Colonial Pennsylvania Genealogy Research Is Here!
The third PA Ancestors Genealogy Guide maps surviving records for 20 colonial communities, the Revolutionary War, and the Pennsylvania Archives series. Available now on Amazon.
Pennsylvania's colonial records are scattered. If you've spent any time researching ancestors who lived here between 1681 and 1790, you already know this. Church records in one archive. Tax lists in another. Military records across three different repositories. And half the time, you're not even sure what survived.
That's why I wrote Colonial Pennsylvania Genealogy Research: Communities and Revolutionary Era Records, 1681-1790. It's the third book in the PA Ancestors Genealogy Guides series, and it's the one I've wanted to write since I started the series in 2022.
This book is a directory. Not a how-to-do-genealogy book. A directory of what records exist, where they are, and what you need to know before you start looking.
What's inside
The book covers over 20 distinct communities that made colonial Pennsylvania one of the most diverse places in the Americas. Each chapter identifies the records that survive for that community, where those records are held, and the research traps to watch for.
Communities covered include Quaker, Welsh, Scots-Irish, German Lutheran, German Reformed, Moravian, Mennonite and Amish, Jewish, Catholic, Anglican/Episcopal, Baptist, Methodist, French Huguenot, Scottish, Schwenkfelder, and German Baptist Brethren. There are also chapters on Native American records, Dutch/Swedish/Finnish settlers from before Penn's charter, and free and enslaved African American communities.
The Revolutionary War section covers Patriots, Loyalists, privateers, and the people who tried to stay neutral. It maps pension records, militia muster rolls, confiscation records, letters of marque, and the oath records that caught people on both sides of the conflict.
There are also chapters on vital records, tax lists, court records, indentured servants, and the full published Pennsylvania Archives series — all nine series, with guidance on what's in each one and where the gaps are.
Why this book, why now
America's 250th anniversary year felt like the right time for a book that maps the records of the people who were actually here. Not the famous names. The farmers, weavers, indentured servants, church members, and militia privates whose records are still sitting in archives waiting for someone to find them.
I've spent over ten years researching my own Pennsylvania ancestors — eight generations. This book is the reference I wished I had when I started.
The PA Ancestors Genealogy Guides series
This is the third book in the series:
- Pennsylvania Vital Records Research (2022) — How Pennsylvania's vital records system works and where to find birth, marriage, and death records
- Archives in Pennsylvania for Genealogy Research (2nd edition, 2023) — A guide to the state's archives, historical societies, and research repositories
- Colonial Pennsylvania Genealogy Research (2026) — Records for colonial communities and the Revolutionary era
Get the book
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About PA Ancestors: The authoritative resource for Pennsylvania genealogy research — vital records, county courthouses, archives, probate, land records, military records, and immigration research across all 67 Pennsylvania counties. Founded by Denyse Allen, Pennsylvania genealogy researcher and author.
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