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Pennsylvania Public Records
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To Search Public and Vital Records -
Vital records are records of life events important enough that
some level of government acquires, organizes, and preserves
them. While the term "vital records" is often applied
to a wide variety of life events... Read
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Pennsylvania Vital Records
Pennsylvania began statewide registration of vital records in January
1906. The repositories for these records, however, are not centralized
in one location. Below is a brief summary:
For All Areas Except Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie and Scranton
For birth and death records from January 1906, write:
State Department of Health
Division of Vital Statistics
101 S. Mercer Street
P.O. Box 1528
New Castle, PA 16103
Tel: 724-656-3100
Birth and Death 1906-present
http://www.health.state.pa.us/HPA/apply_bd.htm
For marriage records:
Marriage License Clerk
County Courthouse
(county seat) PA
For Philadelphia:
For birth and death records from January 1906, write:
Division of Vital Records
1400 W. Spring Garden Street
Room 1009
Philadelphia, PA 19130-4090
For Pittsburgh:
For birth and death records from January 1906, write:
Division of Vital Records
300 Liberty Avenue
Room 512
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
For Erie:
For birth and death records from January 1906, write:
Division of Vital Records
1910 West 26th Street
Erie, PA 16508
For Scranton:
For birth and death records from January 1906, write:
Division of Vital Records
100 Lackawanna Avenue
Scranton, PA 18503
For marriage records for Philadelphia, Pittsburgh,
Erie, and Scranton, write:
Court Clerk
County Orphans' Court
(county seat), PA
Pennsylvania Land Records
The Land Records Office, formerly the Bureau of Land Records (see
below), came into operation in 1682, keeping records about state
boundaries, land granted by William Penn and the Commonwealth, and
land still owned by Pennsylvania. Of greatest value are the warrants,
surveys, and patents, including warrantee maps.
Some of the earliest records of Pennsylvania grants
are indexed in Warrants and Surveys of the Province of Pennsylvania
including the Three Lower Counties 1759, compiled by Allen Weinberg
and Thomas E. Slattery (1965; reprint; Knightstown, Ind.: The Bookmark,
1975). The "Lower Counties" were those which are now the
state of Delaware. Warrantees of land for several counties for 1682–1898
are listed in Pennsylvania Archives, 3rd series, vols. 2, 3, and
24–26. This series is indexed in vols. 27–30. See also
William H. Egle, Early Pennsylvania Land Records: Minutes of the
Board of Property of the Province of Pennsylvania, 1687–1732
(Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1976), reprinted from the
Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd series, vol. 19.
The southwest corner of Pennsylvania was contested
with Virginia, and many records for this area are to be found at
the Virginia State Archives (Richmond) and at the University of
West Virginia (Morgantown). For further research refer to:
"Virginia Claims to Land in Pennsylvania."
In Pennsylvania Archives, 3rd series, vol. 3, pages 483–574.
Crumrine, Boyd. Virginia Court Records in Southwestern
Pennsylvania... 1775–1780. 1902–05. Reprint with index.
Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1974.
Bell, Dr. Raymond Martin. In the National Genealogical
Society Quarterly 14 (1957) and The Virginia Genealogist 7 (1963)
and 11 (1967).
Settlers from Connecticut came to the Upper Delaware
and Wyoming valleys claimed by that colony from about 1753 to 1782.
The records of the Delaware Company have not survived, but see The
Susquehanna Company Papers by Julian P. Boyd and Robert J. Taylor,
11 vols. (Wilkes Barre. Pa.: Wyoming Historical and Geological Society,
and Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1930–71); William
Henry Egle, Documents Relating to the Connecticut Settlement in
the Wyoming Valley (of Pennsylvania) (1890; reprint; Bowie, Md.:
Heritage Books, 1990); and Donna Bingham Munger, "Following
Connecticut Ancestors to Pennsylvania: Susquehanna Company Settlers,"
New England Historical and Genealogical Register 139 (1985): 112–25.
Other material is at the Connecticut State Library and the Wyoming
Historical and Geological Society in Wilkes-Barre.
