Silver Spoons and Other Notable Items in the 1780 Cumberland County Tax Lists

Silver spoons and tableware were considered valuable assets in 1780. Spoons and a few other pieces of tableware such as “Mustard Potts” represent entries among a handful of the county’s residents. They are not found in the earliest county tax lists. By the time spoons were itemized they were not always specifically represented with accompaniment of other utensils such as knives and forks. Later generations may find this unimaginable as whole silver chests fully servicing a dozen or more persons became prized.

Large quantities of personal silverware, however, were not unheard of among the very wealthy. “The use of the fork [had begun to slowly] spread throughout Europe and the colonies in the 17^th century … While traveling in Paris in 1784, Thomas Jefferson purchased two dozen silver forks.” Eight years had elapsed since the signing of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and only four years since the tax lists in question. Unlike Jefferson, average people were slow to catch on to the dinner fork.¹ Further, forks and other utensils were most commonly made of wrought iron or steel. Flatware such as this was often referred to simply as “plate”, a term which could also apply to silver and less expensive pewter flatware.

Pewter plates in the sense of dishes and other pieces were also valuable. They were made in Britain from 1650 to 1780 in order to replace wood. Single reeded rim pewter was made during the 18h century for export to the American colonies. While both silver and pewter spoons were made, silver or pewter forks (initially two-pronged), were composed of materials too soft to be pure in the form of forks. Silversmiths and pewterers had to strengthen them from within. Silver was combined with a very small amount of copper and other metals to strength it. Pewterers used a brass alloy, “latten”, adding strength with steel wires down the middle of the forks, then “pewter cast round them.”²

The concept of the spoon, rooted in the cupped hand, predates that of the fork. Silver spoons held a special place in the lives of colonists who could afford them. They were among “the first investments made by the English yeoman or by the early American colonist as they struggled up from meager beginnings.”³ The spoons also served for some as special gifts celebrating births and marriages.⁴ It is now known that unlike lead-filled pewter, silver can actually protect ones’ health since it is anti-bacterial and antifungal.

One exception to the isolated listings of 1780 taxable spoons is found with Rev. John Hoge of E. Pennsborough Township whose listing shows “6 T. Spoons & Tongs”, valued at 3 pounds, and 117a (acres), 4h (horses), 5c (cows), and over 133 pounds cash. The tongs were likely for grasping sugar cubes. Mary Linday (Guilford) also listed tongs and spoons, as did Samuel McClay (Lurgan). Silver cutlery was considered property and as good as cash. As seen here, values were in the British currency of the period.

County wide itemizations included the very occasionally valuable carriage, or even an exceptional chair. Listings of a “farm” as such were also rare. Acreage was typically a few dozen acres to 100-200 hundred or more. However, we find East Pennsborough’s Joseph Junkin owned 383 ½ acres and Benjamin Chambers of Fannett Township owned 500 acres. A few county residents owned even more acreage. Land was taxed at up to 2-3 shillings on the pound.

Colonial dining was commonly so rudimentary in the earlier 17^th century that troughs were carved into a 10-12” block of wood from which an entire family would dine, flipping the log over to the cleaner underside to serve dessert, as had been common in England. Hands, the blunt edge of woodsmen’s knives, and wooden spoons sufficed to bring food to the mouth. Whenever a small wooden bowl or a cup known as a “noggin” had been fashioned it was passed from mouth to mouth.⁵

Even after forks came into use in countries such as France, they were at first rather startling in both England and the American colonies.⁶ Known at their onset as split spoons, forks were initially considered such peculiar objects that in 1633 Gov. Winthrop’s split spoon fork was deemed evil by the clergy of Massachusetts Bay Colony. A “fine gentleman” tried again in 1721.⁷ Meanwhile, a variety of knives sufficed, including the multi-tasked knife later named a “Bowie”, and the Scramasaxe knife/hand-ax which had a sharp point suitable for obtaining a piece of food from a pot. Belt knives were more common inland and throughout the frontier. Barlow folding pocket knives were also common. ⁸

The use of forks, firstly in carving and then in cooking, is quite old in certain parts of the world. The fork’s later use in dining was not introduced to Europe until about the 10^th century. It was only much later, however, when “[dinner] forks … really caught in Britain about the 18^th century.”⁹ As noted, they were generally slow to catch on here in the American colonial period where hands and knives were still in use. Maria Argyropoulina, cousin of Byzantine Emperor Basil the 2^nd, used a gold two-pronged “instrument” for dining, part of a set of gold forks she brought for use during her wedding festivities. This was still being talked about 50 years after her death in 1006/7 when a Benedictine monk and cardinal criticized her great arrogance among those commonly using their hands.¹⁰ A 4-pronged fork was later “conceived by Gennaro Spadaccini” during the reign of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon and was of increasing use after the 1700’s.¹¹

There are no forks specifically assessed in Cumberland County tax records for the year 1780. They may, however, have been in use for carving and cooking but simply made of rough materials. Forks were perhaps included in flatware noted simply as “plate”. In any case, the equipping of Continental Army soldiers included food rations and perhaps “a fork made of wrought iron … and a Pewter or horn spoon.”¹²

