United States Colonial Records

United States

Colonial Records

United States Wiki Topics
Beginning Research
Research Strategies Record Finder
Record Types
Adoption Bible Records Business Records Cemeteries Census Church Records Colonial Records Correctional Institutions Court Records Directories Emigration & Immigration Funeral Homes Genealogies Land & Property	Military Records Naturalization & Citizenship Newspapers Obituaries Occupations Online Records Online Records by State Periodicals Probate Records Religious Records Taxation Town Records Vital Records Voter Records
United States Background
Biography Church History Gazetteers Handwriting Historical Geography	History Maps Migration For Further Reading
Ethnicity
African Americans American Indians Minorities
Local Research Resources
Archives & Libraries Societies US Family History Centers

List of General U.S. Colonial Resources:

• Cities in the wilderness : the first century of urban life in America, 1625-1742. New York, New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1968.
• Colonization of United States and Canada. Grigg, L. Richard.
• Expanding horizons : a genealogical view of early American colonization and westward movement. Cullman, Alabama : Gregath, 1986.
• A history of colonial America. New York, New York : Harper & Bros., 1948.
• Home life in colonial days. Mineola, New York : , 2006.
• Genealogical encyclopedia of the colonial Americas : a complete digest of the records of all the counties of the Western Hemisphere. Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1998.
• Migrations, settlement patterns, and ethnic groups in the United States. [Provo, Utah] : Geography Department, Brigham Young University, 1972.
• Research guide to the Colonists, Native Americans, Black Indians, Vikings of the east coast. Hilliard, Mary G. Butler.
• Tracts and other papers relating principally to the origin, settlement, and progress of the colonies in North America, from the discovery of the country to the year 1776. Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1987.

States with Colonial Settlements

Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Illinois

Indiana Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi

Missouri Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina Ohio Oregon

Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia Wisconsin

Spanish Colonization (1490s-1898)

In the late 15th century to early 16th century, Spain established colonies in America that were called New Spain. Throughout the years, New Spain consisted of Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Puerto Rico, and most areas west of the Mississippi River in the United States. In 1763, as part of the Treaty of Paris, Florida became a British territory, and in 1800, Louisiana was transferred to France under the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso. From the Louisiana Purchase (1803), the Adams–Onís Treaty (1819), the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), and the Spanish–American War (1898), the United States acquired lands that had constituted New Spain.

List of Spanish Colonial Record resources:

• Spanish roots of America. Huntingdon, Indiana : Our Sunday Visitor, c1992.
• The United States and Cuba : a review of documents relating to the interior of the United States in the affairs of Spanish-American colonies. Washington, D.C. : Filmed by the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service, 1978.

States with Spanish Colonization

Colony	Earliest Church Records	Earliest Land Records	Earliest Court Records
Arkansas
Arizona
California
Colorado
Florida
Georgia	1733	1732	1751
Louisiana	1720
New Mexico
Nevada

British Colonization (1607-1776)

Beginning in the 17th century, Britain established colonies in America. Colonists came to the New World for both economic and religious reasons. The first successful colony was Jamestown in Virginia in 1607. The British established colonies in the Chesapeake Bay area, New England, Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida (Spain ceded it in 1763). Some of the colonies were established by private financiers, royal charters, or religious groups. The colonies declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776.
List of British Colonial Record resources:

• American colonists in English records : a guide to direct references in authentic records, passenger lists not in "Hotten" etc. Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, 1961.
• American colonists in English records : a guide to direct references in authentic records, passenger lists not in "Hotten" etc. Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969.
• American colonists in English records : a guide to direct references in authentic records, passenger lists not in "Hotten" etc. Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, 1982.
• Bibliography on the colonial Germans of North America : especially the Pennsylvania Germans and their descendants. Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, 1982.
• Mayflower last names for three generations : surnames and maiden names. Boston, Massachusetts : Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, c1996.
• Planters and pioneers, life in colonial Virginia : the story in pictures and text of the people who settled England's first successful colony from its planting in 1607 to the birth of the United States in 1789. New York, New York : Hastings House, c1968.
• Puritanism in early America. Boston, Massachusetts : Heath, ©1950.

Thirteen Colonies Records at a glance

Below is a list of the earliest records for the original thirteen British colonies.

Colony	Earliest Church Records	Earliest Land Records	Earliest Court Records
Connecticut	1636	1635	1636
Delaware	1646	1640	1642
Georgia	1733	1732	1751
Maryland	1640	1633	1635
Massachusetts	1620	1620	1620
New Hampshire	1634	1623	1629
New Jersey	1662	1629	1664
New York	1639	1630	1624
North Carolina	1677	1663	1663
Pennsylvania	1683	1683	1683
Rhode Island	1636	1636	1638
South Carolina	1694	1671	1671
Virginia	1646	1619	1608

Other States Colonized by Britain

Colony	Earliest Church Records	Earliest Land Records	Earliest Court Records
Alabama
Florida
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Louisiana	1720
Maine

French Colonization (17th c.-1803)

During the mid-17th century, France began trading in the North West. They established colonies along the Saint Lawrence river, Great Lakes, and Mississippi River. During the French and Indian Wars, England and Spain acquired most of New France, although Louisiana reverted back to France in 1800. Most of the territory that had been New France was acquired by the United States in 1783 during the Treaty of Paris and with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Lands not obtained by the United States, with the exception of the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, became part of Canada.

List of French Colonial Record resources:

• Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, 1604-1618. New York, New York : Barnes & Noble, 1959, c1907.
• The French in the Mississippi Valley, 1740-1750. Urbana, Illinois : University of Illinois Press, 1941.

States Colonized by France

Colony	Earliest Church Records	Earliest Land Records	Earliest Court Records
Arkansas
Florida
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Louisiana	1720
Michigan
Missouri
Ohio

Dutch Colonization (1614-1664)

In 1614, the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands charted a colony, New Netherlands, in what now consists of New York, New Jersey, and surrounding states. In 1664, the colony was captured by the British and was renamed New York in 1674.

States Colonized by the Dutch

Colony	Earliest Church Records	Earliest Land Records	Earliest Court Records
Connecticut	1636	1635	1636
Delaware	1646	1640	1642
New Jersey	1662	1629	1664
New York	1639	1630	1624
Pennsylvania	1683	1683	1683

Swedish Colonization (1638-1655)

A Swedish colony, known as New Sweden, was established along the Delaware River Valley about 1638. It consisted of lands that are now Delaware, southern New Jersey, and southeastern Pennsylvania. The Dutch captured the colony in 1655 and it was merged with New Netherlands.

List of New Sweden Colonial Record resources:

• The instruction for Johan Printz, governor of New Sweden, "the first constitution or supreme law of the states of Pennsylvania and Delaware". New Haven, Connecticut : Research Publications, [1970?].

States Colonized by Sweden

Colony	Earliest Church Records	Earliest Land Records	Earliest Court Records
Delaware	1646	1640	1642

Russian Colonization (1784-1867)

Russia first established a colony in Alaska in 1784. Trading posts were later established in Aleutian Islands, Hawaii, and Northern California. In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States.

List of Russian Colonial Record resources:

• Russian-German settlements in the United States / Richard Sallet ; translated by LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer. Place names of German colonies in Russia and the Dobrudja / by Armand Bauer. Prairie architecture of the Russian-German settlers / by William C. Sherman. Fargo, North Dakota : North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, c1974.

States Colonized by Russia

Colony	Earliest Church Records	Earliest Land Records	Earliest Court Records
Alaska
California
Hawaii