Pennsylvania: Keystone R-esources in the Keystone State Sharon Cook Mat;lnnes, Ph.D.,

Transcription

1 Pennsylvania: Keystne R-esurces in the Keystne State Sharn Ck Mat;lnnes, Ph.D., Macr Implicatins fr Recrds Different clnies (CT, MD, and VA) laid claim t large areas f Pennsylvania. We need t search in adjining cunties and even states fr recrds. France claimed western PA and early residents might even be in French recrds. Lcating recrds ften depends n the cnfusing Pennsylvania cunty bundaries that changed as the clny grew frm three cunties t 67 (the last ne, Lackawanna, was finally created in 1878). Yu need t understand cunty bundaries at any given time t knw which curthuse r repsitry might hld yur ancestrs' curt, tax, marriage, church, r land recrds. Befre abut 1900, nearly all persnal recrds are held at cunty level as the cunty existed at that time. Different levels f gvernment (federal, state, cunty) generated different paperwrk. Examples: Legal recrds: typically in cunty but may be in state r federal resurces Land recrds: may be in state (PHMC) r cunty repsitries (see belw) Tax recrds: may be federal, state r cunty (see belw) Military recrds: may be in federal r state r even cunty recrds (see belw) Migratin patterns help lcate where they came frm and went t. Indian treaties pened land t settlement r caused vilence, funneling pineers int new migratin patterns r driving them away. Rads sprang frm Indian paths, but tpgraphy prevented westward settlement beynd the Allegheny Muntains and prmted settlement in valleys. Hw t Track Cunty Bundary Changes: the key t accessing specific recrds lies in knwing the cunty bundaries as it existed at the time f the transactin. Dn't frget t think f adjining cunties and/r states! "Evlutin f the Cunties" map: f the Cunties.jpg (dwnlad and save) "Animated map" shwing bundary changes ver time and by census year (scrll dwn and click n year): http: // I Atlas f Histrical Cunty Bundaries Prject f Newberry Library ( Dwnlad Ggle Earth first, then click n "Dwnlad Files" n the Atlas hme page. Select "State Dwnlads" t specify the states that interest yu, r "U.S. Dwnlads." Chse t dwnlad the KMZ files (they wrk with Ggle Earth). When yu pen Ggle Earth, be sure t check the relevant KMZ file and it will shw yu the chrnlgical slider. Vital Recrds: Sme cities ( esp. Philadelphia in 1860 and thers in 1870) started recrding vital recrds earlier, but cunties began registering births and deaths in All cunties kept marriage lit enses frm The state tk ver in Early vital recrds were primarily kept by churches and/ r pastrs and priests. An ften-verlked excellent surce f recrds is the set that the state mandated but then abandned. If yu find a family in the 1850 r 1860 census with yung children, ther children may be recrded in the birth recrds, giving the maiden name f the mther. Births : Marriages : htt;p: //search.ancestry.cm/search/db.aspx?dbid=2486 Deaths : http: //search.ancestry.cm/search/db.aspx?dbid=2487 Official statewide vital recrds registratin was required starting January 1906; cntact the Department f Health ( Befre 1906, cntact the apprpriate cunty. Birth and marriage recrds and : ( cunty marriages) and https: //familysearch.rg/search/cllectin/ (births and christenings) Sharn CkMaclnnes, Ph.D., CG

2 Ancestry: 34 Alternatives: funeral recrds, church recrds, bituaries, tmbstnes, cemetery recrds, newspapers, military recrds, census prbate recrds, land recrds, mrtality schedules, tmbstnes, cunty histries, Scial Security Death Index, wills & prbates, Orphans Curt recrds, taufschein, fraktur, Bible recrds, Orphans Curt recrds, census, tax lists, Scial Security Death Index (SSDI), railrad retirement files. Newspaper articles and bituaries: Library f Cngress' "Chrnicling America: Histrical American Newspapers" ( Stanfrd's "Data Visualizatin: Jurnalism's Vyage West" cmpiling infrmatin frm the Library f Cngress' "Chrnicling America" prject (click n ''View the Map" beliw the intrductin that cvers the map): newspapers Scial Security applicatins and claims: If a persn made a claim t receive Scial Security retirement benefits during his/her lifetime ("Life Claim"), r if an heir claimed their death benefits ("Death Claim"), persn's death benefits, an index is psted as "U.S., Scial Security Applicatins and Claims Jndex, ): I db.aspx?dbid T receive a cpy f a deceased persn's riginal applicatin fr a Scial Security Number (Frm SS-5; $21-rder a phtcpy f the riginal applicatin, nt the "cmputer extract"!): htt:ps // 711.pdf. Accrding t the Scial Security Administratin's privacy plicy, ""under ur current plicy, we d nt release the parents' names n an SS-5 applicatin unless the parents' are prven deceased, have a birth date mre than 120 years ag, r the number hlder n the SS-5 is at least 100 years f age." Thus, if yur ancestrs' parents d nt fit the abve, include death certificate/ bits/tmbstne phts/census recrds fr the parents. The SS- 5 will include ccupatin, address, birth date and place, parents' names (including mther's maiden name), and riginal signature. Quaker Mnthly Meetings: Published Alternatives: Pennsylvania Vital Recrds frm The Pennsylvania Genealgical Magazine and The Pennsylvania Magazine f Histry and Bigraphy, 3 vlumes. D NOT miss this resurce-every page is n line and cntains many references t births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and divrces. A large prtin cnsists f German and Quaker recrds. Vl. I: /db aspx? dbid=48382 Vl. II: http: //search.ancestry.cm/search/db.aspx?dbid=48383 Vl. III: http: //search.ancestry.cm/search/db.aspx?dbid=48607 Church recrds PA and NJ Church & Twn Recrds ": Evangelical and Refrmed Histrical Sciety: huses extensive cllectin f church recrds: Pennsylvania Births series by Jhn T. Humphrey (these bks dn't shw spnsrs but are excellent fr identifying churches that families belnged t) Pennsylvania church recrds transcriptins series by F. Edward Wright includes spnsrs (Family Tree Maker CD #166, Church Recrds: Selected Areas f Pennsylvania 1600s-1800s cntains numerus bks by F. Edward Wright; searchable, includes spnsrs, but nly wrks n Windws XP. Sme Family Histry Centers wn this CD-call ahead). Individual bks are available at DAR Library in D.C. Sharn Ck Madnnes, Ph.D., CG

