Pennsylvania's Census and Tax Records In A Nutshell (pdf download)

This guide provides links to all federal and state censuses relating to Pennsylvania, plus 1838 and 1847 Quaker censuses of African Americans in Philadelphia. After locating ancestors in census records, use tax lists to fill in the blanks and substitute for early censuses and vital records. County tax lists also give a year-by-year snapshot of the family and put them into social and economic context, verify their presence in a location, track their movements, suggest land records, and unravel men of similar names. This "In A Nutshell" guide outlines how to use these records and includes links to them. Even if your ancestor didn't own land or enough assets to distribute through a will, he almost certainly will appear on tax lists if he was old enough. Widowed women are also named on tax enumerations.