Colonial & Revolutionary Pennsylvania, 1681–1800 - 583 Biographical Entries | Searchable PDF

Discover the Lives and Personal Histories of Early Pennsylvania

Published by Fairbairn's Crest, Biographical Dictionary of Colonial and Revolutionary Pennsylvania (1681–1800) brings together 583 biographical entries chronicling more than 600 men and women across 217 primary family lineages. Compiled and critically edited from the classic genealogical scholarship of Dr. William Henry Egle (1886 and 1896 editions) and Dr. John Woolf Jordan (Volumes I–III, 1911), this collection invites readers to step beyond bare names and dates to explore the lived experiences of the settlers, artisans, magistrates, and soldiers who shaped early Pennsylvania.

Across more than a century of provincial and Revolutionary history, these accounts trace transatlantic journeys, frontier homesteading, family alliances, religious life, civic leadership, and wartime service. Readers follow English and Welsh Quaker families who sailed aboard the Welcome in 1682 to establish communities in Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester Counties; Ulster Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who cleared limestone farms and defended stockaded churches in Donegal, Paxtang, Derry, and the Cumberland Valley; and Palatine German, Swiss Mennonite, Moravian, and French Huguenot pioneers who settled the Schuylkill, Lebanon, Tulpehocken, and Lehigh valleys.

Historical and Geographical Scope (1681–1800)

Spanning twenty-six Pennsylvania counties and the ancestral parishes of England, Wales, Ulster, Scotland, Switzerland, and the German Rhineland, the collection captures both prominent provincial figures and everyday frontier families. Inside, you will read accounts of figures such as Reverend Colonel John Elder, the "Fighting Parson" of Paxtang who preached with a rifle beside his pulpit during the French and Indian War; Swiss-born Reformed minister and Continental chaplain John Conrad Bucher; Chief Justice William Allen and Signer of the Declaration of Independence Benjamin Rush; Continental Line commanders Anthony Wayne, William Irvine, and Daniel Brodhead; and young Quaker diarist Sally Wister writing during the British occupation of Philadelphia.

What the Biographies Reveal

Because historical survival varies from family to family, entries are organized into three clear tiers—346 concise archival record sketches, 192 standard service biographies, and 45 comprehensive multi-generational profiles—reflecting the depth of the surviving evidence:

• Origins and Migration: European home parishes, ports of departure, ship arrivals, and early land warrants across Tidewater and interior Pennsylvania.
• Family and Kinship Networks: Marriages, spouses' maiden names, children's vital dates, and intermarriages linking neighboring church congregations.
• Vocations and Community Life: Careers as yeomen, ironmasters, millers, silversmiths, physicians, surveyors, shipbuilders, Presbyterian elders, Quaker ministers, and provincial assemblymen.
• Frontier and Revolutionary Service: Commissions, muster rolls, and campaigns in the Provincial Regiment of Pennsylvania (1754–1764), county Associator battalions, and the Pennsylvania Continental Line from Quebec and Long Island to Brandywine, Germantown, Valley Forge, Monmouth, and Yorktown.

What Is Included in This Edition

• 583 Biographical Entries (Surnames A–Y): Alphabetically arranged by family lineage across 146 pages.
• Historical and Archival Introductions: A five-part historical overview of colonial and Revolutionary Pennsylvania (1681–1800) and a methodological essay explaining how the 1886, 1896, and 1911 editions were cross-collated and restored.
• Orthographic Surname Concordance: A 42-lineage guide mapping 18th-century Ulster Scots, German Palatine, Swiss, Welsh, and Huguenot spelling variants to their standard surname headers.
• Three Page-Numbered Navigation Indexes: Supporting back-of-book indexes for Individual Names and Surnames (Index I), Geographic Localities and Parishes (Index II), and Military Regiments, Battles, and Civil Offices (Index III).
• Source Citations and Full-Text Search: Every entry cites its volume and page range in Egle or Jordan, and the entire 146-page PDF is fully text-searchable.

How to Use This Collection

You can browse alphabetically by surname from Section A through Section Y, consult the three back-of-book indexes to locate people connected to a specific township or regiment, or press Ctrl+F (Windows) or Cmd+F (Mac) to search instantly for any surname, spouse, parish, battle, or trade across the entire document. The volume and page citations at the end of each biography provide direct signposts for deeper archival research.

