The Carothers or Carruthers families (Carruthers in Scotland, Carothers in America) were among the first settlers in Cumberland County; in 1750 when the county was formed, there were seven established Carothers households in West and East Pennsborough Townships. The West and East branches were distantly related (both appear to have emigrated from the same area in Scotland) and both quickly rose to positions of wealth and prominence in this county. Various Carothers were sheriffs, justices of the peace, constables, church elders, and tax collectors in the eighteenth century, and several saw action as officers in the War of the Revolution. No Carothers was poor or obscure, and some were extraordinarily well-to-do.
Life for the Scottish Carothers clan in East Pennsborough, now Silver Spring Township, was neither calm nor peaceful in that tiny fragment of time between 1798 and 1801. Four murders occured within two of the families, the John Carothers and the Andrew Carothers.
"'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.”
This transcript includes portions of the tape that relate to the migration of African-American families to Cumberland County or the Underground Railroad. Donald Owens stated that he heard many of these stories from his grandmother, who raised him. Other portions of the tape contain his memories of events in the 1930s, visits to his uncle’s farm where he helped with butchering, going to school, and jobs that he had.