American Furniture, Folk & Decorative Arts

Cuyler argued seventy-three cases before the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court. He successfully represented the defendants in the landmark Christiana Trial for Treason (1851), in which a group of Pennsylvania Quakers refused to surrender fugitive slaves, fired on a federal marshall, and the slaves' owner, killing him. This was the first case brought under the Fugitive Slave Act and the defendants were charged with treason and levying war against the United States. This court victory made Cuyler a national figure. From 1857 to his death, Cuyler was the chief Philadelphia lawyer for the Pennsylvania Railroad.