First, there is courthouse parking within 1/2 block. It is a commercial 4 or 5 story garage located behind the "old" courthouse. Several other metered parking lots are within 1 and 1/2 blocks to the north. As to Peters Twp (now Franklin County) one of the earliest families to settle there was Maj. William Maxwell and his wife Susannah. They came from Ireland and settled in Peters Twp in 1738. However, it was still part of Lancaster County and was called Rathmullen Township. As a Major in the colonial wars, he served under Col. Benjamin Chambers. William also became the first justice for western Cumberland County in 1750. He had two sons, James and Patrick, and four daughters, Mary, Catherine, Ruth and Agnes. The Kittochtinny Historical Society has detailed information on this family. Several years after his death, the family evidently moved down the Great Valley into Virginia. Up until about 1750-60, the entire Cumberland Valley was approximately 90% Scot-Irish according to the research of Rev. William Swaim. He wrote many books about the early Presbyterians and their churches in the Valley. He also wrote about the Samuel Blunston Licenses and listed the first c300 familes that crossed the Susquehanna River to settle in York, Cumberland and current-day Franklin Counties.