Hidden Genealogy Nuggets has started a new weekly blog prompt called Genealogy by the States. This week’s prompt is the state of Pennsylvania. Luckily for me, my family (or at least part of it) has called The Keystone State home for over 200 years.
Of the lines I have traced back to the point of immigration to America, each arrived and directly settled in Pennsylvania. While there are a few twigs that have branched out across the Unites States, the bulk of the tree has remained within a three hour drive from where our ancestors settled over more than two centuries ago.
Since this week’s post is all about Pennsylvania, I figured I would list some of the web sites I have found most helpful…aside from Ancestry.com and Family Search. I also use Find A Grave on a regular basis; this is a great tool but data included in memorials cannot be considered absolute fact. Since my people are primarily in the central Pennsylvania coal region, I am only listing sites related to that region.
State Wide
The Pennsylvania State Archives
The Pennsylvania State Archives: Digital Copies of Documents Digital scans of a variety of valuable records to aid in online research. Included in the images are landowner maps from the 19th century that have aided in finding where my ancestors have lived.
Pennsylvania Department of Health: Public Records PA birth and death indices for those records which are public records due to their age. I use this to get death certificates for the years 1906 thru 1962.
Online Pennsylvania Death Indexes and Obituaries Various genealogy records; this site put me in touch with a volunteer in Nevada who provided me with a free copy of an old obituary from her local library.
Genealogy Inc Pennsylvania county formation map.
Northumberland County
Northumberland County USGenWeb Various transcriptions of Northumberland County records.
Shamokin Shamokin nostalgia.
Dalado Photography: The Thomas Collection Photographs from Thomas Studios, regional photographer.
Roy Schreffler’s Homepage Stone Valley Cemetery Listing.
Columbia County
Columbia County USGenWeb Various transcriptions of Columbia County records.
Dauphin County
Civil War Blog While historical society’s primary focus is the preservation of the history and heritage of northern Dauphin County, their blogs also cover the people and history of central Pennsylvania.
Schuylkill County
Schuylkill County USGenWeb Various transcriptions of Schuylkill County records.
Newspapers
News Item I use this for keeping up with deaths and local information, including occasional historical information.
Historic American Newspapers – Chronicling America Great source for older newspaper archives; doesn’t include every paper but still good.
Libraries
The Mount Carmel Area Public Library Northumberland County newspaper and obituary resource.
Genealogy and Local History Materials at the Pottsville Free Public Library Excellent resource for all things Schuylkill County related.
Filed under: Online Resources, Pennsylvania | Tagged: Columbia County, Dauphin County, Genealogy by the States, Northumberland County, Schuylkill County | 2 Comments »
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