Description
Records of Samuel Postlethwaite, Jail Keeper of Cumberland County, itemizing his costs relating to individual inmates. General information for each inmate includes inmate’s name with descriptive status sometimes noted (servant, runaway slave, military deserter, prisoner of war, etc.); charge; when and by whom committed (Sheriff, Justice of the Peace, “master”, Council of Safety, etc.); number of days imprisoned; date and release information (discharged, escaped, out serviced to pay fees, etc.); status of fee settlement and by whom; and a dated itemized list of costs and fees. Fee descriptions are detailed and include, for example, turnkey and prosecution fees, subsistence diet and special food requests, amount and type of beverage (beer, whiskey, toddy, etc.), ironing, whipping, wood, hay for horses, rewards, etc. Information included for military deserters often includes the name of the military officer to whom the inmate was released or the assigned company. Note 1: These accounts are located in the middle of Postlethwaite’s personal business account book. They are not housed with county records, but at the Cumberland County Historical Society (BR P858a: Postlethwaite, Samuel Ledger of Accounts 1760-1778). Note 2: Of interest is a separate accounting of armament production (rifles and muskets) for 1776 – 1777.
Arrangement: Accounts are entered chronologically by commitment date of the prisoner.
Index: None.