High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! William Parker, a former slave from Roedown Plantation in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, was an anti-slavery activist and a principal character in the events of September 11, 1851 in Christiana, Pennsylvania. The events at Christiana (Christiana incident (or riot), 1851) resulted in the death of a Maryland slaveowner (Edward Gorsuch). The events also brought the attention of the country to the perils and challenges of attempting to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.