Pennsylvania Research Guide

Useful Links

Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania State Archives
State Library of Pennsylvania
American Philosopical Society, Philadelphia
Archives of Industrial Society, Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania Department at the Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh
Civil War Library & Museum, Philadelphia
College of Physicians of Philadelphia
David Library of the American Revolution, Washington Crossing
Free Library of Philadelphia
Grand Army of the Republic Museum, Philadelphia
Historical Society of Western Pennsylvannia, Pittsburgh
Historic Pittsburgh
Library Company of Philadelphia
National Civil War Museum, Harrisburg
Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall, Pittsburgh
Urban Archives Center at Temple University, Philadelphia
Genealogical Research Group of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Olyphant
South Central Pennsylvania Gennealogical Society, York
Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society, Pittsburgh
Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives, Philadelphia
US Army Military History Institute, Carlisle
Gettysburg National Military Park
Valley Forge National Historic Site
Indiantown Gap National Cemetery

Bibliography

General History

- Kay Haviland Freilich, CG. "Genealogical Research in Pennsylvania," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 90, Number 1, March 2002. Pages 7-36.
- Joseph J. Kelly, Jr. Pennsylvania: The Colonial Years, 1681-1776, Doubleday, Garden City, New York, 1980.
- Sylvester K. Stevens. Pennnsylvania: Birthplace of a Nation, Random House, New York, 1964.
- Paul A.W. Wallace. Pennsylvania: Seed of a Nation, Harper & Row, New York, 1967.

Early Settlers

- Ellen Thomas Berry & David Allen Berry. Our Quaker Ancestors: Finding Them in Quaker Records, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1987.
- Charles H. Browning. Welsh Tract of Pennsylvania: The Early Settlers, Family Line Publications, Westminster, Maryland, Reprinted 1990 (originally published in 1912).
- Peter S. Craig. "Chronology of the Colonial Swedes on the Delaware," Swedish Colonial News, Volume 2, Fall 2001.
- John B. Linn & William H. Egle, editors. Papers Relating to the Dutch and Swedish Settlements on the Delaware River, B.F. Meyers, Harrisburg, 1878.
- Albert Cook Myers. Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania, 1682-1750, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, Reprinted 1994 (originally published in 1902).
- Parke Rouse, Jr. The Great Wagon Road from Philadelphia to the South, Dietz Press, Richmond, Reprinted 1995 (originally published in 1973).
- William A. Russ, Jr. How Pennsylvania Acquired its Present Boundaries, Pennsylvania Historical Association, University Park, 1966.
- Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr., editor. Penn's Colony, Heritage Books, Bowie, Maryland, Reprinted 1992 (originally published in 1970).
- C. Hale Sipe. The Indian Wars of Pennsylvania, Heritage Books, Bowie, Maryland, Reprinted 2000 (originally published in 1929).
- Russell F. Weigley, editor. Philadelphia: A Three Hundred Year History, W.W. Norton, New York, 1982.

Philadelphia Sources

Births

Information is being extracted from Birth registers, 1860-1903, for the city of Philadelphia and added to the to the International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch.

Source:Birth returns, 1860-1903, filed by the attending physician, midwife, or hospital for the city of Philadelphia

Source:Birth authentications, 1867-1891, for births occurring 1829-1882

Source:Birth correction cards 1872-1915, 1967-1981

Source:Birth returns, 1904-1915, filed by the attending physician, midwife, or hospital for the city of Philadelphia ; Birth index cards, 1904-1915

Marriages

Images of marriage indices for Philadelphia from 1885 until 1951 are available at the new pilot FamilySearch site FamilySearch - pilot site. Images of the actual marriage registrations are not available on-line.

Deaths

Death Registrations

Deaths in the city of Philadelphia from 1803 until 1915 may be found at the new pilot FamilySearch site Philadelphia City Death Certificates. This searchable database includes images of death certificates, undertaker's certificates, cemetery returns, physician's certificates, and body transit certificates.

Obituaries

Obituaries and other newspaper articles are available from the Free Library of Philadelphia. Send a request by e-mail to erefNEWS@excen.library.phila.gov or by mail, including a stamped self-addressed envelope, to Free Library of Philadelphia, Newspapers & Microfilm Center, 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Two obituaries may be requested at a time. Cost is 50 cents per photocopy, with a $1.00 minimum.

Your request should include the person's name, exact date of death or exact date of burial. Be sure to request a check of newspaper articles, if the deceased died in some newsworthy way. For example, a request for the obituary for William Mahlon Kiefer, died 20 July 1946, resulted in two obituaries and copies of the newspaper articles covering his fatal accident.

City Directories

Philadelphia city directories were published from 1795 to 1935.

The Free Library of Philadelphia will search city directories for a fee of 50 cents per photocopy, with a $1.00 minimum. Requests are limited to one name per request. You may specify up to 10 directories to be searched, not limited to consecutive years. Send a request by e-mail to erefNEWS@excen.library.phila.gov or by mail, including a stamped self-addressed envelope, to Free Library of Philadelphia, Newspapers & Microfilm Center, 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

City directories are also available on microfilm through Family History Centers.

The 1890 Philadelphia city directory, including scanned images, is available for free at Old Directory Search.