Early Landowners of Ephrata Township, Lancaster County, PA (pdf download)

This chapter is based on the Township Warrantee Map of Ephrata Township drafted by the Pennsylvania Land Office. Three maps show the metes-and-bound outlines of each tract and the first owners of each tract who received their land directly from the Penn family or from the state.

We have transcribed every piece of information on the map (names of warrantee and patentee, or first owners); size of the tract; dates of the warrant, survey, and patent; and the patent and survey books in which the transaction was recorded. Using the survey book information, you can see copies of your ancestors' original surveys online at https://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17-114CopiedSurveyBooks/r17-114MainInterfacePage.htm

We also added copious footnotes that give additional details for these owners and often their neighbors. Three maps are included: the original 1930s map by the Pennsylvania Land Office; the same map, cropped, with atlas coordinates superimposed on it; and the original map superimposed with a modern road map of the township. Most of these land conveyances cover the 1730s to the end of the century. Once the land was transferred from the government to private individuals, all subsequent sales or transfers of each tract were recorded as deeds in the county as it existed at that time (Lancaster, Lebanon, or Dauphin).