Chapter VI - PETER
PATTERSON'S IN LANCASTER CO.,
PA
39
LANCASTER
COUNTY LAND RECORDS
A Peter Patterson warranted 80 acres of
land in Lancaster Co. 28 December, 1748. (Warranties of Land
in the County of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1733-1896; PA Archives,
Series 3, Vol. XXIV, p. 501) To aid future Patterson researchers,
here is a list of all
Pattersons warranting land in Lancaster County (from pp.
497-505 of the above-quoted source):
1. Samuel Patterson
200 acres
Jan 22, 1733
2. Elinor Paterson
150 acres
June 3, 1734
3. James Patterson
500 acres
Nov 18, 1734
4. George Paterson 200
acres
Oct 29, 1735
Note: Also on Oct 29, 1735 a Matthew “Patton”
warranted land
5. Grizel Patterson
300 acres
Mar 27, 1737
6. Robert Paterson*
200 acres
Dec 7, 1737
7. Arthur Patterson
355 acres
July 19, 1738
8. James Patterson
300 acres
Aug 8, 1739
9. Robert Patterson
100 acres
April 25, 1740
10. Samuel Patterson 300
acres
May 29, 1740
11. James Patterson
100 acres
Sept 16, 1742
12. Arthur Patterson
200 acres
Jan 11, 1744
13. James Patterson 20
acres
Aug 19, 1746
14. F.R. & Ann Patterson
150 acres
Mar 14,
1747
15. Arthur Patterson 200
acres
Nov 23, 1747
16. Robert Patterson** 60
acres
June 14,
1748
17. Peter Patterson**
80 acres
Dec 28,
1748
18. John Patterson** 100
acres
Dec 30,
1748
19. Arthur Patterson
50 acres
Jan 11, 1749
20. James Patterson
200 acres
April 11, 1749
21. James Patterson
100 acres
Jan 31, 1750
22. William Patterson
100 acres
Dec 20, 1750
23. John Patterson
25 acres
Nov 1, 1752
24. Samuel Patterson
50 acres
Mar 22, 1753
25. James Patterson
30 acres
Aug 2, 1753
26. Arthur Patterson
100 acres
Dec 27, 1754
27. Robert Patterson
30 acres
June 8,
1756
28. James Paterson
50 acres
May 13, 1773
29. William Patterson
150 acres
Sept 26, 1774
30. William Patterson
100 acres April
1, 1785
31. John Patterson
160 acres
Mar 23, 1790
32. Thomas Patterson
49, 94 acres
July 13, 1810
33. John Patterson
1, 80 acres
Mar 13, 1816
34. Robt Patterson & Sam’l Snodgrass
49.94 acres
June 8, 1836
[Records after this last date are not transcribed
here]
40
*Per 13 July posting on pa-roots.com by
“Anna” (abrowndar@aol.com) this Robert was “b.
abt. 1705 lived in Lancaster Co. PA, had land deed there in 1737,
had a daughter named Mary that married a Archibald Stuart, before
1750 they moved to
VA.”
**rootsweb.com has a list “PA Land
Warrant Applications for 1748: All counties, PA” and on this
list is Alexander Patterson, who was NOT on the above list (which
was created from data in PA Archives).
Al l Pattersons warranting land in Lancaster Co. in
1748, per the rootsweb
list:
Alexander Patterson
Lancaster
[not on above
list]
John Patterson Lancaster [is
on above list]
Peter Patterson
Lancaster
[is on above list]
Robert Patterson
Lancaster
[is on above list]
A Peter Patterson is on a
list of “Early Land Applications for 1765, Lancaster County.” The
date of this entry is 4 Oct 1765, and next to his name is “and 4
others.” No location of the land in question is
given.
(This info was transcribed from microfilm #0984245 by
Catherine & Carl Paystrup; all the names & information from
this microfilm were transcribed and posted on rootsweb by the
Paystrups in Aug 2001.)
Nearly every name had a description of the land’s location,
except the transcribed entry for Peter Paterson! Very frustrating. Future researchers should
find this microfilm roll and see if the omission of land location is
a transcription error.
It should be noted that it appears that in very many cases
the people on this list had been “squatting” on the land for quite
some time, and it appears that in 1765 the local authorities were
giving them the chance to make their legal claim to the land. There were entries such as
“been here 19 or 20 years” and “with improvements made 1753,”
etc.
