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A series of pages exploring
various aspects of enslavement in Pennsylvania
Enslavement in Pennsylvania
Slaveholders Enumerated in Cumberland County Tax List, 1785
Listing of Slaveholders, Extracted from the "Cumberland County Transcript -- 1785."
The County of Cumberland's Tax List for 1785 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 "Transcript of Taxables of the County of Cumberland, for the Year 1785" follows the 1778 tax list, the 1779 Supply Rates list and the 1780 Supply Rates list in Volume 20. It provides a snapshot of slaveholding in the county in the fifth year following passage of the Gradual Abolition Act of 1780. The 1780 law required all slaveholders to travel to the county seat of Carlisle to register all Black persons held as slaves, so this 1785 tax list adds important data to that landmark legislation and allows us to track individual slaveholding through the years after the registration process.
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 and number of cattle owned. 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 1785. 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. This number of taxable enslaved persons shown in this list for a specific slaveholder may not match the number of enslaved persons registered by that slaveholder at Carlisle in the fall of 1780, since the Gradual Abolition law required the registration of all enslaved Blacks regardless of age.
Slaveholders in 1785 are listed below in the order published, roughly alphabetical, by township. It must be remembered that Cumberland County in 1782 encompassed territory and townships that would later form the counties of Mifflin and Perry. Franklin County had been separated from Cumberland County in 1784. The spelling of slaveholders' names below is mostly preserved from the original 1782 records with corrections occasionally noted and most abbreviations spelled out. Misspellings of surnames is rampant in these records. The extracted data below is formatted as Last name, First name, notes or occupation, and number of "Negroes."
Listing of Slaveholders
Allen Township
Galbreath, Robert, gristmill, sawmill, still, 1
Gregory, James, still, 1
McTeer, William, 1
Quigley, Henry, 1/2 mill, 1
Starr, Moses, 1
Switzer, Frederick, 1
Williams, John, 1
Armagh Township
Brown, William, still, mills, 1
Brown, Thomas, 1
Brown, Alexander, still, 1
Campbell, John, still, 1
McNitt, William, 1
McNitt, John, 1
Richardson, Edmund, 1
Taylor, Matthew, tanyard, still, 1
Carlisle
Armstrong, John, Esq'r, 2
Brown, William, carpenter, 1
Butler, Richard, Colonel, 1
Blair, William, Senior, 1
Buchanan, John, m't, 1
Calhoon, Andrew, 1
Duncan, Stephen, 2
Davis, James, 2
Foster, Thomas, 1
Herwick, Anthony, 1
Lewes, Lewis, 2
Lyon, William, Esq'r, 1
McGaw, Robert, Esq'r, 2
Montgomery, John, Esq'r, 3
McCoskry, Samuel, Doctor, 1
McKinzey, Widow, 2
Pollock, James, 2
Postlewaite, Samuel, Esq'r, 1
Smith, Robert, 1
Smith, Thomas, Esq'r, 1
Semple, Robert, 1
Thornburgh, Joseph, m't, 1
Derry Township
Smith, William, 2
East Pennsbro (Pennsboro) Township
Culbertson, Widow, 1
Galbreath, John, 2
Galbreath, Andrew, 1
Galbreath, William, gristmill, still, 3
Hoge, David, 3
Kelsy, William, ferry, 1
