Churchtown
Churchtown in Monroe Township in Cumberland County was known as “Allen” for 136 years.1 Some current residents persist in using the Churchtown name while others prefer to use Allen.
Scots-Irish
The Creation of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
On January 27, 1749/1750, the General Assembly of Pennsylvania created Cumberland County from Lancaster County in an Act titled “An Act for erecting part of the province of Pennsylvania, westward of Susquehanna, and northward and westward of York, into a county.”1 Theories differ as to
Household Inventories Lower Allen Township: 1760 to 1780
Although the actual frontier or line of settlement of Europeans crossed beyond Pennsylvania during this time period, this study of the primary records of Allen Township demonstrates that the area retained a frontier mode of living. By the 1790's Georgian two story houses were built, but the majority of residents were huddled in one or two room log houses.
Richard Martin (1799-1869): Pine Grove Furnace Miller
Richard Martin’s son, Reverend Joseph Martin, wrote that his father’s daily book was the English Bible. “He read widely and of the best. He was a great admirer of Shakespeare and could recite passages by the page.
Newville
The town of Newville lodges in the northwest corner of Cumberland County.1 The first settler, Andrew Ralston, arrived in 1728.2 The town was founded by Scots-Irish when the Big Spring Presbyterian Church, which dates to 1737, sold lots from its 89 acres in 1790.
North Middleton Township
North and South Middleton Townships received a charter of incorporation in 1810 dividing what was originally Middleton Township.1 This area in the twenty-first century is composed of residential and commercial interests and a few farms.
William Penn (1644-1718)
Born in London to an ancient family of Gloucestershire, William Penn descended from a long line of yeomen Penns.
Robert Whitehill and the Struggle for Civil Rights
“Every man in Cumberland County is a rioter at heart,” lamented Governor John Penn the year he ordered his family’s land in Lower Manor subdivided and sold. The concurrence of his remark and his order to sell may have been mere chance, but young Penn in this instance established himself as seer and prophet. When he used the word “rioter” he spoke of the seething Scotch-Irish, who were virtually the only group then living in the County.
Scots-Irish Influence in Cumberland County
Upon ascending the throne in 1603, James I of England (James VI of Scotland) desired to “civilize the uncontrollable, autonomous Irish.” His plan was to displace English Protestants, Presbyterian Scots, French, and German Protestants from their homelands and into Ireland.
Shippensburg
The Shippensburg borough lives in two Pennsylvania counties, mostly in Cumberland but also in Franklin. In 1730, twelve Scots-Irish families traveled the Virginia Path Indian trail (now U.S.