by Joseph P. Wolfe, February 1999
Genealogical researchers look upon a trip to a government archive as a veritable pilgrimage to Mecca, and they will often go to great expense just to spend a few days searching for the nuggets of genealogical gold to be found there. It might interest you to know, however, that many of the archival records of one of our states-Pennsylvania-can actually be accessed right from the stacks of Clayton Library. And the material to be found there includes a wealth of state-related administrative, legislative, and judicial papers, plus a fine collection of material from Pennsylvania’s colonial period.
The state of Pennsylvania maintains a very active, comprehensive department of Archives and History at the state capital in Harrisburg. So how, you may ask, can a researcher visit the Pennsylvania Archives without leaving Clayton Library? The answer lies in a very fascinating set of books shelved in the Pennsylvania section of the Library.
Pennsylvania Archives is a 136-volume printed version of the colony’s, and later the state’s, major official records. Preparation of these volumes was begun in the nineteenth century when the need for publishing the colonial records of Pennsylvania was recognized. Different state librarians of Pennsylvania continued the project, publishing many of the records in sets known as “series” until the project was discontinued in 1935. Besides the colonial series, there are nine others, each representing a separate project of the state librarian at the time of publication. The history of each series’ publication and the state librarians behind them are beyond the scope of this paper, but the interested researcher can find a detailed treatment in Henry Eddy’s Guide to the Published Archives of Pennsylvania, shelved in the Pennsylvania section of the library.
Clayton Library owns the complete, 136-volume set of Pennsylvania Archives, shelved in the Pennsylvania section. The collection is also available on microfiche in the second floor microprint area (cabinet 70, drawer 4). This paper describes the contents of each series and the available indexes and provides several hints on how the genealogical researcher at Clayton Library can use these books most successfully.
COLONIAL RECORDS SERIES. Vols. 1-16
The Colonial Records series contains the earliest historical records, which begin in 1682 and go up to the time of the Revolution. The Charter of the Province of Pennsylvania-issued by the English Crown-is printed here. More useful to researchers are the minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania, which bring to mind court minutes of counties, except that these council minutes deal with the colony as a whole. For the period leading up to the Revolution, there are some militia company lists and printed copies of minutes of the committees of safety.
Indexes: The primary index to the Colonial Records series is in the first half of General Index to the Colonial Records...and to the Pennsylvania Archives..., shelved near the beginning of the Colonial Records series. There are many personal names in the index, although I have not determined if it includes all of the personal names appearing in the series. There are also place names (e.g., names of various counties) and some subject names (e.g., conferences with Indians in Philadelphia). In 1992, Genealogical Publishing Company brought to print Dr. Mary Dunn’s manuscript index to the personal names in this series. Dunn’s volume is entitled Index to Pennsylvania’s Colonial Records Series and is also shelved near the beginning of the Colonial Records series.
FIRST SERIES. Vols. 1-12.
The records in the first series of Pennsylvania Archives are papers of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, an office roughly corresponding to the present-day Secretary of State at the state government level. Many letters are found in this series, including written requests and reports to the central government regarding problems with Indians, roads, and the like.
Index: The index to the first series is found in the second half of General Index to the Colonial Records...and to the Pennsylvania Archives... and is very similar to the Colonial Records index in that it contains personal names, place names, and subject headings.
SECOND SERIES. Vols. 1-19.
Now we are coming to the series groups that offer much more direct evidence for the genealogist. The second series is a broad selection of early vital records taken from many different sources, not just those connected with the government.
There are several volumes of marriage records. These were extracted from both civil repositories and from churches of various denominations and include records generated in various Pennsylvania cities. Philadelphia and Bethlehem are especially well represented (see volume 8). There are muster rolls and company papers relating to militia units from the counties (see volume 14). Very important in this series are the many lists of foreign arrivals (by date and name of ship) and the lists of foreigners who took the oath of allegiance at the time of their disembarkation.