3 Pennsylvania German _Church Recrds, (Family Tree Maker CD #130-anther c that nly wr~ n Wmdws XP; evidently nt all f these recrds have been upladed t Ancestry). Wnght's bks are available at DAR Library. T find what church recrds exist fr cngregatins inventried by the WPA, brwse Ancestry's "Pennsylvania, WPA Church Archives, " database (nt all churches were inventried): T lcate churches, cnsult U.S. City Directries: http: //search.ancestry.cm/search/db.aspx?dbid:::2469 : https: //sites.ggle.cm/sjte/nhnedirectrysite /Hme/usa /pa ; https: // States Directries Maps and atlases are ther vehicles fr lcating churches: Ancestr Tracks: (click n cunty) https: //search.ancestry.cm/search/db.aspx?dbid-1127 https: //search.ancestry.cm/search/db.aspx?dbid-2179 Wrld Digital Library: Library f Cngress: /?q-pennsyjvania Federal Nn-Ppulatin Census Recrds (n micrfilm at NARA): see Agricultural: (by statistics per cunty and by cunty /twnship/farmer) ( click n "Manuscripts" page, then cunty, then twnship t see image): PA State Farm Census: /prtal/ cmmunities /agriculture I census I man uscripts.html Manufacturing: 1820, ( nly n micrfilm, available at NARA) Mrtality schedules: : Defective, Dependent and Delinquent Classes: 1880 ( /db.aspx?dbid== 16 34) 1890 Veterans Schedule (mst f the rest f the 1890 census was destryed by fire): /db.aspx?dbid==866 7 Septennial census returns, (taken every 7 years but many are missing): /search ancestry.cm /search /db.aspx?dbid= Quaker census f Philadelphia African-Americans: Legal Recrds: nearly all are in cunty repsitries. histrical scieties, etc. Wills-dn't frget prbate files! Orphans Curt files (a wman culd nt represent her children, s children under 14 were assigned a male guardian, 14+ chse a male guardian). An "Orphan" usually had a mther. Curt files (Quarter Sessins::: criminal curt; Cmmn Pleas = civil curt) Land Recrds (State) Deeds are in the cunty curthuses and are transfers f land frm ne individual t anther. Indexes t deeds are called Grantee (seller) r Grantr (buyer) Indexes and are als in the cunty. Few deeds have been digitized. Many indexes have been micrfilmed and are available thrugh FamilySearch. The riginal transfer f land frm the clny r state gvernment t individuals tk place thugh a five-step prcess: (1) applicatin Remember: There. are tw distinct sets f land recrds: State and Cunty Sharn Ck Macinnes, Ph.D., cc;

