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Because of its unique immigration policy--a policy that encouraged Quaker and foreign immigration, in particular--Pennsylvania led the way in colonial America in the ethnic diversity of its early settlers, among whom we find English, Irish, and Dutch Quakers; German and Swiss Mennonites, Anabaptists, and Pietists; and Ulster Presbyterians, the Scotch-Irish frontiersmen of folklore and legend.

From the original settlers of Penn's Colony in the 1680s, to the indentured Irish and German servants bound out as apprentices in the 1770s, to the thousands of passengers arriving at the port of Philadelphia from the 1680s to the 1800s, when that city was the chief port of arrival and gateway to the U.S., this Family Archive CD provides information on the earliest settlers of the Keystone State. Based on books published by the Genealogical Publishing Company--deriving for the most part from ships' passenger lists, oaths of allegiance, records of indenture, and Quaker meeting records--this CD contains data on places of origin, dates of arrival, places of residence, ages, occupations, names of wives and children (with details of births, marriages, and deaths), and a host of other details, most of which can be inferred or understood from the following list of the books included on this CD:

* William Penn and the Dutch Quaker Migration to Pennsylvania, by William I. Hull

* Immigration of the Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania, 1682-1750, with Their Early History in Ireland, by Albert C. Myers

* Quaker Arrivals at Philadelphia, 1682-1750. Being a List of Certificates of Removal Received at Philadelphia Monthly Meeting of Friends, by Albert C. Myers

* Emigrants to Pennsylvania, 1641-1819. A Consolidation of Ship Passenger Lists from The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, ed. Michael Tepper

* Pennsylvania German Pioneers. A Publication of the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808, by Ralph B. Strassburger and William J. Hinke

* Names of Foreigners Who Took the Oath of Allegiance to the Province and State of Pennsylvania, 1727-1775, with the Foreign Arrivals, 1786-1808, by William Henry Egle

* A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French, and Other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776, by Israel D. Rupp

* Record of Indentures of Individuals Bound Out as Apprentices, Servants, Etc. and of German and Other Redemptioners in the Office of the Mayor of Philadelphia . . . 1771 to . . . 1773

* Passenger Arrivals at the Port of Philadelphia 1800-1819, ed. Michael Tepper and Elizabeth P. Bentley

Consisting of images of the pages of the books named above, this CD contains a single electronic name index of 200,000 entries which allows you to search all the volumes quickly and effortlessly. Thus a search on a single name will turn up all references to that name found in any of the volumes.

System Requirements: You must have a CD-ROM drive, and in order to read the CD you must use either the Family Archive Viewer (version 4.0 or higher), which is available as a free download at http://www.genealogical.com/content/dlfav6.html, or Family Tree Maker for Windows, version 4.0 or higher (Family Tree Maker software can be ordered from www.FamilyTreeMaker.com).

To access information on our Family Archive CDs using the Family Archive Viewer:

1. Install the Family Archive Viewer CD or download it from http://www.genealogy.com/dlfav6.html.
2. Start the Viewer if it is not already running
3. Insert the CD you wish to view into the CD-ROM drive. If you have 2 or more CD-ROM drives, the CD must be placed in the first one.
4. The CD should open automatically, but users of later versions of the Family Archive Viewer must click the CD/magnifying glass icon in the top toolbar (above the template in some versions) to read the CD.
5. When the screen entitled "About this Family Archive" appears, click OK where prompted.

To access information on our Family Archive CDs using Family Tree Maker:

1. Start your Family Tree Maker and open a Family File. (If the program is already running, skip to Step 2.)
2. Insert the CD in your computer's CD-ROM drive. (If you have 2 or more CD-ROM drives, the CD must be placed in the first one.)
3. From the View menu, select Family Finder, or select the Family Finder icon from the toolbar.
4. For FTM 2005, FTM 2006, or Version 16, you must go to the View menu, select Data CD, then View CD. For FTM 2008 or higher, you must download the Family Archive Viewer.

To search the CD for names, select the Search Expert button in the top right of your screen, then select "Search this archive for someone NOT from your Family File." You can also search for names by using the Index.

Note: If a window opens that contains a list of files on the CD, simply close it.