Part 8: Pennsylvania Germans: Additional Record Types

The last four posts in this series covered some very important record types for researching Pennsylvania German ancestors:  initial land purchases from the Penns, subsequent land transactions, probate records, and church records.  As I stated earlier, because Pennsylvania Germans were, after all, Pennsylvanians, additional Pennsylvania record types will also be valuable to your research.  I will briefly mention a few of those records here, with information specific to researching Pennsylvania Germans.

Tax Records

Tax records began being kept long before the first census was taken in 1790, and they are a great record type that will help you locate your ancestors in a particular place and time.  Don’t forget the FAN club when looking at tax records.  Sometimes tax records have been alphabetized, but if they are not alphabetized, persons whose names appear next to your ancestor’s name could have been family members or other close associates.

From tax records, you can also trace an ancestor’s residence and migration, estimate his age and marital status and gain clues about property ownership.  They are also a great source for estimating when a person died and can be very helpful when trying to separate same-named men.

In Pennsylvania, the age of taxation was usually twenty-one.¹ Taxpayers were generally separated into three different categories:

• Landholder:  owners of real estate
• Inmate or Tenant:  married men without real estate
• Freemen:  Single men without real estate²

Pennsylvania tax lists are fairly complete for most counties in Pennsylvania. Many have been microfilmed and digitized by FamilySearch.  You can find them using the FamilySearch catalog.  Search by county and scroll down to “Taxes.”  

Ancestry has a database titled Pennsylvania Tax and Exonerations, 1768-1801. These records are easy to search but are incomplete. Read the collection description to discover whether your county of interest is included.  One word of caution is that the years assigned to the tax lists by Ancestry are not always accurate.  Look for the year on the record images themselves, and if you can’t find it, I have had success reaching out to the Pennsylvania State Archives where the originals are held to get more information.  Expand your search to other sources if you don’t find your ancestor in this database.

The published Pennsylvania Archives contain tax lists for 1765-1791 in the 3rd series, volumes 11-22.  Find an index in volumes 27-29 of the series.

In addition to tax lists created by each Pennsylvania county and organized by township, there are a few other tax lists to be aware of.  

• Quit-rents were an early form of taxes that landowners in Pennsylvania owed to the Penns. While settlers often evaded these taxes and records are incomplete, you can find existing records in the form of Rent Rolls.  FamilySearch has a collection titled Rent rolls, 1703-1744.  
• Another tax for which Pennsylvania has a very complete set of records is the 1798 Direct Tax.   Ancestry has digitized and indexed these records in Pennsylvania, U.S., U.S. Direct Tax Lists, 1798.
• Finally, Pennsylvania took a Septennial Census every seven years from 1779-1863.  Ancestry has a collection titled Pennsylvania, U.S., Septennial Census, 1779-1863 but again, the collection is incomplete. 

 

Military Records

Our Pennsylvania German ancestors did serve in the military, and there were a number of military conflicts that took place during the peak years of German immigration to Pennsylvania.³ These include King George’s War (1744-1748), Lord Dunmore’s War (1774), Pontiac’s War (1763), the French and Indian War (1756-1763), and the American Revolution (1775-1783).

Some of the best resources for Pennsylvania military records for these conflicts are the published Pennsylvania Archives.  The Fifth Series includes military records from the Colonial and Revolutionary eras, including muster rolls, letters of marque, abstracts of pension applications, and enlistment papers.⁴  The Sixth Series contains Military records from the Revolutionary War through the Mexican War.⁵   As a reminder, you can access the published Pennsylvania Archives for free at Fold3.  The collection is name searchable.

Records for the Revolutionary War can also be found in the form of Compiled Military Service Records, Revolutionary War Pensions, and Revolutionary War Bounty Land.  For an in-depth discussion of these and other records, listen to the Research Like a Pro Podcast, episodes 82 and 94 with Michael Strauss.  Some places to look for these records include the following:

• Compiled Military Service Records:  Indexed at FamilySearch.  Images available at Fold3.
• Revolutionary War Pensions and Bounty-Land Applications:  Indexed at FamilySearch.  Images available at Fold3.

