Chester County Historical Society (West Chester, Pennsylvania). Genealogical Clippings File, up to 1968. (On 151 FHL films beginning with 560531; computer number 370529.) This includes newspaper clippings, books, and articles arranged alphabetically in two sections.

Huguenot Society of Pennsylvania. The society and the Family History Library have Application Papers and an ancestor index (on 12 FHL films beginning with 468233; computer number 389545).

Historical Society of Pennsylvania. This society and the Family History Library have Genealogical Collections: Families of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, etc., 1700-1950 and the Edmunds and Lukens collections (FHL films 540684-97; computer number 355801).

State Library of Pennsylvania. The state library and the Family History Library have the Genealogical Surname Card Index (on 42 FHL films beginning with 1002825 item 2; computer number 33569). This indexes local histories, family histories, periodicals, and many compilations of cemetery, church, and Bible records at the state library. The call numbers listed are for that library. However, many of the sources are also available at the Family History Library.

Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. The following are examples of the extensive collections at the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania that are also available at the Family History Library.

• Manuscript Card Catalog of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania (also called the “Manuscript Material Index” or the “Genealogical Material Index”). This is a very helpful index to many collections at the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania (FHL films 377629-37; computer number 388962). This source indexes many collections, such as the Buckman, Clement, Cope, and Justice collections, and manuscripts. It references persons, places, families, localities, and events.It includes all manuscript collections listed below, except the Ely and Gerberich collections.
  

A necessary guide to the above card catalog is J. Carlyle Parker, Pennsylvania and Middle Atlantic States Genealogical Manuscripts: A User's Guide to the Manuscript Collections of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania (Turlock, Calif.: Marietta Publishing, 1986; FHL book 974.8 D27pp; computer number 426392).

• Family Records Arranged Alphabetically. (On 360 FHL films beginning with 345738; computer number 376505.)
  
• Family Records No. 2 “F.C. Collection.” (FHL films 525531-82; computer number 437788.)
  
• Genealogical Notes. 33 volumes and indexes. (On 20 FHL films beginning with 522153; computer number 389392.)
  
• Gilbert Cope Collection of Family Data. This collection is especially important for Quaker research. (FHL films 517003-78; computer number 327985.)
  
• Warren S. Ely Collection of Genealogical Data, Letters (Eastern Pennsylvania Families). (On 46 FHL films beginning with 511938; computer number 350393.)
  
• Albert H. Gerberich Collection of Pennsylvania German Families. This collection is alphabetically arranged in 6 sets. (On 16 FHL films beginning with 522107 and 522119; computer number 339103, 339108.)
  
• William H. Mervine Collection of Genealogical Notes. (On 119 FHL films beginning with 503279; computer number 378696.)
  
• Sophie Seldon Rogers Collection (Genealogical Material). Indexed and in alphabetical order. (On 45 FHL films beginning with 511759; computer number 389405.)
  

Others include the collections by Buckman, Dotterer, Enders, Gearhart, Harlan, Hocker, Hough, Justice, Mendenhall, Seldon, Stow, Welch, and Wood. Many genealogical materials are found in the Author-Title Search of the Family History Library Catalog under COLLECTIONS OF THE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Published Collections

Egle, William Henry, ed. Notes and Queries: Historical, Biographical, and Genealogical, Relating Chiefly to Interior Pennsylvania. 1894-1904. Reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1971. (FHL book 974.8 B2nq; on 5 FHL films beginning with 1698260; computer number 641814.) This is listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under PENNSYLVANIA - HISTORY - PERIODICALS. An index to this source is:

Schory, Eva Draegert. Everyname Index to Egle's Notes and Queries. 2 vols. Decatur, Ill.: Decatur Genealogical Society, 1982. (FHL book 974.8 B2nq; index: computer number 112013.) Vol. 1 had indexes to series 1-4; vol. 2 has an index to the five annuals, 1896-1900.

