George Washington Chair Sold in 1931
One-hundred and thirty-seven years after George Washington supposedly sat in a Sheraton chair in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, it was sold.
Blaine, Ephraim
Middlesex Township
The township of Middlesex lies along the northerly half of the west side of the Stony (“Stoney”) Ridge, a geological trap dike (older than the North or South mountains) which formed the original boundary between the west and east divisions of Pennsborough Township (established in 1735) as early a
North Middleton Township
North and South Middleton Townships received a charter of incorporation in 1810 dividing what was originally Middleton Township.1 This area in the twenty-first century is composed of residential and commercial interests and a few farms.
Riots over Ratification of the Constitution
The frontier in American history, in fact and in fiction, was everywhere the site of excesses, violence, and license. Cumberland County from its first settlements through the post revolutionary years was no exception.
Scots-Irish Influence in Cumberland County
Upon ascending the throne in 1603, James I of England (James VI of Scotland) desired to “civilize the uncontrollable, autonomous Irish.” His plan was to displace English Protestants, Presbyterian Scots, French, and German Protestants from their homelands and into Ireland.
Tea and Tea Drinking in the 18th Century
In January 1773, merchant Samuel Wharton wrote the following observations about tea drinking in America.
"The use of teas, and of the black sort in particular, is so common and fashionable in America that it is usually drank twice a day, even by the Frontier inhabitants of all the colonies...
Whiskey Rebellion
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
The Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania and Carlisle
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