Book Description

In 1727, the Pennsylvania Provincial Council passed a law requiring all "foreign" immigrants (i.e. those of non-British origin) to swear an oath of allegiance to the Crown. Lists of these immigrants were originally assembled for publication in the Pennsylvania Archives (Ser. 2, Vol. XVII), and they are reprinted here without change. This work, then, is an exhaustive list of "foreigners"-mostly Germans-who immigrated into the Province and, later, the State of Pennsylvania between the years 1727 and 1775 and again during the years 1786-1808. More to the point, it is a collection of ships' passenger lists, in many cases the lists being transcribed in entirety, with Captains' lists of passengers running up to the relatively late year of 1808. Along with the full name of the immigrant, including the names of all males over the age of sixteen, since that was the age they were obliged to take the oath, such information is given as name of ship, date of arrival, port of origin, and, in some instances, ages, names of wives, and names of children. An exhaustive index of surnames, running to more than 100 pages, contains about 35,000 references.