Genealogies of Pennsylvania Families: From the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine. 3 vols. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1982. (FHL book 974.8 D2g; computer number 126011.) These are reprints of family histories published from 1895 to 1980.

Genealogies of Pennsylvania Families: From the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1981. (FHL book 974.8 D2p; computer number 257483.)

Jordan, John W., et.al. Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania. 11 vols. New York: Lewis Publishing, 1911-65. (FHL book 974.8 D2c; vols. 1-5 on 3 FHL films beginning with 1697635; computer number 249911.)

Pennsylvania Archives. 135 vols. Philadelphia, Pa.: J. Severns, 1851-1935. (FHL book 974.8 A39p; on 65 films beginning with 824438 item 2; on 302 fiche starting with 6051521; computer number 255419.) This set of volumes is published in nine series. The volumes contain significant documents including but not limited to: militia and muster rolls, church records, colonial land warrants, tax lists, vital records, governor's papers, etc. The Family History Library has only the first seven series. An explanation of the contents of these series is:

Eddy, Henry Howard. Guide to the Published Archives of Pennsylvania. . . . Harrisburg, Pa.: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1976. (FHL book 974.8 A39pa; film 908202 item 2; computer number 251159.) It includes the missing names STERNFELDT-STINOR in volume 5 of the index in the Seventh Series

Another guide is:

Morris, Jean Sansenbaugher. Use of the Published Pennsylvania Archives in Genealogical Research. Pittsburgh, Pa.: Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society, 1978. (FHL book 974.8 A1 no. 145; computer number 165231.) This has a helpful list of items for most volumes; page 2 discusses the indexes to the Archives.

Rider, Fremont, ed. American Genealogical- Biographical Index. Vols. 1-186+. Middletown, Conn.: Godfrey Memorial Library, 1952-. (FHL book 973 D22am ser. 2; on 31 films beginning with 1698167; computer number 49554.) This is a continuing series.

An earlier version of 48 volumes was published as The American Genealogical Index, 1942-1951. This index has over 4 million brief citations (name, date, and source) to manuscripts, periodicals, and books. The early version referenced 350 sources. The second version includes the original 350 sources and an additional 800 sources.

To help interpret citations and locate the original sources, use the colored pages in some volumes or Patricia L. Clark and Dorothy Huntsman, eds., American Genealogical Biographical Key Title Index (Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1990; FHL book 973 D22am index; film 1698167 item 4; fiche 6088377; computer number 491052). It indicates which sources are at the Family History Library and gives their call numbers.

Virdin, Donald Odell. Pennsylvania Family Histories and Genealogies. Bowie, Md: Heritage Books, 1992. (FHL book 974.8 D23vd; computer number 504980.) This is a bibliography of Pennsylvania family history books.

Some helpful sources for a few of the minorities that settled Pennsylvania are:

Hocker, Edward W. Genealogical Data Relating to the German Settlers of Pennsylvania . . . 1743-1800. 1935. (FHL book 974.8 D2h; film 21591 item 17; computer number 107827.)

Egle, William Henry. Pennsylvania Genealogies, Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German. Reprint. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1969. (FHL book 974.8 D2e; film 1036711 item 6; computer number 246467.)

Some examples of regional sources include:

Jordan, John W., ed. Genealogical and Personal History of Northern Pennsylvania. 3 vols. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1913. (FHL book 974.8 D2j; films 946642-3; computer number 251782.)

Jordan, John W. Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania. 3 vols. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1913. (FHL book 974.885 D2g; film 1000540 items 3-5; computer number 55974.) This area includes the counties of Allegheny, Armstrong, Clarion, Forest, Venango, Warren, and Westmoreland.

Return to top of page

Previous Document   Next Document

©1998, 2006 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. No part of this document may be reprinted, posted on-line, or reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. FamilySearch is a trademark of Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
[FamilySearch^TM: Research Guidance
Version of Data: 4/3/2006]