In East Pennsborough Township the following had their spoons noted in the 1780 tax lists. Some areas itemized fewer spoons, or none at all. In this sampling from those tax lists, I have noted the spoons first and have underscored less common items: Thomas Atkins: 8 spoons valued at 2 pounds, 2 h 4c, 15 pounds cash; William Barker: 7 Tea Spoons valued at a little over one pound, 1 N (Negro), over 58 pounds cash; James Galbreath: 4 Tea Spoons (1 pound), 2 h 6c, 2 N, 56 pounds cash; John Galbreath: 6 Tea Spoons (3 pounds), 393 A (acres), 2 N, 3 h 4c, cash; Philip Gillard: 6 Tea Spoons (3 pounds), 1 c. Messrs. Reddick and Stuart each had five spoons. John Uling owned a whopping 1,134 acres, 2 T. Spoons, 5 Table Spoons, and a Cream Jugg. Messrs. Whitehill and Wilson had 6 and 7 Spoons respectively. During the same tax year, Pennsylvania declared an Act to abolish slavery. While Negroes and servants are mentioned, the term “slave” does not appear in these tax lists.

We may note that while some local areas had a limited number of tavern keepers fortunate enough to have taxable spoons, most did not. For instance, tavern keeper Jas. Sloan of East Pennsborough did not have taxable spoons. Those tavern keepers who did have taxable spoons included Guilford Townships’ John Jack and also Rachel Jack, who had 6 and 7 spoons respectively, while Wm. Morrow had 3 spoons, John Watt had 5 spoons. Prosperous gentleman William White, also of Guilford, was taxed on his 6 Table Spoons, 9 Tea Spoons, Mustard Pott, Salt Seller, and Cream Jugg, all of which we might suggest were silver.

This is especially interesting to note when we realize that newly elected president George Washington, on his return from a tour of the New England area, ran into a most annoying difficulty in procuring a proper utensil at a poor Massachusetts tavern during the year of 1789, nine years after the compilation of the tax lists sited here. It was then that Washington stopped for breakfast at a tavern in Milford. “The only food available were some crackers and a bowl of milk [which he apparently desired to combine]. Even worse, Washington was given a broken pewter spoon with which to eat [the milk and crackers]. This seems to have been the proverbial last straw [during his wearying and unannounced trip home].”

The president asked the proprietor for a “functioning silver spoon. The proprietor said he could not afford anything as fancy as a silver spoon.”¹³ A church stood next door. A serving girl was able to borrow from it the desired silver spoon. But at the time of the tax list noted here Gen. Washington had a bigger problem in the defection of Benedict Arnold who, in 1780, intended to lead the British in an assault on Virginia.

While Washington was dealing with this, our county’s David Hoge of East Pennsborough Township, who was not taxed on any spoons, was among those residents whose “plate” (flatware) was itemized. His was valued at just over 59 pounds. He also had 378 A, 2 N, 2 Svts, 2 stills worth just over 71 pounds, and 42 pounds cash. The Rev. James Long of the same community was taxed for plate valued at 10 pounds, 363 A, 4 h, 5 c, and cash of more than 112 pounds. Some cash may have been in coin due in part to a prohibition against printing and issuing paper money by the Currency Act of 1764, however, Parliament had amended the act in 1773 to again allow for the use of paper money.

East Pennsborough weavers John Birch, Samuel Calhoon, John Dunning, Jas. Dunlap, Samuel Mathers, and blacksmith Daniel Franks of East Pennsborough did not appear to have any spoons or taxable plate. Nor did Constable Henry Clayton, who was taxed on his 50 acres, 1 horse and 1 cow. David Cochran, a cooper, had but one cow to itemize, a not uncommon reality of the period. “In practice, the very poor or infirm were dropped from the tax rolls [in Chester County, PA] … assessors in other townships [may have been] making similar judgements.” State taxes helped fund the Revolutionary War.^{14 15} By the time of King George III’s taxation Act of 1778, created to appease “his Majesty’s Dominions”, it was too late. Colonists had declared independence two years earlier and aimed to win the war.¹⁶

Nevertheless, “Colonial and Early Americans paid a very low tax rate, both by modern and contemporary standards. Just prior to the Revolution, British tax rates stood at between 5-7%, dwarfing Americans’ 1-1.5% tax rate.” That’s good because the “Depression of the 1780’s was as bad as the Great Depression. Between 1774 and 1789, the American economy (GDP per capita) shrank by close to 30%.”¹⁷

At the time of the 1780 Cumberland County tax list, separation into other counties such as those of Perry and Franklin Counties had not yet occurred. The county was but about 30 years old, having separated from Lancaster County in 1749/1750, its 1^st inhabitants settling about 20 years prior. Cumberland County was comprised of 24 municipalities at the time of this tax list. The taxable spoons itemized in 1780 do not typically specify whether they are pewter or the more expensive silver. A further glance at the lists, however, provides interesting results.

