’s Fugitive Slave Law adopted the previous year.  The fugitive-slave commissioner, Edward Ingraham, also instructed Henry H.

Some of the slaves of Edward Gorsuch, of Maryland, had made their escape to the eastern part of Lancaster county, and were living amongst others of their race in that section. On the 9th of September, 1851, Edward D. Ingraham, Commissioner of the United States, issued his warrant to Henry H. Kline, an officer appointed by him under the fugitive slave law of the 13th of September, 1850.