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A series of pages exploring
various aspects of enslavement in Pennsylvania
Enslavement in Pennsylvania
Slaveholders Enumerated in Cumberland County First Tax List, 1778
Listing of Slaveholders, Extracted from the "First State Tax of Cumberland County for the Year 1778."
The County of Cumberland's Tax List for 1778 was transcribed and edited for use in the official state publication titled simply Pennsylvania Archives. Editor and historian William Henry Egle edited the series, published in 1897, and it remains a vital original research tool. The "First State Tax of Cumberland County for the Year 1778" begins Volume 20. It provides a snapshot of slaveholding in the county two years prior to passage of the Gradual Abolition Act of 1780, which required all slaveholders to travel to the county seat of Carlisle to register all Black persons held as slaves.
The transcribed information in the published list provides no details on the enslaved persons themselves. It merely reports the number of taxable enslaved persons held by the named propertyholder, along with numbers of acres owned, number of horses owned, number of cattle owned, and the total assessed amount of tax owed. If the property owner had a still or other valuable operation such as a sawmill, it was also noted.
The list below is extracted data and shows only those property holders that had at least one enslaved taxable person in the year 1778. Excluded from that category and not enumerated or taxed were enslaved persons younger than age 12 and older than age 60, indentured servants or other workers, bound or free. Only Black enslaved persons between the ages of 12 and 60, designated in the enumeration as "Negroes," were enumerated and taxed, along with acres of land, horses, and cattle.
Slaveholders in 1778 are listed below in the order published, roughly alphabetical, by township. It must be remembered that Cumberland County in 1778 encompassed territory and townships that would later form the counties of Franklin, Mifflin and Perry. The spelling of slaveholders names below is mostly preserved from the original 1778 records with corrections occasionally noted and most abbreviations spelled out. It is formatted as Last name, First name, notes or occupation, and number of "Negroes."
Listing of Slaveholders
Antrim Township
Allison, William, 1
Brown, George, gristmill, 2
Cooke, Joseph, 1
Crunkleton, John, 2
Davis, Ellis, 2
David, Robert, 1
Eaker, Simon, 1
Erwin, John, 2
Fulerton, Humphreys, 1
Galady, Joseph, 1
Gibson, Andrew, Senior, 1
Gordon, Henry, 1
Hart, Rodger, 1
McClenaghan, James, 1
Pauling, Henry, 1
Poe, James, 1
Renkers, William, 1
Allen Township
McTeer, William, 1
Quigley, Henry, 1
Starr, Moses, 1
Armagh Township
Brown, William, Esq'r, 1
Campble, John, 1
Landron, Birney Robert, 2
Carlisle
Armstrong, John, General, 2
Allen, David, 6
Brown, William, 2
Baker, Jeremiah, 2
Blair, William, 1
Duncan, Stephen, 2
Helms, William, 1
Lyon, William, Esq'r, 2
Miller, Robert, Esq'r, 2
Montgomery, John, 1
Pollock, James, 2
Stevenson, George, 2
Speer, Joseph, 1
Derry Township
Buchanon, Robert, 1
Bratton, Andrew, 1
Carmichael, John, 1
Chamber, Robert, 1
Gammel, John, 1
Huston, James, 1
Hilidy, Samual, grist mill, saw mill, 1
Howart, Widow, 1
Parsheal, Keleb, 1
Wilson, James, 1
East Pennsborough Township
Boggs, John, 1
Buchanon, John, 1
Galbraith, James, 2
Galbraith, John, 1
Hendericks, Tobias, 1
Hoge, David, 3
