Buried Genealogical Data : A Complete List of Addressed Letters Left in the Post Offices of Philadelphia, Chester, Lancaster, Trenton, New Castle and Wilmington Between 1748 and 1780. Abstracted from The Pennsylvania Gazette

Scott, Kenneth

ISBN 10: 080630782X / ISBN 13: 9780806307824

Published by Clearfield, 2011

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9780806307824

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Buried Genealogical Data : A Complete List of Addressed Letters Left in the Post Offices of Philadelphia, Chester, Lancaster, Trenton, New Castle and Wilmington Between 1748 and 1780. Abstracted from The Pennsylvania Gazette
• Publisher: Clearfield
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 080630782X
• ISBN 13: 9780806307824
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Up to the time of Benjamin Franklin's appointment as Postmaster of Philadelphia, in 1737, letters were held at a post office until called for. Desirous of improving the system, Franklin began the publication of names of persons for whom unclaimed letters were in the office under his jurisdiction. The first list appeared in Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette of 21 March 1738 and, as a result, the addressees, their friends, or messengers, picked up much of the mail. These lists, which were printed from time to time throughout the colonial period, provide a wealth of genealogical information by locating thousands of individuals at various times and, upon occasion, identifying their trade, profession, or military rank. Sometimes The Gazette published lists from towns other than Philadelphia, specifically Chester, Lancaster, Trenton, New Castle, and Wilmington.The present volume--an innovative and ingenious tool for genealogical research--contains the names of approximately 27,000 persons whose letters lay unclaimed in the post offices of the above towns. All lists printed in The Gazette from 1748 throughout the colonial period are here published, with the names arranged alphabetically. Lists previous to 1748 appear in Mr. Scott's "Abstracts from Ben Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette, 1728-1748."