Comments:
As will be seen in the tax records section below,
there were two Peter Pattersons in Lancaster Co. in the 1770’s. However, one was in Paxtang
Twp. and the other was in Drumore Twp. One would have to examine a
copy of the 1748 land warrant to determine the location of the land,
and see whether it was the Paxtang Peter or the Drumore Peter who
was warranting land in 1748. Also, an investigation into the 1765
land application microfilm would be in order, to see if it can be
determined where this land was located. If it were determined
from an examination of these records that both plots were located in
Drumore, not Paxtang, Twp, then there would be no evidence of a
Peter Patterson residing in Paxtang prior to 1770, which is the date
of the earliest Paxtang record on which we find Peter (see
below).
DAUPHIN COUNTY (formerly
Lancaster Co.) LAND
RECORDS
A massive migration of Pattersons from Lancaster Co.
seems to have occurred before the end of the Revolutionary War. After 1785, in Dauphin Co.,
we have record of only one Patterson warranting
land:
(Dauphin was formed from part of Lancaster Co. in
1785)
Patterson, James
60
March 9, 1810
(no other
Pattersons were listed)
41
LANCASTER COUNTY TAX
RECORDS
The name of Peter Patterson is not
found on the following extant tax lists for Paxtang Twp.: North End
of Paxtang 1750, Narrows of Paxtang 1751, West Side of Paxtang 1751,
South End of Paxtang 1751, Return of Paxtang 1756, Return of Paxtang
1758, Paxtang Continental Tax 1779, Middletown 1779. (These
lists are transcribed and on-line at
http://malely.net/transcription.) It is possible that Peter
Patterson owned land but did not appear on any of the above tax
lists, refusing, because of religious beliefs, to cooperate with the
tax collectors. Peter Patterson of Paxtang was a Covenanter (more
below in the “Baptism and Marriage Records” section) and Covenanters
were notorious for refusing to cooperate with government
authorities. For example, at the end of the 1756 Paxtang return,
Hugh Stuart, Collector, writes this note: “Refused to give their
Return (Covenanters)-Alexander Brown, James Brown, Ben. Brown,
William Brown, John Caldwell, James Eakin, Peter Corbit, Geo.
Fisher, one nager.” An additional note: According to the Journal
of the Lancaster Historical Society, Vol. 89, in an article
written by Leroy Hopkins about early records, pp. 110-132, “No tax
lists are available in Lancaster Co. for the period
1729-1753.”
Peter is, however, found on the following tax
records:
Provincial tax of Martic
Twp., 1757
Peter Paterson is listed on the 1757 Martic Twp.,
Lancaster Co. Provincial tax
list.
(History of Lancaster County by Ellis &
Evans, Chapter LXVI, p. 967 “Martic Township”) There are no other Patersons
or Pattersons listed.
The only other Paterson/Patterson found in this source as
residing in Martic Twp is a John Patterson, in 1807. Martic Twp. borders
Drumore Twp, and so we
believe this Peter Paterson in 1757 to be the Peter Paterson found
on Drumore tax lists in
subsequent years (see below).
We also believe this to be the Peter Patterson of Drumore
whose will is listed below.
In History of Lancaster County we read that Martic
Twp. was formed 1729 (and was therefore one of the original
Lancaster townships) and that this area was first settled by the
German and the Dutch.
Later, about 1740-1742,
“the southern part of the township was settled by Scotch
Covenanters.”
After 1757 (Martic Twp. tax list) and prior to 1770 (the
Paxtang Twp. tax list below) we have found no Peter
Patersons/Pattersons on Lancaster Co. tax
lists.
42
Paxtang Twp.*
Tax Assessment List,
1770
A Peter Patterson was on
a 1770 Paxtang Twp, Lancaster Co., PA tax assessment
list.
(First & Second Series Egle’s Notes and
Queries , Vol. 1, XXVI, p.
179)
Egle’s comment on this tax list: “The following list
seems to be a full one, and probably
takes in all the sub-divisions of the township. Among
the inmates and freemen are, perchance,
some who resided at Middletown.” The following names
were also on this assessment list;
these men were Peter Patterson’s nearest neighbors.
The names are presented in the order
of the original list and original spellings are
preserved:
Henry Antas
George Gray
George Baye
Jacob Aull
John Harris
[On this list, another
James Burd, Esq.
