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."
"Pennsylvania had at one time and another approximately 1,250 miles of canal connecting almost all sections of the state in extensive freight and passenger activity. There are few visible traces of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal which, beginning in 1834, extended from Pittsburgh on the Allegheny to Philadelphia on the Delaware, some 400 miles. Canals were built for economic reasons in Pennsylvania; they had a vigorous and short life; their functions were carried on under great difficulties; and they were rapidly taken over by the railroads. The canals are all but gone today. This book is an attempt to organize the existing literature and materials about the canals, chiefly with respect to the Main Line Canal, in a manner that so far as possible clears the factual record and preserves the significant details." [from the introduction].
Chapters include: Early Waterways/ The Development of Canals/ The Canal Boom/ Building the Main Line Canal/ The Main Line Railroads/ Branch and Interstate Connections/ Canal Prosperity/ Navigating the Canal/ The Canallers/ Main Line Travel/ Canal Troubles/ Sale and Abandonment/ Canal Remnants.
Identified photographs from Jane Uren Milnor's album: Robert K. McCullough, Nottingham, Pa. Graduate of Millersville Normal School (now Millersville University) class of 1891.
Renunciations are papers filed in the Orphans' Court by executors of an estate who do not wish to administer that estate. They show the name of the decedent, the decedent's place of residence, the name of the person renouncing administration, the name of the replacement administrator to be appointed, and date. The relationship between the decedent, the executor, and the administrator is usually shown. Arranged chronologically and then alphabetically within each year.
System of Arrangement
Arranged chronologically and then alphabetically within each year.