Without question, the greatest storehouse of information on Pennsylvania is found in the 138 volumes of the Pennsylvania Archives, published in ten series between 1838 and 1935. The first sixteen volumes of the Pennsylvania Archives, forming a distinct series known as Colonial Records, are a treasure trove in themselves and represent one of the cornerstones of early American record sources. Never properly indexed, the sixteen volumes lock away priceless information on the early inhabitants of Pennsylvania, the first ten volumes covering Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1683-1775 and the last six covering Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council, 1777-1790.

Aware of the unfulfilled potential of the Colonial Records, Dr. Mary Dunn of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, a dedicated educator and award-winning teacher, compiled her own manuscript indexes to the series. We are pleased to offer Dr. Dunn's indexes to the sixteen volumes of Pennsylvania's Colonial Records, which have now been consolidated into a single alphabetical sequence by Mrs. Martha Reamy.

This remarkable index names some 50,000 men and women who played a role in the early history of Pennsylvania. To explain the significance of the Colonial Records series and in particular its publishing history and unique contents, the work also includes an illuminating foreword by Jonathan Stayer of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.