Atlas of Early Landowners of Berks County, Pennsylvania (pdf download)

This atlas consists of all of the resources we could find to identify the first owners of land tracts in Berks County.  The Pennsylvania State Land Office drafted Warrantee Maps of the first warrantees and patentees (petitioners and final title owners) for about 1/2 of this county, and we were able to find private sources to cover another 1/4 of the county. For the townships where no maps exist, we added an appendix that includes relevant East Side Applications (1765-1769) for land tracts not precisely located. Copious footnotes for each chapter include many neighbors who may not be found in other documents, facts from county histories, East Side Applications, and notes on many surveys. Original research for tracts in Oley, Maxatawny and Rockland Townships. Manors included: Andulhea Manor, Plumpton Manor, Ruscomb Manor, and Fells Manor. 

Note that this atlas only covers about 75% of the original landowners of Berks County (see map above for areas of coverage). We diligently searched for other resources for first landowners of Berks County at the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg, the Historical Society of Berks County,the Tulpehocken Settlement Historical Society, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania German Society. A great deal of effort has gone into ferreting out as many land records as possible, transcribing them, and adding details about many landowners. For information about the land acquisition process (warrants, surveys, patents), where to find current deeds, Indian treaties such as the East Side Applications process, etc., see https://ancestortracks.com/wp/home/land-acquisition/