Saturday Morning, June 27, 2026
Collector Auction
This week's auction will vary from the norm with a range of ephemera tracing from Pre-Revolutionary through the War of 1812. No, not the usual textbook history, but a poignant delve into the everyday lives of our ancestors.
Elizabeth Spangler's Sampler finished in the 11th year of her age February 18, 1817. We return to the heart of York County, Pennsylvania. The history this treasure trove offers is startling. It illustrates how small the Colonial world was and how many talented individuals appeared at the right time in history. 17" x 17½"
Study the photograph below. Just it's overall appearance should wake you up at bit. Study the letters, the lines, the neat words arranged. Although this is a official legal copy rewritten to preserve a real estate transaction, the interest is not in content, but appearance. Look carefully, then read on.
We pickup in Philadelphia circa 1775 with several copies of The Pennsylvania Magazine edited by Thomas Paine, the author who defined so well the understanding of challenging the world's greatest miliary. That victory could only be earned through committment of the heart.
Master of Rolls in Lancaster County between 1800 and 1807, Timothy Matlack's responsibilities included copying and preserving earlier real estate deeds. This one, between Thomas and Richard Penn and Peter Gardner from Hellam Township, York County, 1807.
You know Timothy Matlack better as the official scribe for the Declaration of Independence. Penmanship held for him an intense interest, culminating in committing We the People to history. His scribed official Declaration of Independence, words from Thomas Jefferson, now resides in the National Archives. An eternal gift to us is his signature handwriting. Between 1800 and 1807, Matlack moved to Lancaster as Master of the Rolls, his time spent rewriting earlier deeds for proper recording. We have his copy of an Exemplification between Thomas and Richard Penn and Peter Gardner, a blacksmith in Hellam Township, York County. The orginal deed dates 1759 with this official record completed in 1807. The original document was approved and signed by James Hamilton, Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania.
Illustrated - survey maps related to the Matlack deed.
Peter Gardner's surveys were completed by Nicholas Scull, II. Nicholas was an eighteenth century surveyor and cartographer who learned the trade under his father. When young, he assisted his father on surveying Old York Road stretching from Philadelphia to Elizabeth, New Jersey. His career was active in Bucks, Philadelphia and surrounding counties, reaching west through Lancaster and York. He maintained a close friendship with Benjamin Franklin.
One More Salvo
A letter of interest between brother-in-laws, Peter Gardner and Zachariah Spangler. 1814. Peter has just returned from Alabama having served in the War of 1812. He writes of the absolute hardships the walk home included. His home, Jonesborough, Washington County, Tennessee is the family homestead, the spot responsible a generation later for launching the Homeric journey obtaining the California 1852 fifty dollar gold coin we sold two years ago. How these stories weave and bob, all forming a complex, tight warp and weft. This, a taste of Saturday.
More to come...
Doors open at 8 AM. Auction starts at 9:30 AM. PA AU 1265L [bb]