The Pennsylvania Department of State is one of the oldest government agencies in the nation, with roots that date back to the 1680s, nearly a century before the Revolutionary War.
It was in 1680 that William Penn petitioned King Charles II of England for land in America. He requested a land grant in lieu of a large debt owed to his father, Admiral Sir William Penn. The King agreed, and in 1681, he affixed his signature to the Charter of Pennsylvania.
Nearly a month after signing the Charter, King Charles II issued a declaration to the planters and inhabitants of the Province stating William Penn was their absolute proprietary and had full jurisdiction over the necessities of government. However, Penn would not arrive in the New World until five months later.
Throughout his proprietorship, Penn retained the title of Governor in name only. To take care of the day-to-day functions, he commissioned Captain William Markham, his cousin, as Deputy Governor in April 1681. A few of Markham’s duties were to:
- Create a council consisting of nine people
- Read his letter and the King’s declaration to the inhabitants, and take their acknowledgment of his authority and proprietorship.
- Settle boundaries between Penn and his neighbors; to survey, set out, rent or sell lands
- Erect courts; appoint sheriffs and justices of the peace, etc.
- Call to aid any of the inhabitants for the legal suppression of upheaval, or other disturbances
After he arrived in the New World, Penn convened the First General Assembly of the Province on December 4, 1682. The session lasted four days and enacted three laws:
- Act of the Union of the Province and Territories.
- Act to Naturalize the Dutch, Swedes, and other foreigners then residing within the province and territories.
- Code of Laws that embraced most of the laws of England.
After Penn had drafted his First Frame of Government, he established four committees, the first of which was the forerunner of the modern-day Department of State.
Before embarking on an extended journey back to England in 1684, Penn wrote a second frame of government. He made several appointments delegating authority and outlining duties to be carried out during his absence. Among Penn’s appointees was Thomas Lloyd, a Quaker from Wales, who was named president of the Provincial Council and also the first keeper of the Great Seal, a duty that now resides with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The most important appointment Penn made was that of William Markham as the first Secretary of the Province, the title used for more than 90 years.
The first documented reference to the Department of State appears in a law dated April 10, 1792. The act authorized fees to be charged by the various “departments of the state,” including one headed by the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The law also allowed for “subordinate officers” to be paid a portion of those fees, indicating that the Secretary’s duties now required a staff.
It was not until 1919 that the agency, then known as the Department of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, was divided into six bureaus: the Executive Bureau, the Corporation Bureau, the Commission Bureau, the Election and Legislative Bureau, the Requisition and Warrant Bureau, and the Registration Bureau. Over the years, the bureau structure has been maintained, although the specific bureaus have been reorganized and redefined.
In 1929, the General Assembly passed the most important piece of legislation to date regarding the Department of State and the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The Administrative Code of 1929 (A.C. 1929) clarified the appointment process for the Secretary and further defined the place and duties of the Secretary within the Commonwealth’s executive branch.
(From Pennsylvania Department of State website: https://www.dos.pa.gov/about-us/Pages/History.aspx