4 (http: //search.ancestry.cm/search/db.aspx?dbid-2350); (2) warrant; (3) survey; ( 4) return f survey; and (S) patent (final title). They are filed in the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg. Fr the indexes t warrants and patents, as well as the Cpied Survey Bks (see vlume and page# in right clumn f the apprpriate cunty Warrant Register), use Online/Pages/Land-Recrds-Overview.aspx --see "Images" fr each tpic. Supplemental warrant registers are als here: Original Purchases Register, Old Rights Register, East Side Applicatins Register, West Side Applicatins Register, New Purchase Applicatins Register, Last Purchase Register, Depreciatin and Dnatin Land Registers. Als see Warrantee wnship Maps fr neighbrhds and crrelate with cunty histries..,,,,..,_:. :... _.,, WASHINGTON. SJ!q11clf/t i. A.II Ca, c.la,~plr lluddy.t'i\s A ~;,Jcl"6n I Cl,.,fu :,~J,., tjflly 1~-- 1- S'r"f. 11,4'1 /1.4-,f,,I wd;~".jrrt A/1./ n 7 l I I. J,.t, A~t; i.3.7 M-:J '7~ 4~, l Jascl'I, All"'" 4,-,;;,,. \ n ~ S~ 1:L,-J..,!)' j.J'-J44! W c;rra'"t'a-.~ j - ' I l I Tax Recrds: may be in cunty, state r federal cllectins Tax recrds, sme f which are published in the free nline Pennsylvania Archives series n Fld3.cm, supplement census schedules. They can be used t track a head f husehld's financial success r failure; they can suggest a date f death, marriage, r migratin. Tax recrds can be used t determine whether a particular man is the crrect persn n a generic military rll. Many, many tax lists have nt been micrfilmed r digitized and exist nly in cunty archives which require n-site access. Sme lists have been transcribed and sme have digitized and psted nline: 18th..Century transcriptins ( surrunding the Revlutinary War) f a few are in the 138- vlume published Pennsylvania Archives. (btt;ps:// Bedfrd. Series 3, Vlume XXII;.B.erks: S3, XVII and S3, XVIII;~: S3, XIII and XXVII; Chester: S3, XII and XI and XXVII; Cumberland: S3, XX;~: S3, XXII; Huntingdn: S3, XXII; Lancaster: S3, XVII; Nrthamptn: S3, XIX and XXVII; Nrthumberland: S3, XIX and XXVII; Philadelphia: S3, XVI and XIV and XV and XXVII; Washingtn: S3, XXII; Westmreland: S3, XXII; Yrk: S3, XXI "Pennsylvania, Tax and Exneratin, " database (state): IRS Tax Assessment Lists fr PA, (federal): http: I /search.ancestry.cm /search/db.aspx? dbid= 1264 U.S. Direct Tax f 1798 (Pennsylvania, but federal tax): The vast majrity f riginals are in the cunties, mst never micrfilmed. Military Recrds (fr state recrds, search Pennsylvania Archives n Fld3 (free) and use the Pennsylvania State Archives' ARIAS ( us/) French and Indian War: few fficial recrds; try Pennsylvania Archives, Fifth Series, Vl. 1 Revlutinary War Recrds: 1. Federal: Pennsylvania Line f Cntinental Army a. Federal Pensins (& Widws Pensins): Fld3.cm b census lists RW pensiners n reverse f each page 2. State recrds fr sldiers: Online/Pages/Revlutinary-War.aspx a. ARIAS (includes unit recrds): Sharn Ck Macinnes, PhD., CG

5 War f 1812 Mexican War: Pennsylvania Archives (PPA}, Sixth Series, Vl. 10, Wrld War I Wrld War II b. Revlutinary War Pensiners Index: ( tinarywarpensinerslndex Mainlnterface.htm) c. Many published in Pennsylvania Archives n Fld3 Pennsylvania Archives, Sixth Series (Fld3) Pensin files (Fld3) Bunty Land ( Remember: There are tl:fq.distinct sets f military recrds: Federal and State (Fld3) "U.S. Mexican Pensin Index, " (use the index, then rder the file frm NARA): / Civil War PHMC: Vlunteers/rl 9-65Mainlnterface.htm (images f each register dcumenting PA Vlunteers) PHMC's "Civil War Veterans' Card File, " http: // us /archive.asp Cnscientius Objectrs: Samuel P. Bates, Histry f the Pennsylvania Vlunteers S, five vlumes. The "PA Civil War Vlunteer Sldiers" website (http: // allws yu t search the vlumes at https: //penlibrary.rg/wrks/ol w/histry f Pennsylvania vlunteers ( als n line at Archive.rg). Ancestry's "Pennsylvania, Spanish American War Cmpensatin, " is misnamed. The riginal files are in the Pennsylvania State Archives (PHMC, RG-19) and cver "thse wh gave Pennsylvania as place f residence and wh served in Wrld War I frm , the Spanish-American War in 1898, the China Relief Expeditin, r the ccupatin f the Philippines r Guam frm 1898 t 1902." Online at Ancestry: / db.aspx?dbid =23 92 "Sldiers f the Great War: Pennsylvania" transcribed frm Sldiers f the Great War, Vlume III, 1920: htt_p: // U.S. Draft Registratin Cards: "Old Man's Registratin" (ages 45-64): WWII Draft Registratin Cards (29 states including Pennsylvania): 816/wwii draft registratin cards#verview Selected Website Resurces: Pennsylvania Gen Web (and Gen Web Archives): Linkpendium: FamilySearch bks; library/!ibweb/actin/search.d?vid=fhd PUBLIC Ggle Bks: Archive.rg: PERS!: Pennsylvania Databases Online at Ancestry: Sharn Ck Macinnes, Ph.D., CO