Happy 345th Birthday PA!🎂

Hello Reader!

I hope you had a chance to look around PAancestors.com since my last email. If not, no worries, it's not going away.

I’m writing today because this Sunday, March 8, is Charter Day - Pennsylvania’s 345th birthday.🎉 And if you’re anywhere near a Pennsylvania Trails of History site, it's a great time to go.

Here’s why:

Every year on Charter Day, PHMC opens its historic sites for free admission. Ephrata Cloister, Brandywine Battlefield, Daniel Boone Homestead, Cornwall Iron Furnace — all free. If you’re near Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania State Archives displays the original 1681 charter. The actual document King Charles II signed granting William Penn the land that became Pennsylvania. They pull it out of the vault once a year, and this is the day.

For those of us who research Pennsylvania ancestors, standing in front of that charter is something else. That document is the reason your ancestors came here. Every Quaker who arrived with Penn, every German family who settled the interior, every Scots-Irish family who pushed into the backcountry — it started with that piece of paper.

But I also want to share something practical.

If you’re researching Pennsylvania ancestors from the 1700s or 1800s, the single highest-value resource most genealogists miss is the Pennsylvania Archives published series — over 100 volumes of transcribed primary documents. Military rolls, deeds, official correspondence, naturalization notices, petition records.

Why does this matter? If you're researching in PA prior to 1800, there were few governmental records created. And the Pennsylvania Archives is where those records got transcribed and made accessible.

A few specifics for Revolutionary Era research: the 5th series, volumes 1–4 contain muster rolls and pay lists. Volume 4 has the Depreciation Pay records — the most overlooked source for Pennsylvania soldiers. You’ll find names, units, and service dates.

FamilySearch has digitized many volumes. Search for “Pennsylvania Archives” + the series number. So does Fold3 and Internet Archive.

And if you can get to a historic site this Saturday or Sunday, go! It’s free, it’s worth it, and 345 years of Pennsylvania history is a good reason to visit.

Let's discover those PA Ancestors!

Denyse Allen Founder, PA Ancestors