Pennsylvania German Pioneers: A Publication of the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808

Description

The most complete collection of colonial passenger lists ever published, this work comprises all the original lists of persons who arrived in the port of Philadelphia between 1727 and 1808. The lists were assembled from state archives and give the names of 38,000 immigrants, names of ships, dates of arrival, and places of origin. As no other port maintained such extensive and continuous records, this work is foremost among compilations of its kind.

Volume I covers the period 1727-1775 and contains 324 ship passenger lists, including captains’ lists, signers of the oath of allegiance, and signers of the oath of abjuration. Volume II covers the period 1785-1808 and includes 182 additional lists, in many cases giving ages, occupations, and birthplaces. All names and variant spellings are listed in the Index, which comprises some 450 pages and 50,000 references. Our publication is a reprint of the work originally compiled for the Pennsylvania German Society.

What is not commonly known about Pennsylvania German Pioneers is that in its original incarnation, the work was published with a third volume of immigrant signature pages. In this volume Messrs Strassburger and Hinke went to considerable lengths to reproduce the requisite signatures that affirmed the oaths of allegiance taken by the immigrants themselves. The lists of signatures are arranged in chronological order according to the date of arrival of the vessels that brought the immigrants. The great value of the Facsimile Signatures volume, of course, is that it permits the researcher to make his/her own determinations of immigrant names, alongside those of the editors.

While not included in our eBook Set, that volume is included in our Print Set. Details for individual volumes can be found in the “You may also like” panel below.