1763 Pennsylvania Plantation Rental Agreement Between a Shopkeeper and Millwright, Both Enslavers and Land Owners, With Significant Primary Source Genealogical Data for 18th-Century Philadelphia and Chester Counties

On offer is a pre-Revolutionary plantation rental agreement between a Philadelphia shopkeeper and a Springfield millwright, featuring notes that connect multiple family and business ties in late 18th-century Philadelphia and Chester counties.

The rental memorandum is the work of Philadelphia-based lawyer Paul Isaac Voto, whose office was located at “the corner of Black Horse Alley in Second Street.” 

The agreement was drafted between Mr. John Gailbreath (often spelled Galbreath or Gilbreath in other historical documentation) (c. 1717–1766), a shopkeeper whose store was located “in Second Street, between Market and Chestnut streets,” and the prospective renter, millwright Richard Hall of Springfield, Chester County. Historical documents show that Hall also owned property in the region.

Dated May 1763, the rental memorandum indicates that John Gailbreath “...letts his house and plantation in Springfield… for one year from the date hereof to… Richard Hall paying the rent of twenty seven pounds…”

The agreement lays out several rules of tenancy, including the following examples:

• “The Tenant is to have Liberty to reap his Corn and Thrash it in the Barn after the time is over leaving the Thaw and Chatt…”

• “...the Tenant agrees not to take any Hay, Straw, or Dung off the Premises…”

• “...the Tenant agrees to… keep the House… and Premises in repair as good as now… shall not keep more fires in the House but only one in the kitchen and one in another room and… not to cut any timber or wood But in the Back Field joining to Crosiers [? Croziers] Plantation…”

A caveat on the verso of the lease agreement states that “...If John McCoy do not think it proper to rent the place, it shall be lett to James Cochran John Cairnes son in law at 26 pounds…” According to historical news documents, Galbreath was traveling in 1763 and appears to have entrusted a Chester County contact with the final decision on the rental in his absence.

The document is signed by Hall, but not Galbreath. Its delivery was witnessed by Paul Isaac Voto and Elyha Taylor, and the original seal is present.

This document provides not only insight into property rights, legal agreements, and plantation rentals in pre-Revolutionary Pennsylvania, but it also offers genealogical data to support research on the still-incomplete history of early Pennsylvania families. These include the Cairnes, Voto, Hall, Cochran, and Crozier (or Crosier) families, among others.

While some 18th-century newspaper data exists digitally to assist with ongoing research (these being the sources used to find the location of the subjects' businesses), this document remains an invaluable primary source for those interested in 18th-century life, movement, and genealogical links.

Condition: Significant age toning, folding, and micro-tears, with significant tearing in one corner. The document is written in ink with a clear, legible hand and remains in good condition for its age. Overall: Fair to Good.