Pennsylvania Emigration and Immigration

The United States Research Outline (30972) "Emigration and Immigration" section lists several important sources for finding information about immigrants. These nationwide sources include many references to people who settled in Pennsylvania. The Tracing Immigrant Origins Research Outline (34111) introduces the principles, search strategies, and additional record types you can use to identify an immigrant ancestor's original hometown.

People
The first European settlers in Pennsylvania were the Swedes who came in the 1630s and the Dutch who came in the 1650s. By 1670 the English, Irish, and Welsh predominated in the area. They settled mostly in Philadelphia and the eastern counties.

Germans began coming to Pennsylvania in large numbers at the end of the 1600s. They settled first in the eastern counties and later migrated to western Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia. Many Pennsylvania Germans also migrated later to North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, and Illinois.

The Scotch-Irish started coming in large numbers after 1718. They settled first in the Cumberland Valley area and later pushed into the western Pennsylvania counties of Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington, Greene, and Allegheny. Many Scotch-Irish eventually moved into southern states such as Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Kentucky. French Huguenot and Swiss families mingled with the Germans. Some Huguenots from New York migrated to Pennsylvania and settled in Berks and Lancaster counties. Swiss Mennonites began to settle in Lancaster county about 1710.

Many people came to Pennsylvania and the other colonies as indentured servants. For an excellent discussion of "unfree labor," see Sharon V. Salinger, To Serve Well and Faithfully: Labor and Indentured Servants in Pennsylvania, 1682-1800 (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1987; FHL book 974.8 E6ss). It includes the names of some individuals who were indentured servants. The sources Salinger used can provide examples of the kind of records to search to find out information about these individuals.

An interesting collection of records compiled during the Revolutionary War period that may provide helpful information on families is Pennsylvania, Supreme Executive Council, Application for Passes, 1775-1790 (FHL film 1759080). See Guide to the Microfilm of the Records of Pennsylvania Revolutionary Governments, 1775-1790 in the "Archives and Libraries" article on this site for a list of names in these records.

In the 1870s Pennsylvania attracted large numbers of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. These included Slavs, Poles, Italians, Jews, Russians, and Greeks. During the 19th and especially the 20th centuries, blacks from the southern states also moved to Pennsylvania in large numbers.

For an account of some of these groups see John E. Bodnar, The Ethnic Experience in Pennsylvania (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania : Bucknell University Press, 1973; FHL book 974.8 F2bo).

Records
For the period 1792-1794, there is A Health Officer's Register of Passenger's Names at the State Archives (but not at the FHL) that lists the names of ship passengers. In Pennsylvania Archives, Series 2 vol. 17, pp. 521-667, is Names of Foreigners Arriving in Pennsylvania, 1786-1808, which appears to be the same records covering a longer span of time. Some entries include place of birth. They are also included in Strassburger and Hinke, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, which is listed below.

Philadelphia has been a major port of entry for European immigrants since the seventeenth century. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of passenger arrival records from the National Archives, including:


 * Indexes,1800-1882, 1883-1948, 1906-1926
 * Lists, 1800-1906, 1883-1921

More detailed information on immigration sources is in the United States Research Outline (30972).

Over 200,000 names of immigrants and naturalized aliens in Pennsylvania are indexed in the following source:

Filby, P. William. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index. 15 vols. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research, 1981-. (FHL book 973.) The first three volumes are a combined alphabetical index published in 1981. Supplemental volumes have been issued annually. There are also cumulative 1982 to 1985, 1986 to 1900, and 1991 to 1997 supplements. These volumes index names of colonial immigrants listed in published sources.

See also:

A large alphabetically-arranged 54 volume manuscript collection at the Chester County Historical Society is Albert C. Meyers, comp., Notes on Immigrants to Pennsylvania, 1681-1737 (on 14 FHL films beginning with 567010 item 2).

Emigrants to Pennsylvania, 1641-1819: A Consolidation of Ship Passenger Lists from the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Baltimore, Maryland.: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. (FHL book 974.8 W3t.)

Bentley, Elizabeth P., and Michael H. Tepper.Passenger Arrivals at the Port of Philadelphia, 1800-1819. Baltimore, Maryland.: Genealogical Publishing, 1986. (FHL book Ref 974.811 W3p.)

Coldham, Peter Wilson. The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1776 and Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1775. [Novato, California]: Brøderbund Software, 1996. (FHL compact disc no. 9 pt. 350). Not available at Family History Centers. A comprehensive list of about 140,000 immigrants to America from Britain. Includes Pennsylvania immigrants. It may show British hometown, emigration date, ship, destination, and text of the document abstract.

Strassburger, Ralph Beaver, and William John Hinke. ''Pennsylvania German Pioneers: A Publication of the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808. Norristown, Pennsylvania'' : Pennsylvania German Society, 1934. (Pennsylvania-German Society Proceedings and Addresses; v. 42-44.) (FHL book 974.8 B4pg; vols. 42 and 44 on 2 films beginning with 1035683 item 5; on 30 fiche 6051507-9.)

Records of major ethnic groups are listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under PENNSYLVANIA - EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION, and under PENNSYLVANIA - MINORITIES. See also the "Minorities" section of this outline. Published studies include those for the Schwenkfelder, Quaker, Welsh, Scotch-Irish, Amish, and Huguenot groups.

Many passenger lists are now available on the internet. Use a search engine with "Pennsylvania Passenger Lists" terms to identify currently available lists.