In 1751 Carlisle was selected as the county-seat for Cumberland County. The town’s square was eventually divided into four quadrants: south-east (stone quarry /Market House), south-west (Court House), north-west (Presbyterian Church), north-east (Church of England).
Agnes Swansey was born on June 30, 1743, grew up on her parent’s farm in West Pennsborough Township, and in 1761 married John Steele a Carlisle tavernkeeper.1 Her husband died sometime between 1769 and 1776 when she appeared on Carlisle tax lists as Agnes Steel, widow.
In Carlisle’s Old Graveyard at the corner of East South and South Bedford Streets is located an eight foot Celtic cross commemorating the burial place of Brigadier-General William Thompson.
When the Septennial Census of Carlisle was taken in 1814, it included the names and occupations of all the borough’s taxables. Nineteen of them, including two women, were identified as weavers, and at least half of them were born in Ireland.