Charles Bernhard Trustgod Waggoner

Who was this man with a most unusual name? In 1817, Charles B.T. Waggoner petitioned the court of Cumberland County to grant him a license to pedal. According to Pennsylvania law, a man would only be granted a license if he could not earn a livelihood because of a disability. He had to be a citizen, reside in the county for which he was applying, obtain certified recommendations from two doctors about his disability, and be bonded. He then paid a fee for a license to sell either on foot, with a horse, or with a horse and a wagon.¹

His petition, written in a beautiful hand, was dated “Cumberland County, Shermans Valley June the 22d, 1817. We the undersigned, inhabitants of Shermans Valley, do by this certify, that the bearer hereof, Charles Bernhard Trustgod Waggoner has resided in this Valley now above six years, that he is a Citizen of the United States, by occupation an Apothecary and Chemist, that we are well acquainted with him, and ever since we know him we found him to be an honest man, of a moral Character, harmless to his fellow Citizens, making all the industry he can to provide for his wife and children, and as he is in low circumstances, and not able to endure hard labor, we consider him as an object worthy of our recommendation for obtaining a license for peddling.” Sixteen men signed the petition.²

Another letter of recommendation was dated “Carlisle, July 17th A.D. 1817. We the undersigned inhabitants of Carlisle do certify by this that the bearer hereof, Charles Bernhardt Trustgod Waggoner, has resided in this town one year and that he is a citizen of the United States by occupation an Apothecary and Chemist…as he is in low circumstances and by a defect in his leg not able to endure hard labor…” Signed by Doctor Samuel A. McCoskry, and brothers George and Jacob Hendel, Carlisle silversmiths.

We learn about his disability from the letters that two doctors submitted with Waggoner’s petition. Dr. William C. Chambers of Carlisle stated that Waggoner had “an injury to his right ankle and is incapable of doing hard labor,” and John Fahnestock concurred. In a further document, Waggoner stated that he was living in Toboyne Township, [now in Perry County,] and requested a license to travel on foot as a hawker or peddler or petty chapman.

License fees depended on whether you traveled on foot, on horseback, or with a horse and wagon. The court also required a bond of $100 which was guaranteed by Dr. Samuel McCoskry, George Hendel, and George Metzgar, each a prominent Carlisle citizen. Charles’s signature appears on two of the documents as Charles B. T. Waggoner.

Efforts to pick up his trail in Cumberland County proved fruitless. His whereabouts between 1817 and 1829 are unknown. The 1830 U.S. Census, which lists "Charles B. T. Waggoner" as a resident of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is the only other source that mentions him. His age range of 50 to 59 on the census indicates that he was born between 1771 and 1780. The woman living in the household, probably his wife, was aged between 40 to 49. Nothing more is known about either one of them.