Did your ancestor arrive in Pennsylvania between 1727 and 1775 or between 1786 to 1808? This records hold the names of thousands of male immigrants who were required to take an oath of allegiance to the British Crown and the Province of Pennsylvania as well as immigration lists between 1786 and 1808.
Did your ancestor arrive in Pennsylvania between 1727 and 1775 or between 1786 to 1808? This records hold the names of thousands of male immigrants who were required to take an oath of allegiance to the British Crown and the Province of Pennsylvania as well as immigration lists between 1786 and 1808.
Within these pages you will find your ancestor’s name, the name of the ship your ancestor arrived on, the ship’s departure and arrival ports, and the arrival date. The names are organised by vessel.
The official title of the book is the Names of Foreigners who took the Oath of Allegiance, 1727-1775
List of foreigners who took the oath of allegiance to the crown of Great Britain and the Province of Pennsylvania from the year 1727 to 1755 as well as immigration lists between 1786 and 1808. The original records are still held by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania but have been damaged throughout the years.
All males over sixteen years of age were obliged to take this oath and declaration, as soon as after arrival as possible. They took the oath at the Courthouse, although in a number of instances they were qualified at the official residence of the magistrate.
The lists of foreigners arriving after 1786 including the names of wives and children.
The full oath can be found on image number 9. An index to surnames begins on image number 675.
The names are listed by the vessel they arrived on. You can use the full text option and search for the vessel name.
A name search will return results which have the search terms on the same page within the document. This means that searching for John Smith will return pages where the names 'John' and 'Smith' occur. For this reason your search may return the name William Smith or John Brown. By inserting quotations around the full name the search function will locate the terms together; for example, “John Smith.”
To search for your ancestor by their name, write it as it would appear on the document. For example, if your relative was known as ‘Will’ it is likely that the name used for official records was ‘William.’
If you are unable to find your relative on your first search you can try different name variations. A number of register books only use abbreviations for first names. For example, if your search is unsuccessful for William Smith, try W Smith or Wm Smith.