This digest includes an essay on the general governmental organization of the county, with charts showing graphically the structural and functional evolution of the various offices. This summary facilitates the use and comprehension of the subsequent chapters. Individual essays have been written for each county office with a detailed analysis of its development and operation, and with particular reference to its records. An annotated list of the records which may be found in its files follows each office essay. The amount of this information for each office was limited by practical considerations, (since the archival practices present an almost endless maze of variations from county to county.
It should be noted that this study was completed in 1942, and that it does not take into consideration the alterations in the laws governing counties made at later sessions of the General Assembly, or any recent changes in governmental practice. The editors have, however, added a few comments on important legislative changes in the notes, to prevent misunderstanding.
Introduction
The Historical Records Survey program was inaugurated in 1936 by Dr. Luther H. Evans for the purpose of creating bibliographical controls for source material hitherto inaccessible to most researchers. Until January, 1939, it operated on a nation-wide basis. After that time it continued in this State as part of the Pennsylvania Historical Survey, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Historical Commission. When the Survey came to an end in May, 1943, the Historical Commission became custodian and executor of its numerous manuscripts and its voluminous files of indexes, transcripts, and reference materials.
In the field of public records, the principal object of the Survey was to prepare inventories of all extant county and municipal records and to ex-plain how these records reflect the functions and inter-relationship of the individual offices from their origins to the present. The integrated results of such inventories in every county courthouse are published in this volume on County Government and Archives in Pennsylvania, which is designed to be used in connection with any research work involving county records. It is hoped that this volume will stimulate the use of these records for historical purposes, and that it will prove to be a convenient and accurate guide for the use of officials, lawyers, journalists, and historians.
This digest includes an essay on the general governmental organization of the county, with charts showing graphically the structural and functional evolution of the various offices. This summary facilitates the use and comprehension of the subsequent chapters. Individual essays have been written for each county office with a detailed analysis of its development and operation, and with particular reference to its records. An annotated list of the records which may be found in its files follows each office essay. The amount of this information for each office was limited by practical considerations, (since the archival practices present an almost endless maze of variations from county to county.
This volume, therefore, appears in the form in which it was prepared from data gathered by careful research by the editorial staff of the Pennsylvania Historical Survey. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission provided for its publication and, through Dr. Sylvester K. Stevens, State Historian, gave advice and assistance in the preparation of the manuscript. Donald H. Kent, Associate State Historian, handled the details of publication and prepared the index. Acknowledgment is made to the many public officials, historical and legal specialists, and other groups in the State, for cooperation and support which aided in the successful conclusion of this phase of the Survey’s program.
The book may well appear heavy and dull to the casual reader, though even he will find many interesting facts about Pennsylvania’s county government in its detailed analyses of structure and functions. To the scholar and research worker, however, it will be a key to a rich treasure — to the priceless store of records of State and local history housed in the 67 county courthouses of Pennsylvania.