In 1734 the land on the west shore of the Susquehanna River was opened for homesteading, and the first settlers were permitted to cross the river to legally obtain land. Trappers and Indian traders had been traveling through the valley to the west and the south for years, but they were not permitted to reside or claim land. The Penn's had previously purchased this land from the Indians, but some claims remained, and it had not been opened to the public. The Penn family went to great lengths to be fair with the Indians in their acquisition of land in Pennsylvania. The Proprietors would eventually purchase the west shore of the Susquehanna four times before it was considered finalized, a process about which the Indians never complained.
Because of increasing pressure from Marylanders who were moving northward into the area which would become York and Adams Counties, Penn gave permission for Samuel Blunston, a Lancaster County Magistrate, to grant licenses for persons to settle and take up land on the west side of the Susquehanna River. The boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland overlapped, which initially had not been a problem, but by the 1730 conflicts and some riots developed. While the final Indian claims were not extinguished until 1736, Penn felt it necessary to allow settlers to proceed westward to protect his interests. Beginning in January 1733/34 Blunston began issuing licenses in the Cumberland Valley, west of the Susquehanna River. These licenses became known as Blunston Licenses and were later upheld by both the Land Office and the State Courts.
The entire Valley was not available for settlement. In 173 1 a letter had been written to the Shawnee sachem Peter Chartier advising him that they were laying out a tract of land for the Seneca Indians starting on the west bank of the Susquehanna River and extending westward five or six miles to include all the land between the Conogogwaitet [sic] and the Shaawna Creek. This letter was signed by Samuel Blunston and John Wright, both Quakers from the Marietta area, and Tobias Hendricks, of Donegal Township, all magistrates in the recently formed Lancaster County. This was the beginning of what would later become known as Lowther Manor. It was also the last document using the Indian name Shaawna Creek, and when Blunston Licenses were drafted three years later, in May 1734, we see for the first time, a variation of its new name, the Yellow Britches Creek. Historians vary on the initial spelling of the creek name. But in the first survey, three years later, the creek is identified as the Yellow Breeches Creek.
The licenses went quickly, with approximately 125 issued in 1734. While most of the licenses were issued for land west of St. Johns Road, which was the western boundary for the Manor, others were issued closer to the river on the south side of the Yellow Breeches Creek and the north side of the Conodoguinet Creek. While licenses were issued all around the Manor, no licenses were issued for land in the Manor for over 30 years. Land Office records reveal that several requests for land within the Manor were denied, until it was subdivided in the late 1760s.
During the period of 1734 to 1750, when Cumberland County was established, the land in the Valley was not included in any legally established county, but was an extension of Lancaster County. Taxes were collected in behalf of Lancaster County as early as 1736. The lack of a magistrate or any governmental authority, had become a problem and there was a need to keep squatters out of Lowther Manor. Continuing his lifelong pursuit of the development of the western frontier, Tobias Hendricks requested John Wright to seek permission from the proprietor for Tobias to settle in Lowther Manor.
The Hendricks family had been extensively involved in public service in support of their new and developing country. Tobias's father, Albertus Hendricks, a Dutch indentured servant arrived in the colonies in February 1662, and settled along the Delaware River in Chester County. The Chester County records make frequent reference to Albertus serving as a juror, witness, constable and in special appointments. In 1673 he served as a constable and is reported as the first person in Pennsylvania to have held that office. In 1684 he served on a jury involving witchcraft, and in 1685 he is listed as Supervisor of Highways. H1s early immigration and his involvement as a public servant obviously were significant in the raising of his frontier sons.
In a recent reorganization of the Cumberland County Historical library, two original Oaths of Allegiance from Cumberland County were rediscovered: the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy of April 13th 1761, and the Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance and Fidelity of June 13th 1777.