Charters
Charters, 1841-1958.
Description: A charter is the official government act of creating a corporation. A corporation may include a business, religious group, social group, political party or commercial organization. The process of chartering a business or group begins in the Prothonotary's Office, but the actual record is recorded in the Recorder of Deeds Office. Subsequently, Charters are found in the Deed books.
Content: The charters record series holds charters, mergers, amendments and renewals of corporations or groups. Charters are recorded in Deed Books but are indexed separately in the Charters Index. The charter will provide the name of the proposed corporation, character or purpose of the corporation, township or borough where the corporation will be located, amount of capital stock, the names, addresses and number of shares each member holds, name and residence of the corporate directors, description of the property and the signatures of the petitioners. The signature and seal of the Recorder of Deeds and, typically, the signature and seal of another official swearing the information to be true will conclude the record.
Charter Index, 1841-1958.
Content: This index runs from 1841-1958 and is organized chronologically by alphabetical letter. Each record is indexed by the name of the individual, group or organization. Use caution when using this index. The record may have been indexed using any part of the name. For example, the "American Foundry and Machine Company" should be indexed under "American," but do not exclude the remaining words in the name. It very well could have been indexed under "Foundry" or "Machine." The index will provide you with the book and page reference for the Deed Books, as well as the year of recording.
