Colonial Records of Pennsylvania : 1664 - 1852.

            Research Publications has assembled and microfilmed the most important published colonial and state records of the original Thirteen Colonies, Maine, and Vermont. The series is comprised of sixty-seven titles which span the years from the earliest available records for each colony until approximately 1800.            

            Note: Some or all of this material is available online; see Finding Aid section.

The Colonial Records of Pennsylvania have been microfilmed on seventeen reels and contain thirty seven volumes of material.

CR 46. Charter to William Penn and Laws of the Province of Pennsylvania Passed Between the Years 1682 and 1700, Preceded by the Duke of York's Laws in Force from the Year 1676 to the Year 1682, with an Appendix and Index to Historical Notes.

CR 47. Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania from the Organization to the Termination of the Proprietary Government, 1683-1790.  16 vols. Volume 1, 10 March 1683-27 November 1700; Volume 2, 18 December 1700-16 May 1717;  Volume 3, 31 May 1717-23 January 1735;  Volume 4, 7 February 1756-15 October 1745;  Volume 5, 17 December 1745-20 March 1754;  Volume 6, 2 April 1754-29 January 1756;  Volume 7, 29 January 1756-11 January 1758;  Volume 8, 18 January 1757-4 October 1762;  Volume 9, 15 October 1762-17 October 1771;  Volume 10, 18 October 1771-27 September 1775, together with the Minutes of the Council of Safety, from 30 June 1775 to 12 November 1776. There is a table of contents at the beginning of each volume. Volume 11, Minutes of the Supreme Executive of Pennsylvania from its Organization to the Termination of the Revolution, containing the Proceedings of the Council of Safety from 13 November 1776 to 17 March 1777; together with a Memorandum, from 31 December 1776 to March 1777; also the Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council, from 4 March 1777 to 20 May 1779; Volume 12, 21 May 1779-12 July 1781;  Volume 13, 13 July 1781-31 December 1783;  Volume 14, 1 January 1784-3 April 1786;  Volume 15, 4 July 1786-6 February 1789;  Volume 16, 7 February 1789-20 December 1790. There is a table of contents at the beginning of each volume.

 The Index to the Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, Volumes 1-16, inclusive are located at the end of Volume 16.
 
CR 48. Index to Pennsylvania Archives. Volumes 1-12, inclusive, a cumulative index to the 12 volumes that follow.
 
CR 48. Pennsylvania Archives : Series 1, 1664-1790.  12 vols. Selected and Arranged from Original Documents in the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth Conforming to Acts of the General Assembly. Volume 1, 1664-1747; Volume 2, 1748-1756. There are Indian auto-graphs from 1682-1785 at the end of Volume 1, and maps and plans of forts at the end of Volume 2. Volume 3, 1756-1760; Volume 4, 1760-1776, with maps at the end of the volume; Volume 5, 1776-1777; Volume 6, 1777-1778; Volume 7, 1778-1779; Volume 8, 1779-1781; Volume 9, 1781-1783;  Volume 10, 1783-1786; Volume 11, 1786-1790; Volume 12, 1790, with an appendix, maps, plans, and diagrams of forts. There is an index at the end of each volume.
 
CR 48. Pennsylvania Archives : Series 8, 1682-1776. Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the Province of Pennsylvania Volume 1, 4 December 1682-11 June 1707 (1691 is missing); Volume 2, 14 October 1707-6 August 1726; Volume 3, 14 October 1726-22 September 1741; Volume 4, 14 October 1741-11 September 1753; Volume 5, 15 October 1753-24 September 1756; Volume 6, 14 October 1756-3 January 1764; Volume 7, 4 January 1764-19 October 1770; Volume 8, 7 January 1771-26 September 1776. 

An index of votes of the Pennsylvania Assembly, with page references to daily sessions and other details, is located at the end of the last volume. A subject/name index follows The Index of Votes.            

            
Online: Records are available digitally under the title of Pennsylvania Archives via HathiTrust; and include Series 1-9. Series summaries for those not included above: Second Series: In its nineteen volumes this series, contains varied and diverse materials; militia rolls and church records are prominent, but there are as well the minutes of the Board of War and those of the Navy Board, both of 1777, and much on the Wyoming Controversy with Connecticut and on the Whiskey Insurrection. Third Series: The first twenty-six volumes of this series resemble closely those of the Second Series, while the last four volumes consist of an index to the sixteen volumes immediately preceding. Filled for the most part with militia rolls, lists of land warrantees (vols. 24 - 26, 1730-1898) and taxables, this series does contain some materials of a more general nature, such as a discussion of Virginia's claims to western Pennsylvania, and an account of the Donation Lands. Edited by Dr. Egle (I-XXVI) with four index volumes edited by Dr. George Edward Reed. Fourth Series: In twelve volumes, this series collects the addresses, messages, proclamations, and a very few other Papers of Pennsylvania's Governors, 1681-1902, with brief biographies and portraits but with a minimum of documentation. Fifth Series: This series fills eight volumes with muster rolls and other military lists, chiefly of the provincial and revolutionary period, some reprinted with greater accuracy and neatness from the Second and Third Series, and certain of the others taken from sources outside official custody. Sixth Series: For fourteen volumes this series continues the printing of military rolls, covering chiefly the period from the Revolution to the War of 1812, including militia rolls for the years of peace, with some material as late as the Mexican War. There are also a few orderly books, military accounts for the 1812 period, and some papers non-military in nature, notable church records of marriages and baptisms, inventories of estates confiscated during the Revolution, and scattering eighteenth century election returns. The final volume, XV, bound in two thick parts, contains an index to the Fifth Series.  Seventh Series: The five volumes of this series consist exclusively of an index to the more than one million names found in the first fourteen volumes of the Sixth Series. Ninth Series: In ten volumes, this series prints the contents of fifteen manuscript volumes preserved in the Division of Public Records. These are Executive Minutes, a journal of official actions of Pennsylvania's Governors for the period 1790-1838. This series continues Colonial Records and supplements the Fourth Series for the effective period of the Constitution of 1790.

A microfilm shelf list which correlates the microfilm reel numbers with the Colonial Record numbers and volume numbers is available in print with the Loyalist Collection red binders and digitally; see Electronic Finding Aid section.
            

Online Related Pennsylvania Records:

Land Records Indices via Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.