For Speakers and Educators

As a genealogical speaker or lecturer, you know how important land resources are in furthering a search for people's roots and how underused they are. If you are speaking about an overview of new general genealogical resources, or if you are addressing land records in general, or if you are mentioning Pennsylvania, here's a short description which you might add to a lecture. If you would like more information, please contact us at customer_service@ancestortracks.com. Feel free to use graphics from any of our CDs or books to illustrate your lecture or use them in teaching a course (please attribute them to Ancestor Tracks and give our website, www.ancestortracks.com). If you have any questions, please contact us at customer_service@ancestortracks.com

Land ownership maps are one of the most valuable, yet underused, tools available to researchers. If your family came through Pennsylvania, you might be interested in a new series of atlases published by Sharon and Angus MacInnes of Ancestor Tracks called Early Landowners of Pennsylvania: Atlas of Township Warrantee Maps of *** County, PA. These books show atlas pages of the land tracts, drawn in metes and bounds, of the earliest landowners of Pennsylvania. Each page reveals a wealth of information since neighboring tracts were usually owned by relatives, witnesses, and sponsors. Books and CDs have been completed for Berks, Fayette, Greene and Washington Counties. Ancestor Tracks plans to eventually publish books of all counties in Pennsylvania for which such maps exist. They have also published CDs containing .pdf files of all the the Warrant Registers on file in the PA Archives in Harrisburg; one containing all of the Patent Register Indexes in the PA Archives; and a third CD containing the Tract Name Indexes to all of the tracts given names when they were patented. They are also posting free images to their website (www.ancestortracks.com) of later maps showing landowners which can be used in conjunction with the 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses.

For your bibliography:

_____, First Landowners of Pennsylvania: Colonial and State Warrant Registers in the Pennsylvania Archives in Harrisburg, CD. Ancestor Tracks: Alexandria, VA. 2006 (www.ancestortracks.com). This CD contains three major resources for researchers:   (1) the warrant register for Original Purchasers (starting in 1682); (2) two registers for Old Rights Purchasers (one for Philadelphia and one for Bucks & Chester Counties combined, also starting in 1682); and (3) all of the warrant registers (67 volumes, one for each county, starting with those in existence in 1733) for the original sales from the Penns, and then the state, to a majority of the first legally-recognized owners of private land throughout Pennsylvania.   These registers predate the deed books located in each county and are the primary finding aid for locating patents and warrants in the PA Archives when the name of the warrantee is known..

____,First Landowners of Pennsylvania: Indexes to the Colonial and State Patent Registers in the PA Archives, Harrisburg, 1684-ca 1995, CD. Ancestor Tracks: Alexandria, VA. 2006 (www.ancestortracks.com). 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 on CD from www.ancestortracks.com), this is the next place to look. The names in the Patent Indexes 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) so 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.

_____, First Landowners of Pennsylvania: Indexes to Tract Names of Patented Land in the PA Archives, Harrisburg, ca 1684-1811, CD. Ancestor Tracks: Alexandria, VA 2006. From the years of the Penn Proprietorship until about 1810, tracts were given names to make it easier to track them when they changed ownership. If you only know the name of a tract, these registers will show you the name of the patentee, the date of the patent, the size of the tract, the name of the warrantee, the date of the warrant, the county where it was located at the time, and the volume, book, and page number where the patent is recorded. The volumes cover Patent Books A-AA, P1-20 (1781-1794), P20-P35 (1792-1800), P35-P43 (1799-1800), and P44-P65 (1800-1809).

MacInnes, Sharon, Ph.D., and Angus MacInnes. Early Landowners of Pennsylvania: Atlas of Township Warrantee Maps of Berks County, PA. Apollo, PA: Closson Press, 2005, 575 pages. Starting in 1907, the Pennsylvania Land Office began a project to research the original surveys and locate them once and for all on maps of current townships. Over many years, each Township Warrantee Map was painstakingly platted by draftsmen from the original warrants, surveys, and patents. The maps show precise outlines of each original tract and all surrounding tracts in the township, giving the names of the warrantee and patentee; dates of the warrant, survey, and patent; the patent book and page of the recorded patent; and the survey book and page where the survey was recorded. Unfortunately, the state did not complete platting this county. Ancestor Tracks has found supplemental sources to substitute for many of the missing townships. About 75% of the earliest landowners are documented in this volume. No maps are included for the following townships: Colebrookdale, Douglass, Hereford, Ontelaunee, Perry, Pike, and Washington. Partial (sometimes very partial) coverage is given for the following townships: Albany, District, Earl, Greenwich, Longswamp, Maidencreek, Windsor, and Richmond. A companion CD containing all of the maps which are included in the atlas, including the partial maps, is available for a nominal price. Each image may be enlarged so that the tiniest detail can be seen. Permission is given to cut the portions of the images which directly relate to your ancestors and past them into your family history book or software program with attribution to Ancestor Tracks. The images are included in both .jpg and .pdf formats. The CD contains only the map images, not the text of the book.

