The Cumberland County Historical Encyclopedia is an expanding publication on the history of the Cumberland County. Covering a wide range of topics and the entire Cumberland County geographic region, the Encyclopedia seeks to be an initial entry point to those interested in the County's history. Entries seek to provide a list of resources available as well as showcasing some of the Cumberland County Historical Society's own collections.
On March 16, 1836 an inventory and appraisement were taken of the goods & chattles, rights and credits of Barnet Aughinbaugh, Esq., late of the Borough of Carlisle, deceased.
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.
Charles Henry Masland, founder of C. H. Masland & Sons, was born on December 15, 1841, in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Along with his father and three of his brothers, he served in the Union Army in the Civil War.
Frank Elmer Masland Jr. was a prominent industrialist, conservationist, explorer, philanthropist and pillar of the Carlisle community throughout the twentieth century. Born to Frank Elmer Masland and Mary Esther Gossler on December 8, 1895, he was the grandson of Charles Henry Masland, founder of the Carlisle carpet company C. H. Masland & Sons.
It was a cold Sunday night in Pittsburgh when James McCandlish sat down and wrote a letter to both his niece Margaret and her father. He is thrilled to get a coat for the winter, and he updates them on the goings on in Pittsburgh. He writes “I don’t want anybody to see this but them that should.”
The story of Molly Pitcher is complex. It is a story that is part fact, part myth, and partly the combination of stories of multiple women during the Revolutionary War.1 Myths were built up and repeated without documented evidence to support the story.
Robert W. McCord was in his senior year at Dickinson College in 1849 when former Carlisle newspaper editor, George Fleming, formed a party of men to head to the gold fields in California. With thoughts of adventure, McCord dropped out of college and joined them.
Vance Criswell McCormick was born in Silver Springs Township in 1872 and was part of the sixth generation of McCormick’s in Cumberland County.
Dr. Samuel Allen McCoskry (1751-1818) was one of the first children born in Carlisle. He was a physician, Revolutionary War surgeon, member of the Society of the Society of Cincinnati, Trustee of Dickinson College, and son-in-law of its first president Charles Nisbet. He writes to his brother Dr. William McCoskry (1763-1831) that he and his wife are concerned about their son William’s debts and conduct as well as the impaired heath of the family.
This letter is filled with information about the new buildings being erected in Carlisle and the comings and goings and marriages and deaths of friends and neighbors. Note: Dr. McCoskry always begins a letter to his brother Dr. William with dear sir.