As we learned from the previous post on CALIFORNIA, what may be available when a state census is not available or the "state" was not a state when your ancestors lived there, could be birth/baptismal, marriage, or burial records. And from the previous post that lists the STATE CENSUS we read PENNSYLVANIA - No state census records are known to exist.
IS IT TRUE?
Historical research : Dutch there 1641. Founded 1667 as a colony of England - British took control. 1681 Colony of William Penn; King Charles gave it to him as Province of Pennsylvania. 1776 Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. December 1787 Pennsylvania ratified the United States Constitution and becomes the second state to join the United States. FEDERAL CENSUS TAKEN WAS FROM 1790 and every ten years... but you will encounter the 1890 being lost. Note that the majority of the population was near the eastern seaboard - Philadelphia for some time. Also note that if you look at the maps of early Pennsylvania you'll see that the present map with the straight western line is not what Pennsylvania looked like at the time. There is no West Virginia and much of what is Western Pennsylvania today was Virginia.
OK - so now what we are going to do is find out what, if anything, there is available.
Excerpt:
Record Group 7: Records of the General Assembly
Septennial Census Returns, 1779-1863 - This series contains returns for a census conducted every seven years, enumerating taxpayers for the purpose of determining representation in the General Assembly. Only about 11% of the original records have survived and the only information provided in most of the surviving returns is the name of the taxpayer, though occasionally the occupation is also given. The style and details of enumeration varies for the different counties and in different periods of time. All counties have lists of "Taxable inhabitants" and "freemen", while others also include "inmates". Commencing in 1800, the age, name, gender and place of residence of each slave is also frequently given and occasionally the name of the slave's owner. Last names of slaves are usually not given because changes in ownership would have altered these over time. A few returns for Franklin County (1828, 1835, 1842), Columbia County (1821), Mifflin County (1821), and Philadelphia City (1863) provide the name, age and gender of deaf, dumb and blind inhabitants.
Manuscript Group 262: Special Collections Microfilm
United States Direct Tax of 1798: Tax Lists for the State of Pennsylvania - Compiled to facilitate the first federal tax based on wealth (Act of July 14, 1798), these lists and summary abstracts not only document property owners but also the number and types of buildings and slaves that they owned. The 1798 Act established nine divisions in Pennsylvania. The National Archives arranged the volumes by divisions and thereunder by district, county, township, or other subdivision.
HERE IS AN INTERESTING ARTICLE ON EARLY MAPPING OF PENNSYLVANIA
D HAYTON HAVERFORD EDU : MARKETING A COLONY WILLIAM PENN
This is going to be a SERIES of POSTS and so I'm going to designate a TAG that will (eventually) bring them ALL up!
The TAG WILL BE "STATE CENSUS ADVENTURE"
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