I have been working on my four-generation project for accreditation through ICAPGen. One of the types of records I need to have a good working knowledge of for the Mid-Atlantic region is land records, so I have spent the last couple of days studying Pennsylvania land records to familiarize myself with the history of land distribution in Pennsylvania, what records are available, and where to find them. As part of my study I have put together two blog posts that I hope will help you better understand land records in Pennsylvania. This is the first post, and it deals with “first titles,” or land acquisition by original owners. In part 2 of this series I will discuss the sale of lands to subsequent owners.
A must-read book that explains original land acquisition in Pennsylvania in great detail is Pennsylvania Land Records: A History and Guide for Research by Donna Bingham Munger. A digitized version of the book is available here.
Located on the first page of the book is a very useful genealogical map of the counties, which shows purchase lines, county additions, and county boundaries throughout the history of Pennsylvania.
The book also includes tables of selected historical research aids, charts, maps, an explanation of land distribution over the years, the origin and types of records, and a guide to methodology for searching Pennsylvania land records. It was a great resource to help me learn more about the process of original land acquisition by settlers of Pennsylvania, and I have drawn heavily upon it for the majority of the information included in this post.
Background Information
Pennsylvania was initially a proprietary colony, owned independently of government control by William Penn. William Penn and his sons owned and operated their own land company. Pennsylvania later became a state-land state, but many of the proprietary procedures that had been established by Penn and his heirs remained in place. The time periods for each era are as follows:
- Pre-Penn Land Settlement, prior to 1682
- Land Settlement, 1682-1732: The Proprietorship of William Penn
- Land Settlement, 1732-1776: The Proprietorship of the Penn Heirs
- Land Settlement, 1776-1990: The Commonwealth
- Land Settlement, 1905-1990: Additional 20th Century Policies Added
First title to Pennsylvania land was usually acquired in a 5-step process:
- Application – A request for land, usually a certain amount in a particular place.
- Warrant – A written order to survey and usually restates the amount and location requested in the application.
- Survey – The actual process of going upon the land, measuring and marking the courses and distances, and drawing a tract diagram.
- Return of Survey – A written restatement combining the warrant and survey and signifies that the purchase price and all fees have been paid.
- Patent – The final deed from the proprietor or the state passing ownership of the particular tract of land to its initial purchaser.
Land Settlement, 1776-1990: The Commonwealth
Because the period of time after the American Revolution is when my Fisher and Beck families (the subjects of my 4-generation project) would have acquired land, I concentrated heavily on learning more about land settlement from 1776-1790, which was under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth government. The Commonwealth was formed during the American Revolution and suddenly became the owner of all unsold land in Pennsylvania. Because they were unprepared for this responsibility, state leaders continued land policies and procedures put in place by William Penn and his sons. They slowly formed their own policies and procedures as the need arose.
Categories of Purchasers
There were six different categories of purchasers during this era:
- Pennsylvania Veterans of the continental service
- Settlers in southwestern Pennsylvania holding land under Virginia warrants
- Settlers in northeastern Pennsylvania who had settled under the auspices of the Connecticut-based Susquehanna Company
- Squatters, or presumptive settlers
- Speculators
- Regular Purchasers
Munger addresses in detail the geographical areas where land was available to each, as well as the way land was distributed and the record sets pertaining to each group.
Early Maps
Based upon actual county surveys, the Melish-Whiteside maps were the first official set of county maps produced for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania beginning in 1816. Township lines, municipality names, and roads and distances are examples of the details present on each survey. In addition, structures such as post offices, factories, mills, mines, furnaces, forges, houses, churches, academies, and taverns are noted, as are the names of property owners for certain taverns, dwellings, furnaces, and mills. Digital copies of these maps are available at the Pennsylvania Museum and Historic Commission Website.
Recommended Research Methodology
Munger recommends taking the following steps to discover land records for your Pennsylvania ancestors:
- Carefully identify the name of the individual to be searched. Think of variant spellings.
- Make note of the appropriate era.
- Discover the name of the county at the time of the individual’s residence and, if possible, the name of his or her township.
- Begin with county deeds, with a regular title search backward. Often, the deed of conveyance between the second and first owner of a tract will repeat the warrant and patent information. If not, at least the pertinent county and period will be identified, and you will then be able to move to the appropriate state land record indexes to continue the investigation. (Online availability of deeds and how to search them will be discussed in my next post).
Finding Land Records
Warrant Registers serve as a master index for warrants, surveys, and patents and include the following information:
- Number of the warrant
- Name of the warrantee
- Type of the warrant
- Quantity of land warranted
- Location warranted
- Date of the warrant
- Date of the return of survey
- Acres returned
- Name of the patentee
- Patent volume, number, and page
All original records generated in the initial transfer of lands to individuals are in the custody of the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg, but since 1981, they have been housed in the Bureau of Archives and History of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
All land records generated before 1957 are available on microfilm. Microfilm is available for use at the state archives in Harrisburg or by purchase. The Family History Library also has microfilm of many of the original loose land records but not of bound volumes.
Online sources for indexes and digital copies of Pennsylvania Warrant Registers include:
Pennsylvania, Land Warrants and Applications, 1733-1952, Ancestry – Land warrants contain descriptions of the land, information about boundaries, landmarks, previous owners, tenants, the amount of money paid, etc. Warrant applications contain less information than full warrants, which may contain maps and other information about the property.
Pennsylvania, Land Warrants, 1733-1987, Ancestry – This database is an index to land warrants in Pennsylvania. While it includes no images, it does list the name of the person associated with the warrant, the date, acreage, and location of the land.
Application for warrants, 1755-1866 – FamilySearch – A browse-only digitized version of microfilmed records, arranged by date.
Applications for warrants, 1734-1865, FamilySearch – Browse-only digitized versions of 173 microfilm reels. Arranged chronologically, then alphabetically within each year.
Moving on to Deeds
After performing negative searches for land warrants for my Fisher and Beck ancestors, I determined that they may not have been original owners of Pennsylvania land. I moved on to a search of deeds in the county deed books for Westmoreland county. I will share the methodology for deed books in part 2 of this series.
Good luck researching your Pennsylvania ancestors in land records. I would love to hear about your discoveries as you #gatheryourtribe. Leave a comment below!
