slaveryto
freedom
A series of pages exploring
various aspects of enslavement in Pennsylvania
Enslavement in Pennsylvania
Slaveholders Enumerated in York County Tax List, 1780
Listing of Slaveholders, Extracted from the "Return of Taxables of the County of York, for the Year 1780."
The County of York's tax list for 1780 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 "Return of Taxables of the County of York, for the Year 1780" follows the the transcribed tax data from 1779 in Volume 21. It provides a snapshot of slaveholding in the county in the same year as passage of the Gradual Abolition Act of 1780. The 1780 law required all slaveholders to travel to the county seat of York to register all Black persons held as slaves, so this 1780 tax list adds data to that landmark legislation.
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. The York Town list is an exception in that it enumerates lots and houses instead of acres and livestock. 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 1780. While colonial tax lists created for the crown taxed a category of property described only as "servants," which presumably included white indentured labor, tax lists beginning with the revolution specifically enumerated property in "Negroes," and are therefore valuable sources of information on slaveholding. Excluded from that property category and not enumerated or taxed were enslaved persons younger than age 12 and older than age 60, and Black 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. For this reason, the 1780 Gradual Abolition Registration records include more enslaved persons than are recorded below, since the Gradual Abolition law required the reporting and registration of all Black enslaved persons and not just those considered taxable.
Slaveholders in 1780 are listed below in the order published for their township of residence, roughly alphabetical by surname. York County in 1780 encompassed territory and townships that would, in 1800, form the county of Adams. Those counties are included in this list. The spelling of slaveholders' names below is mostly preserved from the original 1780 records with corrections occasionally noted and most abbreviations spelled out. Misspelling of surnames, possibly recorded phonetically by the enumerator, are common. It is formatted as Last name, First name, notes or occupation, and number of "Negroes."
Listing of Slaveholders
Berwick Township
Bittinger, Nicholas, 2
Correll, Michael, 1
Darland, Garret, 1
Housel, Peter, 1
Koon, George, 1
Lilly, Thomas, 1
Sarbach, Jacob, 1
Slagel, Jacob, Senior, 1
Chanceford Township
Finley, John, 2
Kelley, Thomas, 2
Killgore, Mathew, 1
Marland, John, 1
McCall, Mathew, 2
Morrison, William, Senior, 1
Nelson, Samuel, 1
Ross, Hugh, 2
Reid, Joseph, 1
Stuart, Robert, Senior, 1
Smith, Joseph, Rev., 1
Scott, Gavan, 1
Thomson, John, 2
Coster, John, 1
Kirk, John, 1
Codorus Township
Diel, Charles, 2
Dahofe, Nicholas, 2
Egy, Michael, 6
Lawson, Widow, 1
Cumberland Township
Armstrong, Benjamin, 2
Boyd, William, 1
Black, Robert, 2
Cobean, Samuel, 1
Dinwoody, David, Senior, 1
Ewing, James, 1
Fleming, John, 2
Gattee, Samuel, 2
Johnston, James, 2
King, Widow, 2
Latta, Thomas, 1
McClellan, William, 1
McClean, Moses, 1
Murray, Robert, 2
McPherson, Robert, 4
Morrison, Joseph, 1
Porter, Andrew, 1
Riddel, James, 2
Ross, John, 1
Russel, Joshua, 1
Speer, James, 1
Slemons, Robert, 1
Scott, Robert, 1
Stewart, William, 1
Taylor, Robert, 4
Taylor, William, 1
Vantz, George, 1
Dover Township
No taxable enslaved persons enumerated in Dover Township in 1780.
Fawn Township
Carnals, James, 1
Cooper, Thomas, 6
Cooper, Alexander, 5
Hamilton, John 2
McCandles, James, 3
McCandles, William, 1
McFaden, Hugh, 1
Mitchel, George, 1
Porter, William, 4
Ramsey, James, 3
Steel, Rachel, 1
Semple, Cunningham, 5
Semple, John, 5
Wilson, John, 1
Germany Township
No taxable enslaved persons enumerated in Germany Township in 1780.
