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.
During the presidency of George Washington one of the early major issues confronting him was raising taxes to pay the debt of the states incurred during the Revolutionary War. Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton in 1790 recommended an excise tax on domestically produced distilled spirits (the Whiskey Act of 1791).1
In the 1790s, the newly-founded United States was deeply in debt and had no reliable sources of revenue. The 1789 Constitution had given the Federal government the right to levy both direct and indirect (excise, import, etc.) taxes, something the Articles of Confederation made almost impossible.
The Pennsylvanians who led the Whiskey Rebellion were disproportionately affected by the 1791 excise tax on domestic liquor because the majority of western farmers were small-scale distillers, who also had the expensive disadvantage of having to transport their product over the Allegheny mountain
Miss Minerva White and her mother, Matilda Vickers, came to Mt. Holly from Virginia in 1859. Minerva worked for several years in the paper mills in Mt. Holly, but about 1870 she and her mother took charge of the toll gate and ran a small store.1 After her mother’s death in 1885, Minerva continued to operate the Mt. Holly toll gate for another 19 years.
In a series of letters between Robert White and his Philadelphia supplier, John Mitchell, we learn something about White’s family, the names of the waggoners who hauled his goods from Philadelphia to Carlisle, the kinds of food and liquors he ordered, and the way business was conducted.
"'Black Jack’ was a famous cook,” wrote Jeremiah Zeamer, editor of the American Volunteer newspaper. “He had a great reputation as a cook and caterer. Whenever in that part of the county there was a wedding, a dance, or a party of any kind for which a feast was to be prepared, ‘Black Jack’ was sent for to superintend the cooking and set the table, and so well did he do this that he was always in high favor with people who had appetites.”
Williams came to Carlisle in 1841 and opened a studio in Beetem's Hotel. The October 27, 1841 edition of the Carlisle Weekly Herald extolled his talent for representing faces on ivory and canvas and urged people to visit his studio. Painting portraits was not Williams' only talent.
Willow Mill, the only mill building still standing in Silver Spring Township, was a substantial industrial complex in its prime. Built in approximately 1794, the mill was still grinding grain through the end of the 1800s. The site then transitioned into an outdoor retreat and amusement park.
The provincial town of Carlisle was fortunate to have among its mist for a short period a political theorist and talented lawyer, James Wilson. Born in 1742 at Carskerdo near St. Andrews, Scotland, Wilson studied at St. Andrews, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Emigrating to America in1765, he first took a tutoring job at the College of Philadelphia. Next Wilson studied law under John Dickinson...
When Alexander Wilt of Newville died in 1902, he was the longest serving employee of the Cumberland Valley Railroad.