Documents from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania Digitized by FamilySearch

In a blog post of 29 September 2014, Paul Nauta of FamilySearch explained the new agreement between FamilySearch and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Quoting from the post entitled, "FamilySearch and Historical Society of Pennsylvania to Publish Historical Documents Online,"

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP; online at hsp.org), one of the largest and most comprehensive genealogical centers in the nation, and FamilySearch (online at FamilySearch.org), a nonprofit premier family history and records preservation organization, announced a joint initiative to digitally preserve select collections of the historical society’s vast holdings, starting with compiled family histories. The project is now underway, and the digitized documents will be accessible for free at FamilySearch.org.

 I was interested in this development because a significant number of my ancestors came from or through Pennsylvania. My Great-great-great-grandfather William Linton was originally buried in Philadelphia and then moved to the Westminster Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

The post goes on to tell about the Historical Society and the records:

Founded in 1824 in Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania is one of the oldest historical societies in the United States. It is home to some 600,000 printed items and more than 21 million historical manuscripts and graphical items. Its unparalleled collections encompass more than 350 years of America’s history—from the 17th-century to the contributions of its most recent immigrants. 

The initiative will digitally preserve and publish online the society’s many genealogies and local histories, family trees, and related family documents and manuscripts that contribute to the understanding of many family histories. Collections of particular interest might be those of Pennsylvania’s founding families, including William Penn and others. 

Some of the society’s holdings date back to before the Revolutionary War. The rare histories include family papers, cataloged photographs, genealogies, African-American collections such as a history of the Dutrieuille family and related families, a cookbook compiled by Ellen Emlen during the Civil War in 1865, Jewish resources, sources about daily lives in the history of the United States, and much more.