McGuire, Franciss, 1
Neilson, Andrew, 1
Patterson, William, 1
Rees, Jeremiah, 1
Whitehill, Robert, Esq'r, 1
Fermanagh Township
Bull, Thomas, Capt., 1
Hamilton, John, grist mill, saw mill, 1
Patterson, Widow, grist mill, saw mill, 1
Fannet Township
Alexander, Rynolds, 2
Bryans, Nathaniel, 2
Brown, Allen, 1
Coulter, Samuel, 1
Elder, David, Senior, 1
Elder, David, Junior, 1
Elliott, John, Senior, 1
Holiday, John, 2
McGibbins, William, 1
McCurdy, Hugh, 1
Moor, Samuel, 2
Guilford Township
Andrew, John, grist mill, 1
Adams, David, 1
Brotherton, William, 1
Craford, Hugh, 1
Chambers, Benjamin, grist mill, 1
Glass, William, fulling mill, 1
Kerby, William, 1
Wilson, Mathew, 1
Greenwood Township
Crain, John, 1
Finly, Thomas, 1
Hamilton Township
Armstrong, Joseph, 1
Chesnut, John, 1
Dixon, Robert, grist mill, 1
Steel, Richard, 2
Thompson, William, grist mill, saw mill, 1
Hopewell Township
Boyd, Alexander, 1
Blythe, Benjamin, 1
Culberson, Robert, 2
Coolhoon, John, 1
Cisney, John, 2
Campble, Francis, 2
Dunlap, James, 2
Duncan, William, 1
Duncan, Daniel, 2
Hamel, Robert, 1
McKinney, Joseph, 1
McCune, Samuel, Esq'r, grist mill, 2
Mahon, David, saw mill, 1
Lurgan Township
Barr, Thomas, 1
Irwine, William, 1
Johnston, John, "big road", 1 (to distinguish from John Johnston "mountain")
Linn, William, 1
McKibbins, James, 2
McMurphy, Andrew, 1
McComb, John, 1
McClay, John, "mountain," 1
Porter, David, 1
Rynolds, John, grist mill, 1
Rippy, William, 2
Letterkenny Township
Beard, John, 1
Culberson, Joseph, 1
Culberson, Samuel, Colonel, 1
Culberson, Samuel, Senior, 1
Terrance, Hugh, 2
Middleton Township
Chambers, William, 1
Davis, Joh, 1
Holms, Jonathan, 1
Holms, Andrew, 2
Johnston, Jonathan, 1
Irwine, James, 1
Irwin, Samuel, 1
Mayberry, Thomas, f, 2
Miller, Mathew, 2
Mitchel, James, 1
McDowell, Andrew, 2
Moore, William, grist mill, saw mill, 2
McClure, Charles, 1
Semple, Joseph, 1
Smith, Johnson, 2
Sanderson, Robert, gristmill, 2
Thompson, William, General, 1
Millford (Milford) Township
Stewart, George, 1
Wilson, Thomas, 1
Newtown (Newton) Township
Laughlen, Alexander, 1
Laughlen, Hugh, gristmill, 1
Mickey, Robert, Senior, 1
Nichoalson, Richard, 2
Scroggs, Alexander, 1
Starret, David, gristmill, 1
Thompson, William, 1
Peters Township
Baird, Richard, 2
Brownston, Richard, 1
Campble, James, 1
Campble, William, 1
Campble, Patrick, 1
Davis, Davis, 1
Davis, David, 3
Darkes, Frederick, 3
Dunwoody, Thomas, 2
Erwin, Archibald, gristmill, 2
Finley, Samuel, 1
Hallady, Adam, 1
Harris, Rowland, 1
Huston, David, 1
Huston, James, 1
Maxwell, Patrick, 1
Maxwell, James, Esq'r, 1
McClelland, John, 1
Montgomery, William, 1
Smith, Robert, 1
Taggard, Robert, 2
White, Alexander, 1
Rye Township
Bull, Henry, 1
Holms, Archibald, 1
Irwin, Andrew, 1
Miller, David, 2
Starret, Ralph, 1
Tyrone Township
Fisher, James, 1
West, Francis, 1
Teboyne (Toboyne) Township
Miller, James, gristmill, 1
West Pennsboro Township
Gettes, William, 1
Irwine, Alexander, 1
Irwine, James, 1
Jumper, Conrode, gristmill, 1
Irwine, William, Colonel, 1
Moor, John, mill, 2
McFarland, Widow, 1
Paterson, James, 1
Pierce, Paul, 3
Parker, Alexander, 2
Semple, Robert, 1
Wood, William, Senior, 1
Young, John, 1
Lack Township
No slaveholders enumerated in this township.
Source
"Provincial Papers: State and Supply Transcripts of the County of Cumberland, for the Years 1778, 1779, 1780, 1781, 1782 and 1785, " Pennsylvania Archives, Third Series, Vol. 20, William Henry Egle, M.D. Editor, Harrisburg, PA 1897, pp. 1-115.