MacInnes, Sharon, Ph.D., and Angus MacInnes. Early Landowners of Pennsylvania: Atlas of Township Warrantee Maps of Fayette County, PA. Apollo, PA: Closson Press, 2005, 372 pages . The maps show precise outlines of each original tract and all surrounding tracts in every township of Fayette County, giving the names of the warrantee and patentee; dates of the warrant, survey, and patent; and the patent book and page of the recorded patent. This Fayette County atlas contains one chapter for each of the county's 26 townships. Each chapter begins with the Township Warrantee Map reduced to 8 ½ X 11" with an atlas coordinate grid superimposed on the map and is followed by charts containing all of the information found on the map. Copies of the large images (averaging about 3' X 4') without coordinates are contained on a companion CD available for a nominal price.The CD contains only the map images, not the text of the book.

MacInnes, Sharon, Ph.D., and Angus MacInnes. Early Landowners of Pennsylvania: Atlas of Township Warrantee Maps of Greene County, PA. Apollo, PA: Closson Press, 2005, 297 pages. This Greene County atlas contains all of the Township Warrantee Maps which are on file at the Pennsylvania Archives in Harrisburg, thus pinpointing the location of the earliest landowners. Each Township Warrantee Map was painstakingly platted by draftsmen from the original warrants, surveys, and patents. The maps show precise outlines of each original tract and all surrounding tracts in the township, giving the names of the warrantee and patentee; dates of the warrant, survey, and patent; and the patent and survey books and page of the recorded patent. This Greene County atlas contains one chapter for each township, the plats being warranted as early as 1769 and as late as the 1920s. Each chapter begins with the Township Warrantee Map reduced to 8 ½ X 11" with an atlas coordinate grid superimposed on the map and is followed by all of the information found on the map (sample page). Numerous reference notes from Greene County history references have been added, and an everyname index is included. Copies of the original maps , which can be enlarged exponentially, are contained on a companion CD which can be purchased separately or in combination with the atlas. The CD contains only the map images, not the text of the book.

MacInnes, Sharon, Ph.D. and Angus MacInnes. Early Landowners of Pennsylvania: Atlas of Township Warrantee Maps of Washington County, PA. Apollo, PA: Closson Press, 2004, 383 pages. This Washington County atlas contains one chapter for each of the county's 33 townships. Each chapter begins with the Township Warrantee Map reduced to 8 ½ X 11" with an atlas coordinate grid superimposed on the map and is followed by all of the information found on the map in chart format. Copies of the original maps , which can be enlarged exponentially, are contained on a companion CD which can be purchased separately or in combination with the atlas. The CD contains only the map images, not the text of the book.

MacInnes, Sharon, Ph.D., and Angus MacInnes. Early Landowners of Pennsylvania: Land Tracts Transferred from Virginia to Pennsylvania Jurisdiction 1779-1790. Apollo, PA: Closson Press, 2004, 217 pages. This is a transcription of a little bound notebook in the Pennsylvania Archives in Harrisburg which is untitled but which contains information regarding the earliest western Pennsylvania settlers. This weathered account book holds chronological entries by surveyors of the transfers of individual land tracts from Virginia jurisdiction to that of Pennsylvania in 1779-1780. These transfers were made necessary because two of His Majesty's colonies, Virginia (which then included West Virginia) and Pennsylvania, had engaged in a wrestling match over the territory. Pennsylvania eventually won when the Mason-Dixon Line was finalized, and Pennsylvania then gave surveys and patents "in pursuance of a Virginia certificate" to those who could prove they had received the land before the change in jurisdiction. Thus, when a Pennsylvania land tract states that it was received "under a Virginia certificate," its official transfer can almost always be found recorded in this book. This notebook is a revision of the version (including general maps) which was transcribed and published in the Third Series of Pennsylvania Archives (Vol. III, pp. 483-573) in 1894 under William Egle's tutelage. It is a chronological listing by date of entry into the notebook--not the date a settler entered the land, but the date of the transfer of the land to Pennsylvania authorities.

 

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