 

Naturalization

In order to obtain the permanent title to their land, immigrants were required to gain citizenship through the process of naturalization.  Furthermore, Thomas Penn upheld a policy that any land held by non-naturalized immigrants would revert back to the Penns rather than to their families when the immigrant died.  This reason, along with the desire to obtain the right to vote, led German immigrants to pursue naturalization.⁶    

Early immigrants were considered citizens if they gave their oath of allegiance upon arrival in the United States.⁷  The naturalization process was formalized by the Naturalization (or Plantation) Act of 1740, which stated that immigrants who had been residents of the colonies for seven years without being absent greater than two months were simply required to declare their allegiance to the King of England, profess their Christian faith, and pay two shillings.⁸ It wasn’t until 1790 that the naturalization process became formalized in the United States and the process we are more familiar with was adopted – starting with a declaration of intention after two years of citizenship and the ability to file a petition for naturalization three years later.  Read more about the evolution of the Naturalization process here.

There are two things to remember when seeking naturalization records.  First, later naturalization records have much more genealogically significant information than do earlier records. Second, prior to 1906, an immigrant could file for naturalization in any court.⁹ Their declaration could be filed in one court and their petition in another.  Seek out the court records for the courts that were closest to your ancestor’s place of residence.  You can begin your search for naturalization records in the following places:

• Names of Foreigners Who Took the Oath of Allegiance to the Province and State of Pennsylvania, 1727-1775 at Ancestry
• Naturalization lists, 1740-1773, a locked collection at FamilySearch.  Also available as Persons Naturalized in the Province of Pennsylvania, 1740-1773 at Ancestry and in Series 2, volume 2 of the published Pennsylvania Archives.
• Pennsylvania, U.S., Naturalization Records from Supreme and District Courts, 1794-1908 at Ancestry
• Pennsylvania, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1795-1931 at Ancestry

 

Court Records

We discussed land and probate records in detail in part four, part five, and part six of this series. Additional court records can be helpful in your research.  The Pennsylvania Supreme Court and Courts of Common Pleas were established by the Judiciary Act of 1722.¹⁰ Prior to that time, central courts did not exist and court records are spotty.  The court system has evolved over the years and you will want to familiarize yourself with what courts were extant for the time period you are researching.  Find a brief history of the courts of Pennsylvania here.

Court records for state-level courts are held at the Pennsylvania State Archives.  Many have been microfilmed and are available at FamilySearch.  Use the FamilySearch catalog and do a place search for Pennsylvania, then scroll down to Court Records to find them.  Records created by other courts are typically held at the court itself.  The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has a great description of the offices you will find in a county courthouse and what their responsibilities are.

 One term that is unique in Pennsylvania and that you will want to be aware of is that of prothonotary.  The prothonotary is the title for the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, otherwise known as the keeper of the civil records.¹¹

German Newspapers

Newspapers can be a valuable source of genealogically significant information. In addition to birth, marriage, and death notices, obituaries, etc., notices of property sales and other events can lead to additional records. As a result of the retention of their German culture and identity by  Pennsylvania Germans, many local newspapers were printed in German.  To get a feel for the number of German newspapers that were in circulation, visit Chronicling America and search the US Newspaper Directory by “Pennsylvania” and “German Language” for a list of German newspapers and where they were published.  Clicking on the newspaper title will provide additional information, including a link to “Holdings,” which will tell you where you can find copies of the paper.

To aid in your research, look for abstracts of newspaper notices.  For example, Edward W. Hocker compiled Genealogical Data Relating to the German Settlers of Pennsylvania and Adjacent Territory from Advertisements in German Newspapers Published in Philadelphia and Germantown, 1743-1800.  A digital copy is available at FamilySearch. 

Family Records

Bible Records

Many families recorded vital information about their family in a family bible, which was often presented by relatives as a wedding gift to a bride.  Family bibles might still be in possession of the family or in a local historical or genealogical society.  The FamilySearch Research Wiki has a long list of places to look for family bibles from Pennsylvania.  

