This collection contains Thomas Baker's three surveying books which document land and property ownership in southern Lancaster County, primarily Colerain Township from 1856-1902. Octorara Creek, Kirkwood, Christiana and Upper Oxford Twp. are among the place names.
Admin/Biographical History
Thomas Baker traces his ancestry back to Sir Richard Baker (1568), born in the county of Kent, England. In 1685, seven generations before Thomas Baker was born, Joseph Baker immigrated to Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Born in Chatham, Chester County to Lewis and Diana Baker, Thomas was well-educated; a teacher until 1840, when he commenced the study of surveying. Land surveying is the location of points on, above and below the surface of the earth and the relation of those points to a common reference system. Employed at Jonathon Goss, at Unionville Academy in Chester, he surveyed over 650 farms in Lancaster County's Colerain Township. He married in 1855; his family adhering to his Quaker faith. The Biographical Annals in Lancaster, published in 1903, describes Baker as "…a man esteemed by his neighbors for his many good qualities and excellent character, and in disposition he is a man of warm heart and kindly feeling."
Located at Andrew's Bridge, on the road leading form Lancaster to Newport, Wilmington, etc.
Petition granted.
April term.
Signers of petition: William C. Worth, William White, Abraham Ferguson, Abraham McConnel, Thomas Pennington, Aaron Faulk, Obed Baily, Joseph Pennock, Jacob K. Lamborn, William Fairlamb, William Sampson, John Sampson, Thomas Byer.
1 item, 1 piece
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Request at Reference Desk; photocopy made by staff member.
Signers of petition: J. Willis Houston, Thomas Beyer, William S. Barkley, R. W. Ferguson, Thomas S. Jackson, Robert J. Pennock, [Fredus P. Ryland], James Turner, Robert Beyer, John Montgomery, William N. Galbraith, Elisha Brown, Samuel A. North.
3 items, 3 pieces
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Request at Reference Desk; photocopy made by staff member.
Signers of petition: Obed Bailie, Andrew Beyer, Thomas Beyer, G. S. Morrison, William Kinsey, Thomas McCausland, Aaron [Foulk], Jacob K. Lamborn, Abraham McConnel, William Common, Robert Beyer, William Sampson, Truman Coates, Alban W. Pennock.
1 item, 1 piece
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Request at Reference Desk; photocopy made by staff member.
Signers of petition: William C. Worth, Jacob K. Lamborn, Abraham McConnel, William B. Galbraith, W. G. Chandler, Aaron Faulk, Truman Coates, William Fairlamb, Andrew Beyer, Thomas McCausland, Nicholas Fairlamb, Thomas Beyer, A. W. Pennock.
1 item, 1 piece
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Request at Reference Desk; photocopy made by staff member.
Signers of petition: William C. Worth, W. G. Chandler, A. Beyer, Aaron [Faulk], Robert Beyer, Jacob K. Lamborn, William Fairlamb, Truman Coates, William Given, Thomas Beyer, Samuel G. Wright, Thomas McCausland.
1 item, 1 piece
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Request at Reference Desk; photocopy made by staff member.
Signers of petition: J. Englee Davis, Robert Beyer, William S. Barkley, Alexander Turner, George Shimony, William C. Worth, R. W. Ferguson, Andrew Byer, George Sampson, Samuel McConnel, Abraham McConnel, A. D. Whiteside, Fredus P. Ryland.
3 items, 3 pieces
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Request at Reference Desk; photocopy made by staff member.
Signers of Petition: Thomas Beyer, John C. Pennington, Samuel McConnel, Daniel Walton, Francis Scott, James Turner, Alexander Andrews, Robert Beyer, Thomas McCausland, [Truman] Coates, William Given, Jacob K. Samborn.
1 item, 1 piece
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Request at Reference Desk; photocopy made by staff member.
Located on Andrews bridge on the public road leading from Lancaster to Newport, Wilmington.
Petition granted.
April term.
Signers of petition: Truman Coates, Abraham McConnel, William Commons, Obed Baily, Hiram S. Hall, Robert J. Pennock, Aaron Foulk, William C. Worth, Jacob H. Lamborn, Thomas Beyer, Cyrus Milner, Cyrus Milner Jr., Nathan Milner, Joseph Paxson, John J. Andrews, Joseph Milner.
1 item, 1 piece
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Request at Reference Desk; photocopy made by staff member.