Pennsylvania Research Guide

Pennsylvania County Map

Vital Records

Resource Compilations

• Pennsylvania State Archives
• State Library of Pennsylvania
• Pennsylvania Department at the Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh
• Civil War Library & Museum, Philadelphia
• Free Library of Philadelphia
• Grand Army of the Republic Museum, Philadelphia
• Library Company of Philadelphia
• National Civil War Museum, Harrisburg
• Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall, Pittsburgh
• Urban Archives Center at Temple University, Philadelphia
• Gettysburg National Military Park
• Old Pennsylvania Genealogy, News & History - Historic newspapers online for genealogical & historical research 18th- through early 20th-century newspapers.

Genealogical & Historical Societies

• Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania
• Historical Society of Pennsylvania
• American Philosopical Society, Philadelphia
• Archives of Industrial Society, Pittsburgh
• College of Physicians of Philadelphia
• David Library of the American Revolution, Washington Crossing
• Historical Society of Western Pennsylvannia, Pittsburgh
• Historic Pittsburgh
• US Army Military History Institute, Carlisle

Maps

• Historical Maps of Pennsylvania - Images of the region and state from the 16th to the 21st century.
• Old Maps of Pennsylvania - Engravings & Portraits of Historical and Genealogical Interest from the county atlases published in the 1860s & 1870s (commercial site)

Family Histories

• Linda's Pennsylvania Ancestry from Auxer to Ziegler
• Hershey Community Archives (Pennsylvania) - Documents that promote the study and understanding of Milton and Catherine Hershey, their vision and legacy.
• Early Pennsylvania Families Project

Photo Gallery

• Pennsylvania Old Photos

County/Regional Resources

• Genealogical Research Group of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Olyphant
• South Central Pennsylvania Gennealogical Society, York
• Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society, Pittsburgh
• Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives, Philadelphia
• Valley Forge National Historic Site
• Indiantown Gap National Cemetery
• Directory of the First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Leechburg, Pennsylvania
• Snyder County, Pennsylvania GenWeb
• Schuylkill County Genealogy Ties - Search for your Schuylkill County Pennsylvania ancestors in mining accident reports, family histories, military records, Zerby's Past events of Schuylkill county; place names, village names and addresses; churches, cemeteries, vital records, historical books, transcribed census, and other genealogy records.

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. 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. 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.

Additional city directories are available at the subscription websites of Ancestry and Footnote.

People at WeRelate Researching Pennsylvania

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