United States Reports, volume 1

Alexander J. Dallas, a Philadelphia lawyer and later United States Secretary of the Treasury, had been in the business of reporting local law cases for newspapers and periodicals.

(Court reporters in that age received no salary, but were expected to profit from the publication and sale of their compiled decisions.)

Dallas continued to collect and publish Pennsylvania and other decisions, adding federal Supreme Court cases to his reports.

(To avoid confusion, the Court of Errors and Appeals will be cited as "Pa. Ct. Err.

Pennsylvania is one of four states (along with Massachusetts, Virginia, & Kentucky) to refer to itself as a "Commonwealth".

In the early 19th Century the English term Commonwealth replaced Respublica in new Pennsylvania case names.