William Penn, a Quaker, was responsible for organizing Pennsylvania's most significant early settlement. Chartered in 1681 by King Charles II, Penn's colony was primarily made up of English Quakers but also included German, Dutch, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish. Over the next century, Penn's “Holy Experiment” attracted huge groups of immigrants to Pennsylvania.
Taken from passenger lists, records of indenture, oaths of allegiance, and studies of Quaker immigration from Germany, Holland, and Ireland (including the travels of William Penn), the records compiled here are comprehensive. Included among the ten volumes is the most important work on the mass immigration of Germans to Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania German Pioneers.