Genealogy
Getting Started | Primary Sources | Secondary Sources
Regional Libraries | Other Websites | Forms
Two good websites to help you on your genealogy research are FamilySearch.org at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp and the National Archives and their section for Genealogists and Family Historians at http://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy. They have a number of research guides and tutorials to help you.
Primary Sources
Consist of vital records, church records, court records and passenger lists. Vital records are obtained from the state where a person was born, married or died.
ForPennsylvania records can be obtained from:
P.O. Box 1528
101 South Mercer Street
New Castle, PA 16101
(724) 656-3100
Fax: (724) 652-8951
For Pennsylvania it is also important to know that records before 1906 must be obtained from the county where the event occurred.For obtaining birth or death certificates for events that occurred before 1906 contact the Register of Wills, Orphans Court in the county where the event occurred.There may be a charge for these documents.
Passenger Lists can be researched at the Federal Archives.If your ancestors passed through Ellis Island you can also obtain this information from the Ellis Island website http://www.ellisisland.org/
Secondary Sources
Include obituaries, marriage and birth notices. These can be found in newspapers such as the Daily Local News, Coatesville Record, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Other secondary sources are family histories, indexes or compilations of census records.
Census records are an important area of family research and can confirm information as well as provide other information.The Federal Population census is taken every 10 years.There is a 72 year restriction on access to population census schedules - the 1930 census is the latest year currently available. From 1790-1840 only the head of household is listed, but with the 1850 census individual members of the household are listed.
Regional Libraries
Libraries and information centers that specialize in genealogical records are good places to visit to do research.Several of these libraries are listed below:
Chester County Library
For Books and Guides on how to do genealogical research – the call number is 929.1
Census records for Chester County are available on microfilm decennial census from 1790 - 1930.
Subscribes to the following databases that contain genealogy information:
Ancestry http://www.ancestrylibrary.com/default.aspx(in library use only)
(Can also be searched from home)
The Chester County Historical Society, 225 North High Street, West Chester, PA,
610-692-4800 is a good place to visit for local information.Website is http://www.chestercohistorical.org/
Chester County Archives has birth, marriage, and death records for Chester County Website is http://www.chesco.org/index.aspx?nid=192
contains a wealth of information such as U.S. census records, military records, passenger lists for the Port of Philadelphia and federal court records.Website is http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/
The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, 2207 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa 19103, 215-545-0391. The society has a large collection of genealogical materials - website is http://www.genpa.org/
Augustana College
639 38th Street
Rock Island IL 61201-2296
http://www.augustana.edu/x13856.xml
Free Genealogy Forms and Charts- quite a number of forms to use in your genealogy research http://www.genealogysearch.org/free/forms.html
Cyndis List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet - Supplies, Charts, Forms, Etc. www.cyndislist.com/supplies.htm
Last Modified: 10/22/12