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General Guides to Pennsylvania Research
Books you might purchase or use in a library include
- NGS. Research in Pennsylvania -- note that while this shows an impressive table of contents, covering many subjects, it is only 46 pages, so it can not be very comprehensive. Still, we should be able to rely on the National Genealogy Society for a high quality product, so it might be worth the risk. If you join the NGS, you can get these state guides more cheaply.
- Clint. Pennsylvania Area Key (1976) (There are also several county area keys, which can be quite useful, despite being dated. These are out of print and you will have to do some searching to find them. )
- Schweitzer. Pennsylvania Genealogical Research
- Woodroofe. A Genealogists Guide to Pennsylvania Records (1995, but originally published in the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine; still helpful, but some specifics may be out of date)
Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine -- with membership in the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania
-- back run on CD
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
- Audio tapes from lectures given at genealogy conferences and seminars with the word Pennsylvania in the title
Each of the three reference books listed below has a small section covering each state that includes maps, historical information, vital records coverage and a bibliography of resources for that state. (note: some libraries may have earleir editions; those are usable)
- Handybook for Genealogists ( 11th edition) (find in a library)
- Ancestry's Redbook, 3rd ed, revised. (find in a library) (see above for online copy)
- The Family Tree Resource Book for Genealogical Research (find in a library)
Atlases, Maps & Gazateers
For more information on finding and using maps, see Your Guide to Atlases, Maps and Gazateers.
Statewide Genealogy Websites
Next, see what is available for your counties of interest at at one of these statewide sites. For each, use the county selection list to find out what is available for the various counties. Content will vary, but in usually you wil find the GenWeb site to be the most robust. All are volunteer driven sites; all data free, but as time goes by, the upkeep of many of these sites seems to be falling by the wayside.
Societies, Libraries and Archives
For more information on using libraries and archives, see my genealogy guides to Libraries and Archives
Finding and Using Records:
Here is a nice overview of Pennsylvania Records on the website of the Pittsburgh Carnegie Library.
FIRST -- Use the catalog at the Family History Library to find out what has been filmed for Pennsylvania.
| To search the catalog as it appeared on the familysearch.org site prior to 2010 |
To search the catalog as in appears on the new familysearch.org website (2010) |
- Search for Pennsylvania
- Click View Related Places in the upper right to find sources that have been filmed for the county you are researching
- and once there click View Related Places in the upper right to find sources that have been filmed for the township or city.
- You will want to check for resources in all three jurisdictions, although most people check the county holdings first, township next and state last.
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At the familysearch.org catalog make sure the pull down is for place name.
Type in Pennsylvania to search for state-wide information. As you type it in, notice that the drop down will display each county. If you search Pennsylvania, you will get results that include Pennsylvania as sub topics as well as main topics.
To search a county, go back to the search page. You can search it by using the alphabetical dropdown described above. When you get to the county page, the results will be county specific. Check those to see what is available at the county level.
And before you quit... click in the FOR box to the left. You will see the townships, villages and city in that county. See what is filmed for those too. |
Here is some specific information and links by record type or special groups:
African American, cemetery, census, church, city directories, county histories, , court & legal, military,
land and property, nationalities. naturalizations, newspapers, probate, vital.
African American:
Start with the website Black History in Pennsylvania.
Guide to African American Resources at the Pennsylvania State Archives gives you an idea of what state and local governmentl documents are available to the researcher (accessioned through 2009) . This online guide is arranged by record group or manuscript collection, so you must look at each listing, which can be tedious. You might want to either print the pages out or simply buy to book edition, although the book lacks those sources acquired in 2009.
Slavery and the Underground Resources at the Pennsylvania State Archives describes the record groups specific to that topic AND offers links to online digital copies of some of the documents!
Bible Records: For general information, see Your Guide to Finding and Using Family Bible Records
These two Pennsylvania publications include some Bible records; both are indexed in PERSI
- Pennsylvania Magazine of Biography and History
- Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania
Cemetery: For general informaton, see guide to cemetery records, this website
- Findagrave -- you can limit your search of a surname to a state or county.
- Cemetery Junction: to find a listing of cemeteries in PennsylvaniaX, with links to some that have been transcribed online
- Interment.net: to search the Pennsylvania online cemetery transcriptions.
- Cemetery Lookup forum
- Obituary Central's Pennsylvania cemetery search
- U.S. Gen Web Tombstone Transcription Project for Rhode Island
- Guide to Online Cemetery Records & Indexes
Census: For general inforamtion, see guide to census records, this website.
Church: For general information, see guide to church records, this website.
City and County Directories: For general information, see guide to city and county directories, this website.
- U.S. City Directories: Pennsylvania ; this serves as an unofficial union list of City Directories and a place where you can order lookups in the city directory by clicking the "order copy" icon on the right. The price of the lookups (plus shipping and handling) seem to me to be on the high end of a reasonable charge, but if all other efforts fail, it is good to know this service is available.
- Distant Cousin: Pennsylvania City Directories (links to online city directories)
- Philadelphia City Directories at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (a listing of what is available there)
- Historical Pennsylvania Directories at the State Library of Pennsylvnaia (a listing; this will probably give you a fairly comprehensive listing of what historical directories are available for Pennyslvania cities, counties and regions)
County and Local Histories: For general informaton, see guide to county histories, this website
Court & Legal; For general information, see guide to law libraries, this website
- Blacksheep Pennsylvania ancestors may have been in trouble with the legal system!
Land & Property: For general information, see guide to land records, this website.
Military; For general inforamtion, see guide to military records, this website
Nationalities:
Pennsylvania German Society
Naturalizations; For general informaton, see guide to naturalizations, this website
Newspapers: For general information, see guide to newspapers, this website
- Pennsylvania Newspaper Project
- Pennsylvania Obituary Lookup
- Chronicling America list of newspapers published in Pennsylvania -- click a title to get more information
- Pennsylvania Necrology Scrapbook -- a digital collection from the State Library of Pennsylvania
- Digital Newspapers available from Pennsylvania State University
Probate: For general inforamton, see guide to probate records, this website
- Ancestry Redbook overview: Pennsylvania Court Records
- Family Search Wiki: Pennsylvania Court Records
Tax Records
- Ancestry Redbook overview: Pennsylvania Tax Records
- Family Search Wiki: Pennsylvania Tax Records
Vital: For general inforamtion, see guide to vital records, this website.
Queries & Help
- Check the Pennsylvania Genweb page for look up volunteers.
- Random Acts of Genealogical Kindnes: Pennsylvania http://www.raogk.com/
- Genealogy.com Boards
- Ancestry/Rootsweb message boards
More Links
- Access Genealogy List of Pennsylvania Links
Cyndi's List Pennsylvania Page
- GenealogyToday's State Gen Site: Pennsylvania
- Genealink's PennsylvaniaX page
- Linkpendium's Pennsylvania Page (Linkpendium is my favorite)
- Rootsweb U.S. Resources: Pennsylvania (this finds data hosted on the Rootsweb servers)
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