Pennsylvania · How-To Guide
Genealogy
Researching family history using Pennsylvania county records provides access to one of the oldest and most continuously maintained county record systems in the United States. Pennsylvania’s 67 counties hold records beginning from the commonwealth’s founding in 1681, and Philadelphia County’s records extend unbroken to the colonial period when Pennsylvania served as the primary landing point for German, Scots-Irish, and other European immigrant groups who would spread across the American interior. The Register of Wills in each Pennsylvania county, the Prothonotary’s court records, deed records maintained by the Recorder of Deeds, and the historical church registers preserved in county historical societies collectively constitute one of the richest genealogical landscapes in North America. This guide explains how to research family history using Pennsylvania county records, which record types are most productive, and where to find them.
Pennsylvania Register of Wills Records for Genealogy
Pennsylvania’s Register of Wills is the most genealogically productive single source in the Pennsylvania county record system, generating detailed public records of estate administration that document family relationships across generations.
The inheritance tax return as a genealogical document: Pennsylvania’s inheritance tax return, filed with the Register of Wills, discloses every beneficiary of the estate with their name, relationship to the deceased, and the amount they received. For researchers tracing Pennsylvania family lines, the inheritance tax return from an ancestor’s estate is often the most detailed surviving documentation of who that ancestor’s children were, their married names, and where they lived at the time of the estate administration. This level of detail is rare in estate records from states without a public inheritance tax return requirement.
Estate inventories: Pennsylvania estate inventories required within three months of the executor’s appointment document the household contents and personal property of the deceased with individual valuations assigned to each item. Colonial and 19th-century Pennsylvania inventories list livestock, farm equipment, tools, furniture, textiles, books, and personal items that reconstruct the material world of an ancestor in remarkable detail. These inventories are particularly valuable for understanding an ancestor’s economic circumstances and agricultural practices.
The petition and letters: The petition for grant of letters in Pennsylvania identifies the deceased’s survivors and their relationship, and the letters testamentary or letters of administration authorize the executor or administrator to act. These documents are filed with the Register of Wills and are public records that supplement the other probate documents.
Philadelphia Register of Wills from 1682: Philadelphia County’s Register of Wills holds records from 1682, the year of Philadelphia’s founding, making it one of the most historically continuous probate records in American history. These early colonial Pennsylvania probate records document the founding Quaker families of Pennsylvania and the early German and other immigrant communities that settled in the Philadelphia region.
Pennsylvania Deed Records for Genealogical Research
Pennsylvania’s deed records, maintained by the Recorder of Deeds in each county, document land ownership and family land transactions across Pennsylvania’s more than three centuries of settlement.
Pennsylvania’s historical county formation: Pennsylvania’s 67 counties were formed incrementally from the original three counties (Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester) as settlement moved westward. Understanding Pennsylvania’s county formation history is essential for genealogical research because records for western Pennsylvania ancestors may be held by a parent county that no longer exists or has different boundaries than the modern county. The Pennsylvania State Archives publishes a Pennsylvania county formation map that shows the historical boundaries of each county and its parent counties.
Recorder of Deeds deed records: Each Pennsylvania county’s Recorder of Deeds maintains the deed records for the county from the county’s organization through the present. Historical Pennsylvania deed records from the 18th and early 19th centuries frequently contain more biographical detail than later standardized forms, including the parties’ occupations, places of origin, and family relationships.
Pennsylvania Land Office records: Pennsylvania’s colonial and early statehood land distribution was handled by the Pennsylvania Land Office, which issued warrants, surveys, and patents for Pennsylvania land. These Land Office records, held by the Pennsylvania State Archives and accessible through an online database at digitalarchives.state.pa.us, document the original acquisition of Pennsylvania land from the commonwealth and are essential for colonial and early American period research.
Orphans’ Court records: When Pennsylvania estates involved disputes or required judicial supervision, matters were transferred to the Orphans’ Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas. Orphans’ Court records for partition of estates among heirs, sale of real property belonging to minors, and settlement of disputed accounts supplement the Register of Wills records and are maintained by the Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas in each county.
Pennsylvania Church Records for Genealogical Research
Pennsylvania’s diverse religious heritage, including significant Quaker, German Lutheran, German Reformed, Mennonite, Amish, Moravian, and Presbyterian communities, created a rich landscape of church records that are among the most important genealogical sources for Pennsylvania ancestry.
Quaker monthly meeting records: Pennsylvania’s historic Quaker meeting records are among the most comprehensively preserved and indexed church records in the country. Quaker monthly meetings maintained registers of births, marriages, deaths, and removals (transfers of membership) that document Quaker families in remarkable detail. The Quaker meeting records for Philadelphia and surrounding counties have been digitized and indexed by FamilySearch and by the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.
German Lutheran and Reformed church registers: The German immigrant communities of southeastern Pennsylvania maintained Lutheran and Reformed church registers from the colonial period. These records, often in German, document baptisms, marriages, and burials in communities that generated few other formal records before Pennsylvania’s civil registration system began. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) at hsp.org holds extensive collections of original German church registers from colonial and early Pennsylvania communities.
