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Boundaries
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Chester County, Pennsylvania was one of the three counties initially established in 1682 by William Penn. Originally it encompassed a broad area westwardly of the Delaware River, south to Maryland, and north to the Skullykill River. Over the course of the next two hundred years its area was periodically reduced by the formation of New Counties. The purpose of the Old Chester Project is to provide information about the families that once lived in this area. However, if the original boundaries of Chester County were used to define "Old Chester", the area covered would be so broad as to make the project impossible. On the otherhand, for most of its history Chester County referred to a much smaller area, including in particular, modern Chester and Delaware Counties, extending to the Octoraro River on the west, and to Berks county on the north. During this time period a substantial portion of modern Cecil County Maryland was also considered to be in Chester County. Many of the people in this latter area thought of themselves as Pennsylvanians, and were culturally more closely tied to Pennsylvania than to Maryland.
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For Tapestry purposes "Old Chester" was originally defined as the area encompassed by modern Chester, Delaware, and Lancaster Counties, Cecil County MD, and New Castle County DE. as the Tapestry project has developed the definition of "Old Chester" has expanded to include the counties of Adams, Cumberland Dauphin, Franklin, Lebanon, and York Counties. Westwardly, the limits of "Old Chester" are now seen the Blue Mountain range which forms the border of modern Franklin, Cumberland, and Lebanon Counties. Technically speaking, the entire area to the west of the Blue Mountains was originally included in "Chester County". During the period covered by the Tapestry Project, some portions of modern Pennsylvania lying west of the Blue Mountains came to be settled. It is sometimes useful to treat these areas as within the Tapestry, but this area is not being systematically searched.
Data Sources
Maryland State Archives possesses a substantial number of source documents for the Cecil County area. Few of these documents are available online, though some data is available online via images of "card indexes".
The following sources in Maryland archives should contain useful data for Cecil County during the period of interest to the Tapestry (e.g., before the end of the Revolution).
Sources for Cecil County, in Maryland State Archives
Electronic Sources:
- CIRCUIT COURT
- CE423 - (Charlestown Land Records), 1853-1920
- CE408 - (Equity Papers), 1951-1978
- CE515 - (Homeowners' Association Records),
- CE55 - (Land Records), 1851
- CE136 - (Land Records, Grantee Index), 1918-1956
- CE240 - (Land Records, Grantee Index, Original), 1918-1992
- CE137 - (Land Records, Grantor Index), 1918-1956
- CE241 - (Land Records, Grantor Index, Original), 1918-1992
- CE135 - (Land Records, Index), 1850-1946
- CE239 - (Land Records, Index, Original), 1674-1918
- COURT
- CE422 - (Charlestown Land Records), 1744-1853
- CE133 - (Land Records), 1674-1851
- CE134 - (Land Records, Index), 1674-1850
- REGISTER OF WILLS
- CE324 - (Administration Accounts, Index), 1678-1965
- CE325 - (Administration Bonds, Index), 1674-1953
- CE326 - (Distributions, Index), 1777-1965
- CE327 - (Estate Docket), 1923-1960
- CE328 - (Estate Index), 1953-1997
- CE329 - (Guardian Accounts, Index), 1784-1965
- CE330 - (Inventories, Index), 1675-1965
- CE331 - (Releases, Index), 1802-1965
- CE332 - (Wills, Index), 1674-1997
Microfilm Sources:
CIRCUIT COURT
COURT
- CM321 - (Charlestown Land Records), 1744-1851
- CM332 - (Judgment Record), 1695-1769
- CM343 - (Land Records), 1674-1851
- CM344 - (Land Records, Index), 1674-1851
- CM316 - (Marriage Licenses), 1777-1851
REGISTER OF WILLS
- CM336 - (Accounts of Sale), 1791-1961
- CM308 - (Administration Accounts), 1678-1976
- CM310 - (Administration Accounts, Index), 1678-1965
- CM312 - (Administration Bonds), 1674-1976
- CM1465 - (Administration Bonds, Index), 1674-1953
- CM1232 - (Annual Valuations), 1784-1833
- CM326 - (Distributions), 1777-1976
- CM309 - (Distributions, Index), 1777-1965
- CM330 - (Guardian Accounts), 1784-1976
- CM318 - (Guardian Accounts, Index), 1784-1965
- CM331 - (Guardian Bonds), 1778-1859
- CM960 - (Indentures), 1794-1814
- CM335 - (Inventories), 1675-1976
- CM337 - (Inventories, Index), 1675-1965
- CM359 - (Orphans Court Proceedings), 1798-1955
- CM363 - (Wills), 1675-1976
Paper Sources
COURT:
- C599 - (Charlestown Land Records), 1744-1851
- C601 - (Chattel Records), 1737-1751
- C605 - (Criminal Docket), 1792-1850
- C606 - (Criminal Record), 1728-1741
- C610 - (Docket), 1750-1851
- C612 - (Docket, Transcript), 1818-1827
- C615 - (Guardian Bonds), 1757-1773
- C623 - (Judgment Record), 1683-1844
- C624 - (Land Commissions), 1704-1851
- C625 - (Land Record Papers), 1745-1800
- C626 - (Land Records), 1674-1848
- C627 - (Land Records, Index), 1674-1851
- C629 - (Land Records, Original), 1674-1785
- C632 - (Marriage Licenses), 1777-1851
- C635 - (Minutes), 1770-1851
- C639 - (Oaths of Fidelity), 1778
- C641 - (Probate Proceedings), 1690-1692
DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND ZONING:
- C2976 - (Minor Subdivision Plats),
REGISTER OF WILLS:
- C585 - (Accounts of Sale), 1791-1855
- C586 - (Administration Accounts), 1678-1854
- C587 - (Administration Accounts, Index), 1670-1925
- C588 - (Administration Accounts, Original), 1670-1796
- C589 - (Administration Bonds), 1674-1867
- C590 - (Administration Bonds, Index), 1674-1953
- C591 - (Administration Bonds, Original), 1674-1789
- C592 - (Annual Valuations), 1784-1823
- C604 - (Commissions), 1785-1839
- C608 - (Distributions), 1777-1854
- C609 - (Distributions, Index), 1777-1925
- C2491 - (Estate Index, Electronic),
- C645 - (Estate Papers), 1790-1850
- C2175 - (Estate Papers, Digital),
- C613 - (Guardian Accounts), 1784-1854
- C614 - (Guardian Accounts, Index), 1797-1925
- C616 - (Guardian Bonds), 1778-1867
- C617 - (Guardian Bonds, Index), 1778-1890
- C618 - (Guardianship Papers), 1790-1854
- C619 - (Indentures), 1794-1869
- C620 - (Inventories), 1675-1855
- C2604 - (Inventories, Index), 1675-1965
- C621 - (Inventories, Original), 1675-1795
- C638 - (Miscellaneous Papers), 1670-1839
- C646 - (Wills), 1675-1853
- C647 - (Wills, Index), 1675-1997
- C648 - (Wills, Original), 1675-1849
- CM364 - (Wills, Index), 1674-1997
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