Index: While this series is of great value to the genealogist, it is harder to use, as there is no general index. Most of the volumes have their own index, except volumes 8, 9, 10, and 11. The index for volumes 13 and 14 is found at the end of volume 14.
THIRD SERIES. Vols. 1-30.
The third series is by far the most important and the most useful for the genealogist. The records found herein are very useful in locating an ancestor and/or in proving his military service. It is also useful for looking at the entire community in which an ancestor lived and identifying his close neighbors and associates. The series contains land records, accounts of the treasury (cash receipts and disbursements), tax lists, and some militia lists.
This writer found a gold mine in the printed tax lists that survive from early Pennsylvania. There are twelve volumes of tax lists, the earliest 1765 and the latest 1788. Taxpayers are listed in the order visited or reported, not in alphabetical order. I found my Revolutionary ancestor, Jacob Wolfe, in Delaware Township, Northampton County, along with his father-in-law, Manuel Gonsaulus. I also found there the Van Etten family, which ties into Jacob’s distaff line.
Land records can be a feast for the genealogist. Contained here are land grants-including those made to soldiers of the Pennsylvania line in the Revolutionary War-and listings of Virginia claims to Pennsylvania lands. In addition to these military grants, the researcher will also find records of the purchases of land from the State of Pennsylvania after 1776, listed by name of warrantee, number of acres, and date of the grant. The earliest of these purchases I have found is 1733; the latest is 1896. So these books go far into the nineteenth century and can be used for many periods of research besides the colonial and Revolutionary War periods.
Index: The good news here is the third series has one of the best indexes in the entire set. The last four volumes of the third series are an every-name index, which you should examine very carefully to find records generated by your ancestor.
FOURTH SERIES. Vols. 1-12.
The fourth series is a collection of the private papers of the governors of Pennsylvania from 1681 to 1903. There are many addresses, letters, and formal correspondence. This series is arranged in chronological order.
Index: The index to the fourth series is in the last volume of the series. The index does contain some names, such as the Penn family, but is mostly a subject index. This makes the fourth series harder to use compared to those with an every-name index.
FIFTH SERIES. Vols. 1-8.
The fifth series is probably the most important and the most used series after the third. It contains many important military record books such as the military muster rolls for the Revolutionary War and the statehood period up to 1800. This series has been used by many prospective DAR/SAR members looking for the proof that their ancestor served in the Revolution.
My ancestor, Jacob Wolfe, is found in volume 8, page 64, on the muster roll of November 18, 1781, in Lt. Col. Henry Geiger’s Sixth Class of the First Battalion, Northampton County Militia. Naturally, this added the name Henry Geiger to my research list.
Index: Strangely enough, volumes 15a and 15b of the next series (the sixth series) are the index to the fifth series. Probably, the index was not prepared with the publication of the fifth series and was postponed until the next publication could be undertaken.
SIXTH SERIES. Vols. 1-14 (plus vols. 15a and 15b, which are the indexes to the sixth series).
The sixth series continues the list of muster rolls through the post-Revolution period and the War of 1812. One volume contains some soldiers from Pennsylvania who fought in the Mexican War of 1846-1848.
Index: The sixth series every-name index is contained in the five volumes of the seventh series.
SEVENTH SERIES. Vols. 1-5.
As stated above, the seventh series is an index to the sixth series.
EIGHTH SERIES. Vols. 1-8.
The eighth series is a reprint of the work, Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the Province of Pennsylvania. This is strictly a legislative journal covering the period from December 4, 1682, to September 26, 1776. The collection was begun by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 and halted in 1776 when the colony became a state.
Index: There is no index to the eighth series.
NINTH SERIES. Vols. 1-10.
The ninth series is an executive journal, as the preceding one was a legislative journal. Contained in it are the executive minutes of the Pennsylvania governor’s office from December 21, 1790, to May 21, 1838. The ninth series continues and supplements the fourth series but differs from it in that it contains the official government minutes and governors’ acts, whereas the fourth series contains the private papers of the governors.
Index: There is no index to the ninth series.