David Lindsay first appears in the 1768, 1769 and 1771 tax lists for Charles Town, Chester County, Pennsylvania (no tax lists exists for 1770) along with his son-in-law Alexander Forsyth and James Spotwood who is undoubtedly another son-in-law. James Spotwood is listed as an inmate in 1768 and 1771. Generally, only younger men were listed as such, implying that he was a generation younger than David and was therefore around the age of his daughter Catherine who we know from the Heirs Agreement of 1784 married a Spotwood. His third son-in-law, James Cummings was not found in Chester. David's son Alexander Lindsay was taxed there in 1768 and his other son, David, was taxed there in 1771. David had two other two sons, Jacob and James, who were not found in the tax records. We know from the Heirs Agreement that both were dead by 1784; We know that James and his wife must have died young because only their one child is represented in the Heirs Agreement. James is not found in any later records, but Jacob is. It is not known why persons are sometimes missing from the tax records. In general, if a man owned land, livestock or slaves, he was taxed and should appear. If the man did not own any taxable property, but was over the age of twenty-one, and had taken the Oath of Allegiance, he would be listed as a freeman. Inmates were not listed in many of the tax records, but when they are, it can be assumed the person was married or widowed, without taxable property, over the age of twenty-one, but had not taken the Oath. Since Jacob appears in later tax records, and is known to be David's eldest child, it is not clear why his is not listed unless he was living elsewhere, perhaps had moved ahead to Cumberland County where the family would eventually reside. The same could be true for Alexander Lindsay and Alexander Forsyth who appeared there early, but not in the latter years.
    Chester county is located not far from Philadelphia and would appear to be an early stopping place for these gentlemen after arriving in the United States. Since none of them were found in Chester in the first three years that tax records were kept, 1765-1767, it would seem that they immigrated not long before 1768. No immigration records have been found, so we cannot now if they all came together or arrived seperately and met in Chester county. None of these individuals are found in Chester county after 1771.
    After leaving Chester county, the family came to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. In September of 1771 (recorded January 24, 1772), David Lindsay purchased lot no. 4 on the southeast corner of High (Market) and West streets in Carlisle at a sheriff's sale. We know this from the sale of this property by his grandson, David Jr. who inherited it in 1784, and sold it in 1809 to John Spotwood who was undoubtedly his cousin. David Lindsay built a tavern on this lot called it The Sign of the Bull's Head. In 1798 the tavern was described as a being a two-story log house 25' x 20', with a one-story log kitchen 25' x 16', two log shops, and a log stable.
    At some point, the date is not known, but probably occured not long after their arrival in Cumberland county, David Lindsay purchased a tract of land in Tyrone Township, now Perry County, from William Holt. The tract of land was located in Sherman's valley. Sherman's creek crossed through the property. The land was originally warranted to William Holt on June 8, 1762, surveyed on January 8, 1763, and contained 105 acres and 104 perches. In 1799, David 's grandson ran an add in the newspaper offering it for sale. In 1802, he sold it to James Blair, and in 1864 it was patented by Daniel Laush. We know from another newspaper add that David Lindsay's tavern was being run by John Forbes as early as 1776. It seems likely then that David had leased the tavern out in the early years and occupied his time elsewhere. According to Jim Richey in his self published "Richey Tracks" Vol. 2, who went to Carlisle in the 1990s and obtained hard to find information from the courthouse records, in 1772, David Lindsey was taxed as a renter in West Pennsborough Township, Cumberland County for "200 acres of wood & 40 acres clear." In 1773 he was taxed there for "1 horse & 1 cow." West Pennsborough township is located adjacent to Middleton township which is the township in which Carlisle is located. West Pennsborough township was also the home of Samuel Lindsay and his family. It is assumed that David and Samuel are brothers, but they could just as well be cousins, or perhaps Samuel was the father of David. Samuel is seen in the Carlisle records as early as 1770, so he preceded David to the county. There is also a John Lindsey who lived in Carlisle from 1778 through 1782. He is taxed each year but owned no land, which is not neccessarily that unusual for persons living in the borough, so it does not imply youth. His relation if any to David is not known beyond that he could not be David's son because he was not mentioned in the Heirs Agreement. If John were dead before 1784, his wife or children would have been named and they were not. He could also be a father, brother or cousin of David.
