HISTORY BY HAND

original historic handwritten manuscripts, documents and letters

a division of Jonathan Sheppard Books

Item Number: DM4016

The Writ: Issued and signed by William Lyon, prothonotary of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania and containing the faint mark of the prothonotary seal, this writ directs John Carothers, the County Sheriff to summon Robert McCune and George McCandless to appear before the court of Common Pleas in Carlisle on the first Monday of November 1808. McCune and McCandless are being summoned to answer the charge of Joseph Park that they have taken possession of property in Shippensburg to which he has title. The property in question is described as being "two messuages and two adjoining lots on High or Kings Street approximately 128 by 257 feet". Note that "messuage" is an archaic term that was used to describe property with a dwelling house on it.

Docketing on the reverse, signed by John Carothers the Sheriff, indicates that this writ was served on George McCandless, Jr. on the 26th of October 1808 and he was paid $2.68 for so doing.

Size: 6 1/2" high x 8 1/4" wide. There are three small holes on the left side of the document. This was probably a manufacturing defect since the court clerk wrote around the holes. Except for some wear and age toning, it is in otherwise excellent condition.

Background Information: The Ulster Scots (also called the Scotch-Irish) were some of the earliest European settlers in the Cumberland Valley frontier region of Pennsylvania.  This 1808 document reflects this heritage, as 4 of the 5 individuals named descended from Ulster Scot ancestors.  The McCandless, McCune and Carothers families were all early settlers in the region, and the prothonotary, William Lyon, was himself born in Enniskillen, County Fermanaugh in 1728/29.

The writ is signed by two individuals whose families are closely connected with the history of the Pennsylvania frontier.

William Lyon came to Pennsylvania in 1750 as assistant surveyor to his uncle John Armstrong. He served as first lieutenant of the Pennsylvania Regiment and was a member of the Committee of Safety during the Revolution.  He was first appointed prothonotary in 1777 and served in numerous public offices until his death in 1809.  He continued as prothonotary by acclamation until his death and is buried in the Old Carlisle Cemetery. 

The sheriff John Carothers was born about 1770 in Pennsylvania and died in Cumberland County in 1824.  He was the son of John Carothers and his wife Mary Armstrong and the grandson of Robert Carothers the immigrant.  Both his father and mother died after ingesting food containing arsenic that had been prepared by a servant jealous of John and Mary’s daughter Ann Carothers.

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