First Landowners of Pennsylvania: Indexes to the Colonial and State Patent Registers in the PA Archives, Harrisburg, 1684-ca 1957

These 10 volumes serve as name indexes to the patentees of the original land patents granted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and by the Penn family before the Commonwealth was created. The volumes are indexes to Patent Register Series A-AA, Series P, and Series H.

If you cannot find an original landowner's name in the Warrant Registers (also available on CD from Ancestor Tracks), this is the next place to look. Within an index covering the relevant years, the names are grouped alphabetically by the first letter of the patentee's surname, then grouped by volume number of Patent Book, and finally arranged chronologically by date of patent. Thus, you have to look through the entire alphabetical section (which may be as little as one page to as many as 50) to be sure you don't miss anyone. Please note that these registers predate the deed books located in each county because they deal with the first transfer of land to private individuals at the state level. Copies of all original documents shown in these indexes are available from the Pennsylvania Archives in Harrisburg. Their order form is online.