Our goal at Ancestor Tracks is to publish maps and land ownership information allowing genealogy researchers to pinpoint where our ancestors lived. The state of Pennsylvania began platting the exact metes-and-bounds tracts of the earliest landowners, township-by-township, starting in 1907, but the Land Office only completed about 1/3 of the state before the project ended. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania did not plat the tracts of the earliest landowners of Carbon County. However, we are exceedingly fortunate that the 1875 atlas (see below) included maps showing the names of the warrantees, or very first landowners of Carbon Co. See the explanation below the images for information on how to find more information regarding these tracts.
We are posting free, downloadable images of two 19th-century landowner maps: (1) Map of the Counties of Monroe and Carbon, Pennsylvania From surveys under the direction of H. F. Walling (New York, 1860); and (2) County Atlas of Carbon, Pennsylvania From actual surveys by and under the direction of F. W. Beers published by Beers in 1875. We hope the images will be useful for pinpointing the whereabouts of residents in the 1850-1880 census records and those mentioned in History of the Counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by Alfred Mathews (1884). Also be sure to check out the comprehensive site on Carbon County History and Genealogy maintained by Jack Sterling--do not miss this site!
Both the 1860 wall map and the 1873 atlas are located in the Library of Congress. While the physical maps are in the public domain, the images we have personally taken below at the Library of Congress belong to us and are not to be used commercially. If you wish to use them for personal use (including illustrating a family history you are working on, or including one on your personal web page for which you do not charge), you may use them freely as long as you attribute them to Ancestor Tracks.
Township maps immediately following are found on the Map of the Counties of Monroe and Carbon, Pennsylvania From surveys under the direction of H. F. Walling. (New York, 1860). Click on the township of your choice and once the image has downloaded completely, click on it again to enlarge and clarify it. All images may be saved to your computer by right-clicking and selecting "Save Image As..."
 1860 Walling Map |
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Township Maps
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Banks Township East Penn Township Franklin Township Kidder Township Lausanne Township (now Lausanne, Lehigh and Weatherly) Lower Towamensing Township Mahoning Township Mauch Chunk Township (now Jim Thorpe, Nesquehoning, and Summit Hill) Packer Township Penn Forest Township Towamensing Township |
| Boroughs, Towns and Villages |
Ashton Beaver Meadow Lehighton Mauch Chunk Nesquehoning Perryville Rockport Summit Hill Weatherly |
The following images are of County Atlas of Carbon, Pennsylvania From actual surveys by and under the direction of F. W. Beers published by Beers in 1875. Jack Sterling has compiled an amazing index to this atlas and published it online. What a gift to Carbon County researchers!
 Click on the image for a map of the townships |
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Business Index
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Township Maps
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Banks Township East Penn Township Franklin Township Kidder Township Lausanne Township (now Lausanne, Lehigh and Weatherly) Lehigh Township Lower Towamensing Township Mahoning Township Mauch Chunk Township (now Jim Thorpe, Nesquehoning, and Summit Hill) Packer Township Penn Forest Township Towamensing Township |
| Boroughs, Towns and Villages |
Ashton & Lansford Station Audenried/Yorktown Beaver Meadow Bowmans Station Buck Mountain Hazardville Bridgeport, East Haven, Lehigh Tannery, Sailorsville (Kidder Twp.) Lehigh Gap Lehighton Mauch Chunk (northeast portion) Mauch Chunk (western portion Mauch Chunk (alternate images by ) Millport Nesquehoning Packerton Parryville Pennsville Rockport Summit Hill Weissport Yorktown/Audenried |
Warrantees
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The warrantee map shows the outlines of the first landowners of Carbon County (those people who purchased their tract directly from the colony or state of Pennsylvania). Their records are in the Pennsylvania Archives in Harrisburg, and the surveys of these tracts have been posted online by the Archives. It takes a little work to locate the Survey Book and page number so that you can see them, however. There were three steps in the land acquisition process (after the application was made): (1) a warrant was issued after a fee was paid, allowing the holder of the warrant (the warrantee) full use of the land; (2) a survey was made by a deputy surveyor after a second fee was paid; and (3) a patent (or final title) was issued upon receipt of a third fee. Many years can separate the three steps, and very often the land was sold or inherited before it was patented. Thus, the warrantee may not be the same as the patentee.
Use the following steps:
(1) The Warrant Register for the relevant county (most of the earliest purchases occurred while Carbon Co. was part of Northampton Co) is the most important resource for locating the warrants, surveys and patents for the original tracts transferred from the colony or state to private owners. The vast majority of warrants are recorded in these ledgers. All 67 Warrant Registers can be purchased on a single CD from Ancestor Tracks (pdf files which can be saved to your computer, making them available when no internet access is available). They are also online, although each page must be accessed separately rather than paging through the ledger as a pdf file.
(2) Look first in the Warrant Register for Northampton County (Carbon County was created from Northumberland Co. in 1843, but nearly all of the earliest landowners purchased before that time). Entries are arranged by the first letter of a person's surname, and then entered in a roughly chronological order by warrant date. Page through the alphabetical section until you find your ancestor.
(3) Every fact recorded in the Warrant Register can yield an original warrant, survey and patent. The "Copied Survey Books" into which the original survey was copied are online (the warrants, patents and original surveys are not). The Survey Book and page number is recorded in the two columns at the far right of each Warrant Register. For example, if the desired survey is in A62, pg. 152, go to the Copied Survey Books. Click on the hyphenated volume number (in this case, A-62), and then click on the page number (in this case, A-62-152). The original survey can be ordered from the Archives--be sure to specify that you want an original!
(4) If you do not find the person of interest in the Northampton (or Carbon) Warrant Register, check the East Side Applications Register Index
(5) If you wish to order the warrant and patent from the Pennsylvania Archives, send them the information found for the rest of the Warrant Register entry.
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