Tax-free land in the western part of the state, called
the "Donation Lands," was offered to Revolutionary War
soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line of the Continental Army. Also
in this section of Pennsylvania were "Depreciation Lands,"
sold at reduced prices to Revolutionary War veterans or available
to them instead of payment if they redeemed their depreciation certificates.
The claims to these lands were published with maps in vols. 3 and
7 of Pennsylvania Archives, 3rd series. A helpful discussion of
both of these land groups by John E. Winner appeared in Western
Pennsylvania Historical Magazine 8 (1925): 1–11. See also "The
Depreciation and Donation Lands," compiled by Nell Y. Herchenroether,
in Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Quarterly 7 (1981): 127–33
Most research in Pennsylvania land records will begin
in the deeds and mortgages found with the recorder of deeds (who
in smaller counties is also the register of wills). Here will also
be found the seller and buyer (grantor and grantee) indexes, most
often arranged by the somewhat cumbersome Russell system.
In Pennsylvania, deeds and mortgages are more often
than not indexed separately. Chattel mortgages are also found with
the recorder of deeds. Most county deeds recorded to about 1850
and corresponding indexes are available on microfilm at the Pennsylvania
State Archives and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Some
unrecorded deeds may be found in courthouses, and many have found
their way from private hands into archives, historical societies,
and libraries. In earlier times many clerks were careful to copy
German signatures into the deed books. This practice is of particular
value because in the text of the deed the name was usually anglicized.
Research on Pennsylvania land is incomplete without
consulting Donna Bingham Munger, Pennsylvania Land Records: A History
and Guide for Research (Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 1991).
Pennsylvania Court Records
Court records can be a complex source for any state. Their records
include probate records (which include wills), guardianship, naturalization,
and a wide variety of other sources, ranging from criminal trials
to simple road orders. All contain information about individuals
within the area. It should be remembered that there are different
levels of jurisdiction for courts in the United States, all of which
should be considered for research under various circumstances. Court
of Common Pleas, Orphan's Court, Probate Court, District Court,
Superior Court, Supreme Court, and other titles are among those
encountered. To study more about court records in general, see "Research
in Court Records," by Arlene H. Eakle, in:
Szucs, Loretto Dennis, and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking,
eds. The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy. Rev. ed. Salt
Lake City: Ancestry, 1997.
Pennsylvania Military Records
Because of the Quaker influence, Pennsylvania had no formal militia
until the French and Indian War, when it became necessary to defend
its citizens on the western frontier. Most original military records
up through World War II are in the Pennsylvania State Archives.
Later records are with the Adjutant General's Office, Department
of Military Affairs, Fort Indiantown Gap, Annville, PA 17003. Information
from the time of World War II is restricted.
Many names of soldiers and sailors, from the time
of the French and Indian War through the Mexican War, are found
in the volumes of Pennsylvania Archives, particularly in the 2nd
and 5th series, although research in these should be supplemented
by records at the state archive and the National Archives. For this
military period, the following should also be mentioned:
Cope, Harry E., comp. List of Soldiers and Widows
of Soldiers Granted Revolutionary War Pensions by Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania. Edited by Mrs. Daniel L. Whitehead. Greensburg, Pa.:
Phoebe Bayard Chapter DAR, 1976.
Laverty, Bruce. Colonial Muster Rolls at the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania. Philadephia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania,
1983. (Reproduces copies of original with name index.)
Muster Rolls of the Pennsylvania Volunteers in the
War of 1812–1814. Reprinted from Pennsylvania Archives. 2nd
series, vol. 12. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1967. (Only
officers are indexed.)
Stevens, S. K., et al. The Papers of Henry Bouquet.
5 vols. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission,
1951–78.