    By 1779, David Lindsay was firmly seated in Carlisle where he appears in the Cumberland County tax records from 1779 to 1782. It would appear from these same tax records that his sons Jacob and David must have remained in Tyrone Township farming his and perhaps other lands. The next published tax list for this county after 1782 is in 1785, but we know from the Heirs Agreement that David was already dead, so as expected he is missing. In 1785, the heirs of David Lindsay were taxed for 250 acres in Tyrone Township indicating that he still owned property there. David is also missing from the first of the published tax lists which occurred in 1778. As we have seen, as late as 1776, he was leasing his tavern to John Forbes, so David may have been still in West Pennsborough, or on his property in Tyrone with his sons. On October 9, 1780, David Lindsay purchased a 35 year old female slave named Moll who appears on the tax list in 1781.
    David Lindsay is referred to in the available court records, all of which occur after his death, as "of Carlisle". Both his son David and grandson David are referred to in these same documents as "of Tyrone".
    David's eldest son Jacob is listed in the Cumberland County tax lists as living in Tyrone Township from 1781 and 1782. Again, we know from the Heirs Agreement that he died before 1785, so he is not listed in the 1785 tax list. It is not known why he was not listed prior to 1781. He was likely living in the area because his eldest son David Jr. is taxed there from 1779 to 1782 and is found in Carlisle in 1785. David Jr. inherited his grandfather's tavern in 1784 which exlains his presence there. Jacob's other son, Jacob Jr. is listed as a tinker and lived in Tyrone Township from 1779 through 1785, but is somehow missing from the 1780 tax lists. Since he owned no land in 1779 or 1781, it is likely that in 1780 he simply was without taxable property.
    Identifying the family members of David Lindsay in the Cumberland County tax records is a bit tricky for several reasons. Firstly, both David Lindsay and his son are listed as Senior and Jacob's son is listed as David Jr. Secondly, it is not known if David's son, David Sr. also had a son named David, so we cannot be sure if he was called senior in deference to his nephew, or his son. Thirdly, there is a third Jacob Lindsey living in Carlisle in 1781 and 1782. It is assumed he is the son of John Lindsey, but we cannot be sure. To complicate matters, he was granted a tavern license there in 1780. Fourthly, there is a James Lindsay listed as a laborer who appears in the tax records in Carlisle between the years 1780 and 1782. He could be David's son who died before 1785. He could also be John Lindsey's son. We just do not know. Lastly, David's son Alexander Lindsay finally shows up in Tyrone Township in 1785. Where he was for the last 17 years is unknown. There are some other confusing issues having to do with who owned what property and when, but by and large it seems pretty clear who where the major players as I've stated.
    William Spotswood who is undoubtedly David's grandson is also found in the Tyrone Township tax lists for 1779, 1780 and 1782. He is found in the Cumberland County militia in 1780 serving in Captain James Fisher's Company. James and Lindsey Spotwood are found in the 1800 and 1810 census for Carlisle. John Spotswood is found there only in the 1810 census. One or more of these could be great grandsons. Rachel Spotsswood is found marrying at the First Presbyterian Church in Carlisle on April 8, 1793 and Catherine Spotswood is found being married in Cumberland County in September of 1799. Both of these list there married names, it is not known what their maiden names were or which grandsons they married. There is also a William Lindsey who married Jane _____ on 27 March 1787 and a Samuel Lindsay who married Elizabeth _____ on March 29, 1793, both in Carlisle.

    According to the Heirs Agreement, David Sr's Power of Attorney, David Jrs sale of land to John Spotswood, and the various tax lists, church records and censuses, David Lindsay had the following children and grandchildren. The dates for Rachel and Alexander Forsyth come from other sources.

1. Jacob Lindsay Sr. ( - bef 5 Jun 1784)
    1a. David Lindsay Jr. (bef 1757 - ) m. Mary ______ ( - )
    1b. Jacob Lindsay Jr. (bef 1759 - )
2. Catherine Lindsay ( - ) m. bef 1772, James Spotwood ( - bef 5 Jun 1784)
    2a. William Spotwood ( - )
    2b. John Spotswood ( - )
    2c. James Spotswood ( - )
    2d. Lindsey Spotwood ( - )
3. Alexander Lindsay (bef 1748 - )
4. Jane Lindsay ( - ) m. James Cummings ( - )
5. David Lindsay Sr. (bef 1751 - )
    5a. William Lindsay ( - )
6. Rachel Lindsay (1750 - 1840) m. abt 1769, Alexander Forsyth (1746 - 1829)
7. James Lindsay ( - bef 5 Jun 1784)
    7a. James Lindsay ( - )