What You Are Purchasing

You are purchasing the 146-page searchable PDF compilation Biographical Dictionary of Colonial and Revolutionary Pennsylvania (1681–1800) published by Fairbairn's Crest. Original source books are not included. Digital download only. No physical book will be shipped. As with all compiled historical and genealogical works, researchers are encouraged to verify family lineage conclusions against original parish registers, probate files, land warrants, and military muster rolls.

People Featured in This Biographical Collection

Elizabeth Ainsworth (1774–1850, Ainsworth Lineage), Hon. Samuel Ainsworth (1765–1798, Ainsworth Lineage), John Ainsworth (1740–1812, Immigrant Founder & Lineage Head), John Ainsworth Jr (1772–1827, Ainsworth Lineage), Samuel Ainsworth (1736–1756, Immigrant Founder), Rev. Francis Alison D.D (1673–1746, Alison Lineage), Rev. Francis Allison D.D (1705–1779, Alison Lineage), Chief Justice William Allen (1731–1756, Allen Lineage), Col. Andrew Allen (d. 1725, Allen Lineage), Joseph Allen (d. 1817, Allen Lineage), Lieut. / Col. William Allen III (1744–1794, Allen Lineage), Lt. Col. William Allen Jr (d. 1725, Allen Lineage), Samuel Allen (b. c. 1788, Allen Lineage), William Allen I (fl. 18th c., Immigrant Founder & Lineage Head), William Allen II (1709–1784, Immigrant Founder), Gov. Jacob Alricks (1603–1659, Alricks Lineage), Hermanus Alricks (1715–1772, Immigrant Founder & Lineage Head), Pieter Alricks (1632–1697, Immigrant Founder), Wessels Alricks (fl. 1700, Immigrant Founder & Lineage Head), 1st Lt. William Amberson (1777–1783, Amberson Lineage), Ann Anderson (b. c. 1716, Anderson Lineage), Garland Anderson (b. c. 1714, Anderson Lineage), Hon. James Anderson II (1721–1790, Anderson Lineage), Rev. James Anderson (1678–1740, Immigrant Founder), Hugh Andrews (1764–1811, Immigrant Founder & Lineage Head), James Andrews (d. 1785, Immigrant Founder & Lineage Head), John Andrews (1737–1751, Immigrant Founder), John Andrews Jr (fl. 1785, Andrews Lineage), Robert Andrews (d. 1762, Andrews Lineage), Benjamin Armitage (1698–1773, Armitage Lineage), Maj. Gen. John Armstrong Sr (1717–1795, Armstrong Lineage), 2nd Lt. Isaac Ashton (1742–1777, Revolutionary War Artillery Officer), Col. Samuel John Atlee (1739–1786, Atlee Lineage), Judge William Atlee (1700–1744, Atlee Lineage), Justice William Augustus Atlee (1735–1793, Atlee Lineage), Elizabeth Awl (1761–1850, Awl Lineage), Hon. Samuel Awl (1773–1842, Awl Lineage), Jacob Awl Jr (1770–1792, Awl Lineage), Lieut. Jacob Awl (1727–1793, Immigrant Founder), Sarah Awl (1764–1835, Awl Lineage), Elizabeth Ayres (1731–1818, Ayres Lineage), John Ayres (1752–1825, Ayres Lineage), Samuel Ayres [1] (1749–1804, Ayres Lineage), Samuel Ayres [2] (d. 1747, Immigrant Founder), William Ayres (1720–1784, Ayres Lineage), Dr. Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790, Signer & Statesman, Philadelphia), Postmaster-General Richard Bache (1737–1811, Continental Postmaster-General, Philadelphia), Sarah Bache (1743–1808, Bache Lineage), Justice Henry Baker (d. 1701, Baker Lineage), Justice Samuel Baker (1706–1760, Baker Lineage), John Barnett (1755–1825, Barnett Lineage), John Barnett I (1678–1734, Immigrant Founder), John Barnett II (1705–1785, Immigrant Founder & Lineage Head), Joseph Barnett (1726–1808, Barnett Lineage), Maj. / Lieut. John Barnett (1752–1823, Barnett Lineage), Thomas Barnett (1764–1836, Barnett Lineage), Col. John Bubenheim