Like the other Mid-Atlantic colonies, there were
Loyalists in Pennsylvania, mostly in the southeastern part of the
colony, many of whom left for England or Canada. Some are identified
in Anne M. Ousterhouk, "Opponents of the Revolution Whose Pennsylvania
Estates were Confiscated," Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine
30 (1978): 237–53. See also "Forfeited Estates Accounts"
in Pennsylvania Archives, 6th series, vols. 12–13. For a detailed
study see Wilbur H. Siebert, "The Loyalists of Pennsylvania,"
Ohio State University Bulletin 24 (1920; reprint; Boston: Gregg,
1972). Copies of muster rolls of the Pennsylvania Loyalist Regiment
are at the Public Archives of Canada and the Library of Congress.
Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers,
1861–65, 5 vols. (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, 1869–71), is
arranged by regiment but only indexes officers. For all names, consult
the National Archives microfilm Index to Compiled Service Records
of Volunteer Union Soldiers in Pennsylvania Organizations, available
at the National Archives-Mid-Atlantic Region and the Pennsylvania
State Library. There is also a separate, every-name index in the
state archives. Record of Pennsylvania Volunteers in the Spanish-American
War, 1898, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: Wm. Stanley Ray, 1901), was compiled
by the Pennsylvania Adjutant General's Office.
Soldier discharges since the Civil War are usually
in the office of the county recorder of deeds. Veterans' grave and
burial records are kept in the county commissioners' office and
at the Department of Military Affairs. For further military reference,
consult:
Neagles, James C. U.S. Military Records: A Guide
to Federal and State Sources. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1994.
Additional Sources
Eddy, Henry Howard, and Martha L. Simonetti, eds. Guide to the Published
Archives of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: Historical and Museum Commission,
1949. Reprint. 1976.
Schweitzer, George K. Pennsylvania Genealogical Research.
Knoxville, Tenn.: the author, 1986.
Rubincam, Milton. Genealogical Research: Methods
and Sources. Vol. 1. Rev. ed. Washington, D.C.: American Society
of Genealogists, 1980. (Chapter on Pennsylvania.)
Pennsylvania Vital
Records:
Event: Birth
Cost of copy: $4.00
Wallet card: $5.00
Address:
Division of Vital Records
State Department of Health
Central Building
101 South Mercer Street
P.O. Box 1528
New Castle, PA 16103
Remarks: State office has had records since January
1906.
For earlier records, write to Register of Wills,
Orphans Court, in county seat of county where event occurred. Persons
born in Pittsburgh from 1870 to 1905 or in Allegheny City, now part
of Pittsburgh, from 1882 to 1905 should write to Office of Biostatistics,
Pittsburgh Health Department, City--County Building, Pittsburgh,
PA 15219. For events occurring in City of Philadelphia from 1860
to 1915, write to Vital Statistics, Philadelphia Department of Public
Health, 401 North Broad Street, Room 942, Philadelphia, PA 19108.
Check or money order should be made payable to Division
of Vital Records. Personal checks are accepted. To verify current
fees, the telephone number is (724) 656-3100.
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Event: Death
Cost of copy: $3.00
Address:
Division of Vital Records
State Department of Health
Central Building
101 South Mercer Street
P.O. Box 1528
New Castle, PA 16103
Remarks: State office has had records since January
1906.
For earlier records, write to Register of Wills,
Orphans Court, in county seat of county where event occurred. Persons
born in Pittsburgh from 1870 to 1905 or in Allegheny City, now part
of Pittsburgh, from 1882 to 1905 should write to Office of Biostatistics,
Pittsburgh Health Department, City--County Building, Pittsburgh,
PA 15219. For events occurring in City of Philadelphia from 1860
to 1915, write to Vital Statistics, Philadelphia Department of Public
Health, 401 North Broad Street, Room 942, Philadelphia, PA 19108.
Check or money order should be made payable to Division
of Vital Records. Personal checks are accepted. To verify current
fees, the telephone number is (724) 656-3100.
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Event: Marriage (county)
Cost of copy: Varies
Address: See remarks
Remarks: Make application to the Marriage License
Clerks, County Court House, in county where license was issued.
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Event: Divorce (county)
Cost of copy: Varies
Address: See remarks
Remarks: Make application to the Prothonotary, Court
House, in county seat of county where divorce was granted.
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