Pennsylvania Biography

Online Resources

 * American Biographical Library ($)
 * Pennsylvania Founding Families, 1681-1911, ($), index
 * Provincial Councillors of Pennsylvania, 1733-1776, ($), index
 * County and Town Histories, with biographies
 * PA-Roots Biography Project
 * Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography, illustrated. v. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 13
 * Encyclopaedia of contemporary biography, of Pennsylvania Vol. 2, Vol. 3
 * Who's who in Pennsylvania; a biographical dictionary of contemporaries. (1904)
 * Genealogical and personal history of western Pennsylvania; editor-in-chief, John W. Jordan. v.1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3
 * Century cyclopedia of history and biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, Vol. 2
 * Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. v.1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3
 * The biographical encyclopædia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century
 * The progressive men of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ... Comp. and ed. by Col. Charles Blanchard. v.1, Vol. 2
 * Memorial encyclopedia of the State of Pennsylvania Vol. 1, Vol. 2
 * Some Pennsylvania women during the War of the Revolution

Biographies in Local Histories

 * Biographical information is often found in state, county, and town histories.
 * Towards the end of the 19th century, began publishers soliciting short biographical/family histories from local founding families, offering to publish them in an upcoming local history. This then became an incentive for family members to buy a copy of the book.
 * Families represented were not necessarily prominent. Practically everyone living there, especially in the Midwest, counted as an early settler.
 * These biographies often start with the first member of the family to settle in the area, and detail their descendants at the time of publishing. They may tell where the family moved in from. Children's marriages often are given, with maiden names included.

Finding Biographies
Another great on line source for finding biographies in Pennsylvania are found at the following website:
 * The county Wiki page lists several county histories. It also lists local libraries, and societies which probably have copies of local histories.
 * Many histories are no longer under copyright and can be found in the following online, digitized book collections. Search with keywords "History" and "the name of your locality" (state, county, or town).
 * FamilySearch Books
 * Google Books
 * World Cat
 * HathiTrust
 * Internet Archive
 * The FamilySearch library has extensive collections of these local histories. Many are digitized. Search the FamilySearch Catalog under your locality for the topics "Biography" and "History".


 * PA-Roots Bringing our past into the future. These biographies are arranged by county.

The best collections of published biographies of Pennsylvania are at the following websites:

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

The Family History Library also has a major collection of published and manuscript biographical material. Other helpful sources include:

Index to Pennsylvania County Histories. This is a 75,000-card index at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh to people of western Pennsylvania. The staff will search for two or three specific names, and there is a fee if photocopies are requested.

Pennsylvania Encyclopedia Biography Field Notes for American Guide Series. Before World War II, the Federal Writer's Project collected typed biographical sketches abstracted from local histories and various biographical encyclopedias. These are at the Bureau of Archives and History and at the Family History Library on 17 Family History Library films beginning with.

Some representative biographical sources are:


 * Jordan, John W., et al. Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography. 32 vols. New York, New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co, 1914-67. These biographies may contain much genealogical information. (Vols. 1-7 and 10 are online at: Internet Archive).

An index to this set is:

Godcharles, Frederic A. and Walter D. Stock. Index to the Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography, volumes I-XXXII. Two volumes in one. Baltimore, Maryland.: Clearfield Company, Inc., 1996. Part one is a reprint of the index to volumes I-XX originally published in New York in 1932 and does not index every name. Part two is an index to most names in volumes XXI-XXXII published by Walter D. Stock in 1996.


 * Robson, Charles, ed. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the Nineteenth Century. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Galaxy, 1874.


 * Pennsylvania Biographical Dictionary: People of All Times and Places Who Have Been Important to the History and Life of the State. Wilmington, Delaware: American Historical Publications, 1989. ).


 * The Pennsylvania Biography Project