In 1780, Derry Township’s Capt. Wm. Armstrong itemized 200 acres and plate valued at 270 pounds. Guilford showed that, in addition to those mentioned elsewhere here, the following also had taxable spoons: James Guthrie, 6 Spoons; Thomas McKean, 6 Tea Spoons; James McClellon, 3 T Spoons; Wm. Morrow, 3 Spoons; Mary McCormick, 6 Spoons; John Vance, 6 Spoons. The meticulous tax record for Hopewell Township numbers the harnesses in one’s possession. And for Hopewell resident Francis Campbell it specifically identifies “2 Silver Potts”, likely mustard pots, together valued at 16 pounds. His 6 spoons were valued at 10 pounds. Hopewell was also home to Robert Hammell’s taxable Snuff Mill.

Where was all the silver coming from? Perhaps some of it was from England or France. It may have come from Philadelphia. In Boston, silversmith Paul Revere was now in his forties, continuing his silversmithing trade. Perhaps the families of wives had contributed to the stock of fine tableware found in some of Cumberland County’s households. There would certainly have been those men who made purchases simply for the sake of investment. Surely, too, we may easily envision silver at the Schuyler table in New York when Alexander Hamilton, who had yet to write the “Federalist Papers”, became engaged to Elizabeth Schuyler during the year with which we are here concerned, and likely as well at their wedding that December. Continuing with our tax list of the same year we find that:

Letterkenny Township is most notable in the extravagant amount of Maj. Wm. Sharp’s property which consisted of 230,150 acres and cash of over 1,137 pounds. Lurgan Township itemized: Thomas Barr, 6 Spoons; John Campbell, 6 Spoons; Wm. Rippey, 1 R. Chair and Plate; Samuel Rippey (Sr.), 6 Spoons; Rev. Wm. Linn, no Spoons. Middleton Township in 1780 itemized: Jno & Co Armstrong, 6,000 acres; Wm. Chambers, Plate; David Bright, had a grist mill and 2 stills in addition to his 6 Te[a] Spoons; Callender Widow, Carriage; Thomas Craighead, 382 acres but no spoons; Col. John Davis, Carriage; Jonathan Holmes, 6 spoons. Middleton’s Gen. Wm. Thompson owned an astounding 300,129,200 acres, including a 200-acre tract “to be charged to Col. Davis”. Milford Township itemized Samuel Lyon, George Stewart and James Byers each for plate.

By now the Boston Tea Party (1773) had been history for 7 years. America was only about three years away from concluding the Revolutionary War (1783). In little more than 10 years there would arise the Whiskey Rebellion tax protest of 1791-1794.¹⁸ Rev. Hoge’s, Mary Linday’s, and Samuel McClay’s sugar tongs may have been the only ones identified as such in all of Cumberland County in the year 1780.

Serving pitchers were not identified when those taxes were collected. Taxable chairs and carriages were few and far between. That is until we review Carlisle’s tax list where we find nine chairs. They were the possessions of Gen. John Armstrong and of Attny. George Stevenson, both of whom had two chairs, Armstrongs’ valued at a combined 480 pounds and Stevenson’s at 800 pounds. A single chair sat in the homes of Jacob Hewick, Gen. Wm. Irwin, Dr. Saml McCoskry, Robert Miller Esq., Col. Robert Magaw, and Widow Sarah McDowell. In Carlisle we also find the Family Style Wagon of shop keeper Alexander Power and the Sleigh of Attn. George Stevenson. As to plate, we discover that Gen. John Armstrong’s collection was apparently fine and extensive, being valued at 936 pounds, thus begging the question of its exact nature. We may note that none of the tavern keepers in Carlisle were distinctly taxed on spoons.¹⁹

Philadelphia’s Bank of North America, the oldest in the U.S., did not form until the following year (1781) in order to “finance supply procurement for the Continental Army upon the collapse of the Continental Dollar.”²⁰ We may only wonder how many of the military used their pewter coated forks for their meals. A spoon may have been as yet more familiar to many hands. In any case, we do know that they used pewter musket balls: “When the Revolution erupted in the 1770’s, many an angry colonist willingly donated the family’s valued pewter pieces to be recast into musket balls to help General Washington’s ill-equipped army shoot its way to independence.”²¹ Lord Cornwallis surrendered during the year following the compilation of the preceding tax lists.

Much as pewter pieces could be melted down and made over, recast silver provided many a silver spoon during the Revolutionary period. Families gathered up their silver belt buckles, knee buckles, shoe buckles, and hat buckles for recasting into spoons. Philadelphia served many local families in this way. Some of these “buckle spoons” survive, much as do the similarly made “coin spoons”. Raw silver was difficult for silversmiths to procure. Thus, in 1777 George Washington took silver dollars to Philadelphia’s Edmond Milne to fashion into a set of twelve silver camp cups.

John Dickinson was named president of Pennsylvania in 1782, two years after the tax lists quoted here. By 1789 America had adopted the U.S. Direct or “Window” Tax to assess the value of homes through the number of expensive glass windows they contained. The concept of the sun room with its wall of windows was not yet even within the scope of dreams.