Moravian records: Pennsylvania’s Moravian communities, centered in Bethlehem and Lititz, maintained extraordinarily detailed community registers documenting every member of the congregation including biographical details, family relationships, and daily community life. The Moravian Archives at Bethlehem at moravianchurcharchives.org holds these records and makes them accessible to researchers.
Pennsylvania church record indexes: The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania at genpa.org has produced extensive published indexes to Pennsylvania church records, vital records, and cemetery records that are standard reference tools for Pennsylvania genealogical research.
Pennsylvania Vital Records for Genealogical Research
Pennsylvania’s civil vital registration system began relatively late compared to New England states, and genealogical researchers must understand the pre-registration period to locate Pennsylvania ancestors effectively.
Pennsylvania birth and death registration: Pennsylvania began mandatory statewide registration of births and deaths in January 1906, later than many eastern states. Before 1906, births and deaths were recorded inconsistently through county or local registration systems that vary in completeness by county and period.
Pennsylvania marriage records: Pennsylvania marriage records were maintained by the county clerk, later the Prothonotary, through marriage license applications and registers. Pennsylvania marriage records from the 19th century are generally reliable and are accessible through county archives and FamilySearch.
Pennsylvania State Archives vital records collections: The Pennsylvania State Archives at digitalarchives.state.pa.us holds microfilmed vital records from many Pennsylvania counties and provides an online index to Pennsylvania birth certificates from 1906 through 1910 and death certificates from 1906 through 1966.
For more on Pennsylvania county records and genealogical resources, see the Pennsylvania county records guide. For general guidance on genealogical research, see How to Use County Records for Family History and Vital Records for Genealogy Research.
—
—
Pennsylvania Census Records for Genealogy
Pennsylvania census records supplement county records by documenting Pennsylvania ancestors at ten-year intervals in the federal census and at five-year intervals in Pennsylvania’s distinctive state census schedule.
Pennsylvania in the federal census: Pennsylvania appeared in every federal census from 1790 onward and was the second-most-populous state through much of the 19th century. The 1790 Pennsylvania census is the starting point for researching colonial Pennsylvania families in the census record, and the granular township-level enumeration in early Pennsylvania censuses places families within specific local communities that connect to county deed and probate records.
Pennsylvania’s unique census history: Pennsylvania did not conduct a separate state census, unlike New York. Researchers working between federal census decades must rely on county records, church records, and city directories as census substitutes. The Pennsylvania State Archives holds collections of county tax assessment lists from the 19th century that function as partial census substitutes by documenting adult male property owners on an annual basis.
Pennsylvania county tax lists as genealogical sources: County tax assessment lists from Pennsylvania townships, maintained annually by county commissioners and assessors, document taxable inhabitants by name, their taxable property, and their assessments. These lists, held by county archives and the Pennsylvania State Archives, provide year-by-year documentation of Pennsylvania residents between federal census enumerations and are particularly useful for tracking migration into and out of specific Pennsylvania townships during the 19th century.
Pennsylvania Historical and Genealogical Society Collections
Pennsylvania’s depth of genealogical material has produced specialized research institutions that supplement official county records.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania at hsp.org in Philadelphia holds one of the most significant collections of primary sources for Pennsylvania and mid-Atlantic genealogy in the country. HSP’s collections include Pennsylvania county histories, family papers, business records, and extensive manuscript holdings covering Pennsylvania families from the colonial period through the 20th century. Their Genealogy Library provides research assistance and access to digitized collections.
Pennsylvania State Archives: The Pennsylvania State Archives at digitalarchives.state.pa.us holds the official records of Pennsylvania state government and transferred records from Pennsylvania counties. Their online catalog identifies holdings by county and record type, and their digital archives platform provides free access to digitized Pennsylvania records including early vital records, land records, and military records.
The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania: The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania at genpa.org in Philadelphia publishes the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, one of the longest-running state genealogical publications in the country, and maintains indexes to Pennsylvania records compiled by society members over more than a century.
Pennsylvania county courthouse record rooms: Many Pennsylvania counties maintain historical records in courthouse record rooms accessible to researchers during business hours. The Recorder of Deeds, Register of Wills, and Prothonotary offices in Pennsylvania courthouses frequently hold original records going back to the county’s organization, and in some counties to the colonial period. Researchers who visit Pennsylvania county courthouses in person often find records not yet microfilmed or digitized that provide genealogical detail unavailable through online sources. The Pennsylvania County Records Survey published by the Pennsylvania State Archives identifies the specific holdings of each county office, helping researchers plan courthouse visits efficiently.
Pennsylvania’s position as the second state to ratify the Constitution and one of the most diverse colonial settlements in British North America makes its county records genealogically significant not only for Pennsylvania ancestry but as a transit point for ancestors moving westward through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois across the 19th century.