James Harris
group of alphabetized
Michael Bumbarger
Bartholamew Hannes names
begins, which are
William
Brown**
Robt. Heazlet
not transcribed here;there
Casper Byerly Stephen
Poorman are
no other Pattersons.
Thomas Bell
Criley Poorman
The supposition is
William Boyd
David Patton that
this 1st group of
John Barnet
Peter Patterson
names, which
includes
John Gray
Wm. Patterson Peter
Patterson, is one
Mike Graham
John Postlewight of
the “sub-divisions”
Geo. Gross
Sarah Potts of
the township to which
John Gillaspy Peter
Pether
Egle alluded.]
*On a 1729 map this township was called
“Pashtauk”; in 1750, “Peisctang”; by 1780 it was referred to as
“Paxtang” and “Paxton” is
the current spelling. It was in the northwest portion of Lancaster
County.
When Dauphin County was
formed in 1785, all of Paxtang Township went from Lancaster to
Dauphin County.
**There were two William Browns, cousins, living in
Lancaster Co. at this time: one in Paxtang (above) and
the other in Hanover Twp.
The William in Paxtang (on above list) was older brother to Matthew
Brown, whom
Eleanor Patterson
allegedly married (D.A.R. magazine article). When Eleanor’s husband,
Matthew, died in 1778,
it was Matthew’s brother,
the William listed above, who adopted their two youngest sons,
Thomas and Matthew.
This William Brown of Paxtang was very prominent in the early
history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Lancaster Co. Tax Lists,
1771
There are two Peter
Pattersons listed on the “14th Eighteen-Penny Tax” in
1771:
in Dromore Twp. and in Paxton Twp., Lancaster
Co., PA. (Pennsylvania Archives,
Series 3, Vol. XVII, p. 74 and p. 35) All Pattersons on this 1771
list are:
Township
Acres
Horses
Cattle
Servants
Tax
Patterson, Sam’ll
Sadsbury
100
2
3 ---
12.0
Patterson, Arthur
Sadsbury
130
2
2 ---
11.0
Patterson, Jas. Little
Britain
200
4
3
1
17.0
Patterson, Wm.
Little Britain
100 2
4 ---
7.6
Patterson, Jno. Little Britain
100
2
3 ---
5.0
Patterson, Sam’ll
Rapho 300
3
4 ---
1.10.0
Patterson, Jas. Rapho 570
4
6 ---
2.5.0
Patterson, Wm.
Rapho
320
2
2 ---
1.0.0
Patterson, Jas. Jr. Dromore 80
2
3 ---
7.0
Patterson, Jas. Dromore
80
2
3 ---
6.0
Paterson, Rob’t.
Dromore
100
3
3 ---
10.0
43
Paterson, Jno.
Dromore 100
2
2
1
7.0
Patterson, Peter
Dromore
70
2
3
---
5.0
Patterson, Robert Dromore
(freeman)
15.0
Patterson, Jas. Donagall
200
--
-- ---
17.0
Patterson, John
Lampeter
(freeman) 15.0
Patterson, Jno. Colerain
50
2
2
---
5.0
Patterson, Jno. Strasbourg
200
2
4
---
1.15.0
Patterson, Peter Paxton 50
2
2 ---
6.0
Patterson, Sam’ll
W. Hanover
(inmate)
2.0
Paterson, Wm. Martick
100
2
2
--- 7.6
Lancaster Co. Tax Lists,
1772
Only one Peter Patterson was listed on the
“15th 18-Penny Tax” in 1772, in Paxton
Twp.
(Pennsylvania Archives, Series 3, Vol. XVII, p.
317)
All Pattersons on this 1772 list
are:
Patterson, Sam’ll
Sadsbury
100
2
3
---
8.0
Patterson, Arthur
Sadsbury ---
2
2
---
11.0
Patterson, Wm.
Sadsbury
(freeman)
15.0
Patterson, James
Dromore
100
2
3
---
6.0
Patterson, Robert
Dromore
120
3
3
--- 10.0
Patterson, Jno. Dromore
80
2
2
---
7.6
Patterson, Jas. Little
Britain 100
4
5
1 17.0
Patterson, Wm.
Little Britain 100 2
3
---
7.6
Patterson, Jno. Little Britain 100
3
3
---
4.0
Patterson, Adam
Little Britain
(freeman) 15.0
Patterson, Jno. Colerain &n
