This collection contains Thomas Baker's three surveying books which document land and property ownership in southern Lancaster County, primarily Colerain Township from 1856-1902. Octorara Creek, Kirkwood, Christiana and Upper Oxford Twp. are among the place names.
Admin/Biographical History
Thomas Baker traces his ancestry back to Sir Richard Baker (1568), born in the county of Kent, England. In 1685, seven generations before Thomas Baker was born, Joseph Baker immigrated to Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Born in Chatham, Chester County to Lewis and Diana Baker, Thomas was well-educated; a teacher until 1840, when he commenced the study of surveying. Land surveying is the location of points on, above and below the surface of the earth and the relation of those points to a common reference system. Employed at Jonathon Goss, at Unionville Academy in Chester, he surveyed over 650 farms in Lancaster County's Colerain Township. He married in 1855; his family adhering to his Quaker faith. The Biographical Annals in Lancaster, published in 1903, describes Baker as "…a man esteemed by his neighbors for his many good qualities and excellent character, and in disposition he is a man of warm heart and kindly feeling."
This record group contains canceled orders that were issued by the county commissioners for payment to be made by the county treasurer. The orders show date, order number, amount, name of payee, purpose, and signatures of the county commissioners. In the case of "poor children," teachers were reimbursed by the county for tuition and/or the supplies purchased for students whose parents were unable to pay. Orders include: Poor Children, Almshouse, Bridges, Coroners' Inquests, Prisons, Roads, Court House, and Tax Exonerations.
System of Arrangement
The record group is organized chronologically, then arranged by order number within each year.
This record group contains canceled orders that were issued by the county commissioners for payment to be made by the county treasurer. The orders show date, order number, amount, name of payee, purpose, and signatures of the county commissioners. In the case of "poor children," teachers were reimbursed by the county for tuition and/or the supplies purchased for students whose parents were unable to pay. Orders include: Poor Children, Almshouse, Bridges, Coroners' Inquests, Prisons, Roads, Court House, and Tax Exonerations.
System of Arrangement
The record group is organized chronologically, then arranged by order number within each year.
Signers of a petition for an eating house: Jacob E. Rush, E. D. Waters, George Brown, J. B. Shank, George W. Shade, Jacob B. Markley, Nicholas Eagan, Felix W. Sweigert, William Miller, Thomas B. [Acheson], William Webb, Samuel F. Morrison.
Signers of remonstrance: [ ] Housekeeper, William W. Watson, Samuel P. Maxwell, Thomas J. Redman, William H. Potts, Charles Reed, Joseph Hackett, Samuel J. Trimble, William Chandler, William [Skithway], Andrew Barkley, John Welch, Sanders McCullough, William Ritchie, Edward Crawford, Robert Clark, Erastus Reynolds, Benjamin F. Scott, Isaac Rogers, Benjamin Cutler, J. M. Rawlins, William Ailes, Valentine Gardner, John McSparran, Thomas A. Clark, A. S. Clark, Joseph Kyle, James A. McPherson, Hugh H. McPherson, A. J. Ankrim, George Prall, Lindley C. Rutter, Samuel M. Ankrim, William Showalter, Abraham Cramer.
Signers of remonstrance: [ ] Housekeeper, Wiliam W. Watson, William H. Potts, William Chandler, Joseph Hackett, Abraham Cramer, A. S. Clark, Thomas A. Clark, Robert Clark, Lindley C. Rutter, R. J. Clark, J. Morgan Rawlins, J. A. Parker, Hugh H. McPherson, J. A. Potts.
January term.
4 items, 4 pieces
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Request at Reference Desk; photocopy made by staff member.
Signers of a petition for an eating house: E. D. Waters, William Webb, [ ] Rush, Patrick Glackin, Alexander McCleary, G. W. Fagan, George H. Miller, Henry Eckman, William Hilton, Sylvester Linton, Cunningham Acheson, S. B. Moore, Samuel Harbison, Jacob B. Markley.
Signers of support-also a remonstrance agains Thomas McGuigan: Clarkson Jefferies, William J. Hess, W. A. McPherson, Samuel S. Kirkwood, J. E. Rush, John Stanley, John Cummins, Alexander McCleary, Thomas S. [Wilson], George H. Miller, Samuel Johnson, David Powel, James Shenk, John O. Bryan, Jacob [ ], David [ ] Joseph Groff, John Groff, Henry Phillip, Tobias Herr, Henry Eckman, George Stiver, Simon Lyne, John M. King, James Burnett, [ ] Deaver, Baltzer D. Eckman, Thomas M. Barret, Joseph B. Shank, [James Wicks], John Hawk, Joseph K. Ferguson, George H. Hughs, [ ] Moore, David L. Glackin, William McComb, John McKim, John Hoffman, Martin Fagan, Robert Blackburn, Walter Bunting, G. W. Sweigart, Charles W. Pusey, William S. Hastings, Lewis K. Todd, George Trimble, J. B. Markley, George Kiskaden, Tobias Sweinheart, John R. McCrabb, [Israel] Rhoads, T. R. Acheson, Mark Showalter, Charles [McManace], Adam Mowrer, James Johnson, Thomas Weldon, Edward Clark, Jeremiah Hess, George W. Burgeon, S. C. Martin, J. S. Morrison, William W. Steel, Thomas C. Kirkwood, Francis McCrabb, Isaac William Holland, Vincent S. Cooper, [ ] Cummings, John W. Guiles, John [Ducree], William Cambell, John M. Bishop, B. F. Sides, Cunningham Acheson, John Kisiner.
Signers of remonstrance: William Penny, James B. Long, Hugh M. Penny, David Brown, Samuel M. Long, Charles T. Todd.
April term.
4 items, 4 pieces
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Request at Reference Desk; photocopy made by staff member.
This record group contains canceled orders that were issued by the county commissioners for payment to be made by the county treasurer. The orders show date, order number, amount, name of payee, purpose, and signatures of the county commissioners. In the case of "poor children," teachers were reimbursed by the county for tuition and/or the supplies purchased for students whose parents were unable to pay. Orders include: Poor Children, Almshouse, Bridges, Coroners' Inquests, Prisons, Roads, Court House, and Tax Exonerations.
System of Arrangement
The record group is organized chronologically, then arranged by order number within each year.
This record group contains canceled orders that were issued by the county commissioners for payment to be made by the county treasurer. The orders show date, order number, amount, name of payee, purpose, and signatures of the county commissioners. In the case of "poor children," teachers were reimbursed by the county for tuition and/or the supplies purchased for students whose parents were unable to pay. Orders include: Poor Children, Almshouse, Bridges, Coroners Inquests, Prisons, Roads, Court House, and Tax Exonerations.
System of Arrangement
The record group is organized chronologically, then arranged by order number within each year.