Hamilton's Bann [Hamiltonban] Township
Agnew, James, Colonel, 2
Agnew, John, 1
Agnew, James, 1
Agnew, David, 1
Bigham, Samuel, 1
Bigham, Robert, Junior, 3
Carnachan, Alexander, 1
Cochran, Andrew, 4
Cochran, James, 2
Cochran, William, 4
Clingan, Thomas, 2
Dunwidy, Widow, 1
Emite, Widow, 2
Findley, William, 1
Jack, Andrew, 2
Kennedy, David, Colonel, 2
Kerr, George, 2
Kerr, William, 1
Knox, Samuel, 1
Marshall, James, miller, 1
McKisson, William, 2
McKisson, Alexander, 3
McKinley, Widow, 2
McGinely, John, 1
McColough, Widow, 1
McKisson, James, 3
Porter, William, 1
Ramsey, Reynolds, 2
Riodel, John, 1
Slemmons, John, Rev., 3
Waugh, William, 2
Waugh, David, 1
Wilson, Widow, 233 acres, 1
Wilson, David, 1
Withero, William, 1
Wilson, Widow, 0 acres, 1
Young, James, 2
Heidelberg Township
Chambers, Arthur, 1
McAllister, Richard, 3
McSherry, Patrick, 3
Owens, William, 1
Reinecker, Casper, 1
Schriber, Andrew, 1
Hellam Township
Gartner, Philip, 2
Jordan, John, 2
Neaf, Daniel, 1
Shultz, Jacob, 1
Wright, John, 1
Hopewell Township
Gemmel, William, 2
Huntington Township
Dodds, Joseph, 1
Folk, Stephen, 3
Hutton, Leonard, 1
Neely, Thomas, 1
Manchester Township, including Botts Town
Wogins, Jacob, 3
Manhime [Manheim] Township
Eichelberger, Adam, 1
Hubert, Adam, 2
Kitzmiller, George, 2
Mary Ann Furnace, 1
Manallen [Menallen] Township
Johnston, Ephraim, 2
McConaughy, David, 4
McConaughy, Robert, 2
McCashlin, Thomas, 1
Moore, James, 1
McElhenny, William, 1
Pollock, William, 1
Stockton, David, 1
Manahan [Monaghan] Township
Comfort, Andrew, 1
Colston, Charles, 2
Dill, James, 9
Dill, Mathew, 1
Godfrey, William, 1
McCurdy, Daniel, 2
Mumper, Michael, 2
Wilson, Andrew, 1
Williams, Daniel, 1
Williams, John, miller, 3
Mount Joy Township
No taxable enslaved persons enumerated in Mount Joy Township in 1780.
Mount Pleasant Township
Andrew, John, Colonel, 1
Brinkerhoof, James, 2
Cooper, James, 2
Hagon, Patrick, 1
Sheakly, William, 2
Newberry Township
Chesny, William, 7
Paradise Township
No taxable enslaved persons enumerated in Paradise Township in 1780.
Reading Township
Chamberlain, John, 1
Chamberlain, James, 1
Clark, John, Junior, 2
Johnston, William, 1
O'Blanus, John, 2
Stag, James, 1
Weakly, James, Senior, 2
Shrewsberry [Shrewsbury] Township
Balzer, Coler, 1
Lower, Joshua, 1
Strabann [Straban] Township
Ambrose, Robert, 1
Beaty, David, Junior, 1
Brinkerhoof, George, 6
Banta, Abraham, 2
Brown, Richard, 3
Camell, Hugh, 1
Cozat, Francis, 1
Cozat, David, 1
Doran, Terra, 3
Dickson, James, Senior, 2
Dimoree, David, 1
Fleming, John, 1
Hays, Samuel, Senior, 1
Hadan, Samuel, 1
Jones, Henry, 1
Livingston, John, 1
McCush, James, 1
Mercer, Perigan, 4
Reed, Thomas, 1
Thomson, Samuel, Rev., 2
Vonasdal, Simon, 1
Vonasdal, Lukens, 2
Tyrone Township
Brown, Alexander, 3 King, William, 3 Maxwell, John, 2 Walker, James, 1
Warrington Township
Gartner, Peter, 1
Ruse, Frederick, 3
Windsor Township
Atticks, George, 1
Bair, John, at river, 3
York Town [York]
Alexander, William, 1
Andrews, John, Rev., 3
Bailey, William, 2
Crantz,Valentine, innkeeper, 2
Doudle, Michael, tanner, 3
Doudle, Widow, 1
Donoldson, Joseph, 1
Test, George, sadler [saddler], 1
Grier, David, Esq'r, 1
Erwin, George, 3
Chambers, Joseph, 2
McAllister, John, Comisary [commissary], 1
Reel, Peter, 1
Swoope, Michael, Esq'r, 2
Spangler, Balzer, innkeeper, 3
Stake, George, 1
YorkTownship
Jeffrys, Joseph, 1
Stouffer, Henry, 1
Spangler, John, 1
Source
"Provincial Papers: Returns of Taxables of the County of York, for the Years 1779, 1780, 1781, 1782 and 1783," Pennsylvania Archives, Third Series, Vol. 21, William Henry Egle, M.D. Editor, Harrisburg, PA 1897, pp. 165-324.