Pennsylvania State Archives Collection

Images of cash books, daybooks, ledgers, journals, receipt book, vouchers, payroll requisitions, and related types of records kept by the Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia. Information provided varies with type of record but generally documents revenue received and expenditures made by the Wardens in the course of carrying out their duties. Disclaimer: Not all records in this collection are digitized. Visit the PA State Archives to see the rest of the collection.

Images of records of cases brought before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in the Eastern District. An Appearance Docket generally documents the initial proceedings of a case, while actions taken months or years later after the appearance docket entry was completed, are listed in a continuance docket. Different types of dockets are found for different periods. From 1740 through September of 1795, the volumes may be either Appearance or Continuance Dockets, or combinations of both. From December of 1795 until 1829, there are generally both types of dockets for each term. From December of 1830 through 1837, however, only Continuance Dockets are found, while from 1838 on, all volumes are in the form of Appearance Dockets. Information provided by docket entries may include court term and case number; names of parties and their attorneys; names of county and lower courts from which the appellate case arose; a chronological listing of documents filed and proceedings held; and the court's decision on subsequent orders. For a more in-depth study of particular cases see the (RG-033-A-13) Appearance Papers, 1858-1879.

Images of the earliest surviving records of the Commonwealth including William Penn's charter from King Charles II, the earliest frames of government for the province, the deeds by which Pennsylvania lands were purchased from the American Indian tribes, copies of all of the state constitutions and Pennsylvania's copy of the federal constitution. Disclaimer: The Pennsylvania State Archives provides digital access to a wide variety of historical documents, some of which may be considered offensive by current standards.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.

Images of reports of inquisitions conducted by a County Coroner and a twelve man panel who had viewed a body attesting to the cause of death. These inquests determined the need for criminal prosecutions, and were used as the basis for conviction at the grand jury inquest if needed. Information provided includes name of decedent; date and cause of death; date of inquest; and county in which it took place. Causes of death listed include criminal acts (assault, murder); medical problems (poison, drinking water, apoplexy, flu, burns, fits, palsey, opium overdoses, and suffocation); and accidents (drowning, being hit by falling trees and logs, sleepwalking out a window, falling from buildings, horses, ladders, and chairs, or into wells, and being run over by wagons or horses, or both). Other causes listed are suicide, natural causes, and "upon the visitation of God." Places where inquests were conducted include Berks, Bucks, Chester, Cumberland, Delaware, Northampton, and Northumberland Counties, and Philadelphia. Other documents sometimes included with the inquisitions are Sheriff's Inquests and Grand Jury Inquests for Oyer and Terminer in Bucks County, death verifications, and witness depositions. Disclaimer: 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.

This docket contains images of two separate sections, one being a record of rules, resolves and orders of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and the other, a record of divorce cases brought before that court. The section entitled "General Motions" (1750-1837) documents the administrative workings of the Supreme Court by listing decisions made concerning general procedures, as well as specific cases. Topics include dealing with writs of habeas corpus and certiorari; pleas by general issue; new trials in arrest of judgment; admission of attorneys; the exchange of pleas and responses; filing times for affidavits; acts of assembly pertaining to the court; the setting or court dates for the Supreme, Circuit and Nisi Prius Courts; and the deaths and appointments of Chief Justices, Associate Justices, Prothonotaries, Criers, Commissioners of Bail and Tipstaffs. Of particular interest is a libel case brought against Eleazer Oswald, publisher of "The Independent Gazetteer or the Chronicle of Freedom" (1782). The "Divorce Docket" (1800-1805) contains copies of original petitions for divorce, as well as of the Court's judgments. Information provided includes names of husband and wife; reason for filing the divorce petition (abandonment, adultery, cruelty, previous unended marriage, etc.); names of referees; and the nature of the final judgment.

Records of various types of cases brought before the Superior or Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania. Information provided by the entries includes names of plaintiff and defendant, type of case, proceedings and dates thereof, nature of the judgment, and the locations of related case papers. Of interest may be the written addresses in memoriam of Chief Justices Henry Greer and James P. Sterrett, as well as the address given for the presentation of portraits of the Justices. Disclaimer: Not all records in this collection are digitized. Please visit the PA State Archives to see the rest of the collection.

Images of transcriptions of land property conveyances, originally taken in execution upon an estate or in a suit by virtue of a writ of fieri facias and sold at public auction by writ of venditioni expinas. Information provided includes names of plaintiff, defendant, grantee, and the Sheriff involved; date of deed poll; property location, size, boundaries and names of neighbors; and date grant was received.

Images of official records of the arrival of foreign passengers at the port of Philadelphia that were required to be kept by captains of ships importing strangers into the province beginning in 1727. Originally, the captains were intended by the Provincial Council to record the names, occupations, and places of residence of all such passengers. Most of the so-called A Lists, however, give the names of adult male passengers only, though twenty-five captains also recorded the names of women, and children. Three captains gave the names of both men and women while omitting children and sixty-four captains also provided the ages of passengers, though this information was not required. The B Lists consist of the signatures required of the passengers to the oath of allegiance to the British Crown and a declaration of fidelity to the proprietor of the province. These were supposed to include the names of all adult male passengers but actually contain only the names of adult male passengers who were well enough on the day of the signing to appear at the courthouse. After 1739, the Clerk of Council signed the names of absent passengers. The C Lists contain the signatures of passengers who signed the Declaration of Fidelity and Abjuration that was required by the Act of May 10, 1729. This Act required all male passengers who were at least sixteen years of age to, within forty-eight hours after their arrival, take both an oath of allegiance that acknowledged the supremacy of the King and an oath of abjuration of the authority of the Pope. The abjuration declared impious and heretical that wicked Doctrine and Position that Princes Excommunicated or deprived by the Pope, or any Authority of the See of Rome, may be deposed or murthered (sic) by their Subjects . . . (and) that no Foreign Prince, Person, Prelate, State or Potentate hath, or ought to have, any Power, Jurisdiction, Superiority, Preeminence or Authority, Ecclesiastical or Spiritual, within the Realm of Great Britain or Dominions thereunto belonging.