Fraktur and Taufschein 

Fraktur is a type of folk art that played a big role in the culture of Pennsylvania Germans.  It flourished in the period from 1750-1840 and is characterized by central text surrounded by ornamental embellishment.¹²   The most common type of fraktur were birth and baptismal certificates.  They were so common that by the middle of the nineteenth century, common designs were mass-produced.¹³

Look for fraktur in home sources first.  Are there members of your extended family who inherited family artifacts including fraktur?  Taufschein might have been tucked into family bibles or saved with the family’s important documents. Published family history books might also be a good source.  The Taufschein for my husband’s ancestor Daniel Mathias Jr. (born 3 May 1775 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania) was in possession of Dorothy Weiser Seale, and she included a color image in the front of her book, Mat(t)hias Milestones:  The Genealogy & Biographical History of Daniel Mathias, Senior.

Libraries and historical societies also have collections of fraktur.  Here are a few:

• The Free Library of Philadelphia – 1496 items in their digital collection, Pennsylvania German Fraktur and Manuscripts.
• The Franklin and Marshall College Library – 519 items in their digital  Pennsylvania German Fraktur Collection.
• The Berks History Center has over 500 pieces in its physical collection.
• The Library of Congress holds a small collection.  Find out more about the collection, including an index to names, in Pennsylvania German Fraktur and Printed Broadsides:  A Guide to the Collections in the Library of Congress by Paul Conner & Jill Roberts.  A digital version is available at Hathitrust.

 

Visit Frakturweb for a more detailed history of Fraktur and Taufschein and a bibliography of over 1,000 books on the topic.

The posts about records in this series have provided a brief overview that may help you locate records that might have been created for your Pennsylvania German ancestors.  However, we have merely scratched the surface of what is available.  Pennsylvania is a wonderful state for genealogical research!  Use the information provided in this series to get started, but make sure to do your own work to find additional records in the county where your ancestors lived.  Good luck with your research and stay tuned – Heidi will be wrapping up this series by talking about how to use DNA to help research our Pennsylvania German ancestors.

1. “Pennsylvania Taxation,” FamilySearch Research Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Pennsylvania_Taxation : accessed 18 March 2022).
2. Kay Haviland Freilich, CG, CGL, FNGS, NGS Research in the States Series:  Pennsylvania, 3rd edition (Arlington, Virginia: National Genealogical Society, 2016), 44.
3. “Colonial Wars, 1607 to 1763,” FamilySearch Research Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Colonial_Wars,_1607_to_1763 : accessed 17 March 2022).  And “Revolutionary War, 1775 to 1783,” FamilySearch Research Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Revolutionary_War,_1775_to_1783 : accessed 17 March 2022).
4. “Pennsylvania, Published Archives Series, 1664-1902,” images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2206/ : accessed 17 March 2022).
5. Ibid.
6. Aaron Spencer Fogleman, Hopeful Journeys:  German Immigration, Settlement, and Political Culture in Colonial America, 1717-1775 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996); kindle version, location 2265-66.
7. “United States Naturalization and Citizenship,” FamilySearch Research Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/United_States_Naturalization_and_Citizenship : accessed 17 March 2022).
8. “Plantation Act 1740,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantation_Act_1740 : accessed 17 March 2022).
9. “United States Naturalization and Citizenship,” FamilySearch Research Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/United_States_Naturalization_and_Citizenship : accessed 17 March 2022).
10. Kay Haviland Freilich, CG, CGL, FNGS, NGS Research in the States Series:  Pennsylvania, 3rd edition (Arlington, Virginia: National Genealogical Society, 2016), 23.
11. “County Office Descriptions,” Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/coffices.htm : accessed 18 March 2022).
12. “What is Fraktur?” Frakturweb (http://frakturweb.org/what-is-fraktur/ : accessed 18 March 2022).
13. “Taufschein Fraktur,” Frakturweb (http://frakturweb.org/fraktur-types/taufschein-fraktur/ : accessed 18 March 2022).