Bayard (1738–1807, Bayard Lineage), Capt. James Beatty (1746–1794, Immigrant Founder at Harrisburg), James Beatty (1670–1745, Immigrant Founder & Lineage Head), James Beatty Jr (1781–1823, Beatty Lineage), Jane Beatty (1776–1792, Beatty Lineage), John Beatty (fl. 1690, Scotland), Nancy [Agnes] Beatty (1771–1853, Beatty Lineage), Sarah Beatty (1774–1844, Beatty Lineage), William Beatty (1718–1784, Immigrant Founder & Lineage Head), John Bevan (b. c. 1646, Leader of the Welsh Tract Quaker Company), Capt. Nicholas Biddle (1750–1778, Continental Navy Captain), Col. Clement Biddle (1740–1814, Organizer of the Quaker Blues), Col. Owen Biddle (1737–1799, Council of Safety & Astronomer, Philadelphia), Vice-Pres. Charles Biddle (1745–1821, Vice-President of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia), Judge James Biddle (1731–1797, Biddle Lineage), Speaker Edward Biddle (1738–1779, Biddle Lineage), William Biddle I (1630–1712, Quaker Proprietor, West Jersey & Philadelphia), John Biddle (1707–1789, Philadelphia Merchant), Frederick Boas [1] (1785–1817, Boas Lineage), Frederick Boas [2] (fl. 18th c., Immigrant Founder & Lineage Head), Hon. Jacob Boas (1779–1815, Boas Lineage), Hon. William Boas Jr (fl. 18th c., Boas Lineage), Rev. William Boas (1739–1814, Immigrant Founder & Revolutionary Chaplain), Christian Bomberger (1682–1742, Immigrant Founder), John Bomberger (1715–1783, Bomberger Lineage), Rev. Christian Bomberger II (1718–1797, Bomberger Lineage), Col. & Judge Joseph Borden Jr (1719–1791, Borden Lineage), Benjamin Boyd (1738–1803, Boyd Lineage), Capt. / Esq. William Boyd III (1733–1808, Boyd Lineage), Jennett Boyd (1710–1757, Boyd Lineage), Joseph Boyd (1740–1781, Boyd Lineage), William Boyd I (b. c. 1680, Immigrant Founder), William Boyd II (1712–1760, Immigrant Founder & Lineage Head), Brevet Brig. Gen. Daniel Brodhead III (1736–1809, Brodhead Lineage), Capt. Daniel Brodhead II (1693–1755, Brodhead Lineage), Hon. John Jacob Bucher (1764–1827, Bucher Lineage), John Conrad Bucher Jr (1775–1852, Bucher Lineage), Rev. Capt. John Conrad Bucher (1730–1780, Immigrant Founder), Pvt. John Buhoup (fl. 1777, Buhoup Lineage), Col. James Burd (1726–1793, Burd Lineage), Frederick Byers (1780–1854, Colonial & Revolutionary Patriot), Brig. Gen. John Cadwalader (1742–1786, Cadwalader Lineage), Col. Lambert Cadwalader (1742–1823, Cadwalader Lineage), Councillor Dr. Thomas Cadwalader (1707–1779, Cadwalader Lineage), Joshua Carpenter (d. 1722, Carpenter Lineage), Samuel Carpenter (1649–1714, Carpenter Lineage), Treasurer Samuel Carpenter I (1649–1714, Carpenter Lineage, Entry #102), Thomas Carstairs (1759–1830, Carstairs Lineage), Col. Benjamin Chambers (1708–1788, Chambers Lineage), Col. James Chambers (1743–1805, Chambers Lineage), Chief Justice Benjamin Chew (1722–1810, Chew Lineage), Dr. Samuel Chew (1693–1743, Chew Lineage), Signer George Clymer (1739–1813, Clymer Lineage), Capt. John Cowden (1795–1837, Cowden Lineage), Col. / Capt. James Cowden (1737–1810, Cowden Lineage), Matthew Benjamin Cowden (1780–1862, Cowden Lineage), Matthew Cowden (1707–1772, Immigrant Founder), Col. Thomas Craig (1740–1832, Craig Lineage), Judge Hugh Wilson (1689–1773, Colonial Magistrate, Irish Settlement Northampton Co.), Elder Thomas Craig (c. 1689–1779, Presbyterian Elder, Northampton Co.), Maj. Isaac Craig [1] (1742–1826, Craig Lineage), Maj. Isaac Craig [2] (1742–1826, Major Craig Lineage, Entry #114), Ambrose Crain (1724–1785,