Pennsylvania, U.S., County Records of Enslaved and Free People, 1780-1834

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, U.S., County Records of Enslaved and Free People, 1780-1834 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations inc., 2017. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.
Original data: Adams County Slave Records. Records of the County Governments (Microfilm Copies). Record Group 47. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Bedford County Slave Records. Records of the County Governments (Microfilm Copies). Record Group 47. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Bucks County Slave Records. Records of the County Governments (Microfilm Copies). Record Group 47. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Centre County Slave Records. Records of the County Governments (Microfilm Copies). Record Group 47. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Cumberland County Slave Records. Records of the County Governments (Microfilm Copies). Record Group 47. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Dauphin County Slave Records. Records of the County Governments (Microfilm Copies). Record Group 47. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Fayette County Slave Records. Records of the County Governments (Microfilm Copies). Record Group 47. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Lancaster County Slave Records. Records of the County Governments (Microfilm Copies). Record Group 47. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Lancaster City Slave Records. Records of Municipal Governments (Microfilm Copies). Record Group 48. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Washington County Slave Records. Records of the County Governments (Microfilm Copies). Record Group 47. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

About Pennsylvania, U.S., County Records of Enslaved and Free People, 1780-1834

This collection consists of records pertaining to slaves and free persons from Adams, Bedford, Bucks, Centre, Cumberland, Fayette, Lancaster, and Washington counties, as well as Lancaster City. The types of records that can be found include: petitions to keep slaves past the age of twenty-eight, records of "negro" and "mulatto" children, as well as birth and residence registers. Various other records, such as apprenticeship records, bills of sale, and manumissions also occasionally appear.

Entries include the slave’s name (typically only a given name), description (e.g., Negro woman, negro man, etc.), owner, birth date, and occasionally, the name of a mother.