Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Eastern District, Escheat Papers, 1792-1822 (non-inclusive) and undated. Please note the original document scans at the end of this roll were found after this series was microfilmed., This Digital Object is provided in a collection that is included in POWER LIBRARY: Pennsylvania Photos and Documents, which is funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Department of Education., Arranged by case file according to the year the writ was issued. This series was originally arranged in chronological order by the earliest document date with some case papers added. On September 29, 1787 "An Act to Declare and Regulate Escheats" became law. According to it, the law established a process by which the Commonwealth would incorporate the real and personal property of persons who died intestate or without heirs. For the execution of this, the Supreme Council commissioned an Escheator-General; specifically, John Nicholson (also Comptroller-General), Clement Biddle, and William Irwin. A deputy was appointed for each county. Deputies mentioned include Thomas Sergeant (Bucks), Isaac Darlington (Chester), Robert Porter (Montgomery) and Collinson Reed (Berks). These officers held an inquisition and rendered a decision concerning the escheated property. Inquisitors were warranted by the county sheriff and testimony of witnesses was taken. If the escheators court found no claim or will the property was turned over to the state. Otherwise, claimants were to appear at the next session of the Supreme Court. This process was changed by act of Assembly on April 2, 1821 when the auditor general assumed duties of the escheator general and the Courts of Common Pleas replaced the Supreme Court. Documents included in this series are: Inquisition Returns, Warrants, Claims on Estates, Testimony, Jury Lists, Estate Inventories, and Certificates of Marriage. Also, within this series are commissions for the deputy escheators and for the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth from the governor. Disclaimer: Not all records in this collection are digitized. Please visit the PA State Archives to see the rest of the collection. The Pennsylvania State Archives provides digital access to a wide variety of historical documents, some of which may be considered offensive by current standards. The Archives does not endorse views expressed in these historical collections, but presents these collections to aid in scholarly research.