Loudon, Mathew, 2 stills, 1
McGuire, Francis, 1
Orr, John, malt house, 2 stills, 2
Parker, Andrew, 1
Quigley, Widow, 1
Rees, Jeremiah, still, 2
Semple, John, 2 stills, 1
White, William, 1
Whitehill, Robert, 1
Fermanagh Township
Hambleton, John, merchant, gristmill, sawmill, 2
Harris, John, 1
Lowry, Jacob, 1
Nellson, Robert, 2 stills, 1
Patterson, James, sawmill, fulling mill, 1
Greenwood Township
Fulton, James, 1
Hopewell Township
Boar, Samuel, 1
Blythe, Benjamin, 2
Clark, Robert, 2
Culbertson, Robert, 1
Colewell, James, 1
Duncan, William, Senior, 1
Dunlop, James, 3
Mahon, David, sawmill, still, 5
McKinney, David, 1
McCune, Samuel, 2 stills, gristmill, 5
Middleton Township
Chambers, William, 2
Craighead, Thomas, gristmill, sawmill, 1
Egey, Michal, merchant, mill, sawmill, forge, furnace, 4
Fleming, William, 1
Guy, Thomas, 1
Gibson, Robert, 1
Holmes, Andrew, 2 stills, 3
Holmes, Jonathan, 1
Irwine, James, 1
Lyon, Samuel, 1
Laird, Matthew, gristmill, 2 stills, 1
Lamb, Margaret, 1
McClure, Charles, gristmill, 2 still, 2
Mitchell, Ross, still, 1
Miller, John, 1
Miller, Matthew, 2
Moor, William, gristmill, sawmill, 2 stills, 3
Reed, R. James, gristmill, sawmill, 2 stills, 2
Sanderson, John, 1
Sanderson, Robert, gristmill, 2 stills, 2
Sample, Joseph, 1
Thompson, Catharine, 1
Willson, James, Major, gristmill, sawmill, 1
Young, James, 1
Young, Widow, 1
Millford (Milford) Township
Harris, Thomas, gristmill, sawmill, 1
Lyons, John, 1/2 still, 1
Poultney, Joseph, 1
Stewart, George, 2
Taylor, Robert, 1
Willson, Thomas, Rev., still, 1
Newtown (Newton) Township
Bogle, James, 1
Gillespie, Robert, 1
Laughlin, Alexander, 3
Laughlin, Hugh, gristmill, 1
McCune, John, 1
McCraken, William, 1
McKibben, Jeremiah, 1
McGuffog, James, still, 2
Nicholson, James, 2 stills, 3
Ross, Adam, 1
Sterrett, David, gristmill, sawmill, 2
Trago, Moses, 1
Thompson, William, 2
Wear, George, 1
Williamson, David, sawmill, 2
Rye Township
English, David, Senior, 1
Scott, Thomas, 1
Sterret, Ralph, still, 3
Watts, Frederick, tanyard, 1
Shippensburgh
Campbell, Francis, 1
Cisney, John, 3
Dickey, Peter, 2
Duncan, Daniel, 2
Hanna, Archibald, 1
Hammel, Robert, 1
McClintock, James, 1
Porter, Samuel, 1
Reynolds, John, 2 gristmills, sawmill, 2 stills, 3
Rippey, William, 2 stills, 6
Rippey, Samuel, Junior, tanyard, 1
Tyrone Township
Sanderson, John, gristmill, still, 1
West, Edward, 2
Teboyne (Toboyne) Township
No slaveholders enumerated for this year.
Wayne Township
Brown, William, Carlisle, 1
Bratton, William & John, 2
Collar, Richard, still, 1
Carmichal, John, still, 2
Galloway, Samuel, tanyard, 2
Huston, James, 1
Holiday, Samuel, gristmill, 2
Howard, Widow, 2
West Pennsboro Township
Brice, Samuel, 1
Buyers, James, 1
Coiner, Michal, oil mill, still, 1
Carothers, James, Junior, 2
Davidson, John, deceased, 1
Erwine, James, gristmill, still, 1
Gettis, William, 1
Gillispey, William, 1
Jacobs, Jermin, tanyard, 1
Moore, John, gristmill, sawmill, still, 2
McFarlane, James, 1
McAlister, Andrew, 1
McFarlane, Margaret, 3
Pierce, Paul, 2
Parker, Alexander, 1
Ramsey, James, 6
Smith, James, 2
Woods, Thomas, 1
Woods, William, 1
Young, John, 2
Washington Township
No slaveholders enumerated for this year.
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. 683-782.