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Pennsylvania Research Outline |
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Table of Contents
Records Of The Family History Library
Family History Library Catalog
Archives And Libraries
Bible Records
Biography
Cemeteries
Census
Church Records
Court Records
Directories
Emigration And Immigration
Gazetteers
Genealogy
Historical Geography
History
Land And Property
Law And Legislation
Maps
Military Records
Minorities
Native Races
Naturalization And Citizenship
Newspapers
Periodicals
Probate Records
Societies
Taxation
Vital Records
For Further Reading
Comments And Suggestions
PROBATE RECORDS Probates Wills The records of the orphan's court include minute books The docket index, estate index, or general index is the first place to search for evidence of probate proceedings. These indexes list all the records created for a particular probate. The Family History Library has obtained microfilm copies of many of these indexes, often up to the 1960s.
The various documents (bonds, letters, inventories, etc.) are usually transcribed into Orphans' Court Record Books or Administrator's Account Books. The Family History Library has microfilmed the wills and orphans' court records for most counties, usually up to the early 1900s. For example, the library has:
Philadelphia County (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills. Wills, 1682-1916; Indexes to Wills, 1682-1924. (On 327 FHL films beginning with 1311039; computer number 96687.)
Pennsylvania. Orphans' Court (Philadelphia County). Orphans' Court Records, 1719-1880: Orphans' Court Index, 1719-1938. (On 417 FHL films beginning with 21843; computer number 55813.)
The library has few probate records from Lackawanna, Lehigh, Lycoming, Monroe, Pike, Schuylkill, and Union counties. Some probate records are listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under PENNSYLVANIA - GUARDIAN AND WARD.
For Pennsylvania genealogical and historical societies which have records and services to help you with your research, see the “Archives and Libraries,” “Church Records,” “Genealogy,” and “Periodicals” sections of this outline. Many counties also have local historical and genealogical societies. You can find local society addresses by using directories cited in the “Societies” section of the United States Research Outline (30972).
Pennsylvania has many historical and genealogical societies. Most collect historical documents of local interest, publish periodicals, and have special projects and indexes. The library has records for a number of societies in Pennsylvania, including the following:
The Grand Army of the Republic (based on Union Army service during the Civil War) has produced Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Pennsylvania, Record of Eligibility of Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Pennsylvania 1883-1992 (FHL films 1888615-16; computer number 758759). This source helps locate records of military personnel as well as the genealogy of the applicants.
The Colonial Society of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia, is open to individuals who have an ancestor in colonial America. See Colonial Society of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Applications for Membership in Alphabetical Order by Member With a Complete Genealogy Back to Original Ancestor (FHL films 532056-73; computer number 336131).
The purpose of the Huguenot Society of Pennsylvania is to perpetuate the memory of the Huguenots Huguenot Society of Pennsylvania, (series) vols. 1- 15 (Norristown, Pa.: The Society, 1918-1939) and the continuation Proceedings of the Huguenot Society of Pennsylvania, v. 16-39 (Norristown, Pa.: The Society, 1942-1967; FHL book 974.8 C4h; film for v. 1-3 and 7-9 is 1697274 item 5-6; computer number 258265 and 258267).
Also see:
Sons of the American Revolution. Pennsylvania Society. Patriots Index; Members and Ancestors, 1893-1993. Monongahela, PA: PASSAR, 1995. (FHL book 974.8 C42sar; computer number 769003.)
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have been recorded on a county basis since the origin of the Commonwealth in 1682. Complete records are available in most counties. Probate actions taken in a locality before the present county was formed are found in records of the parent county.
have been filed with the “register of wills” in each county, where they are recorded in indexed books.
, proceedings, dockets, appeals, bonds, inventories, distributions of estates, marriages (since 1885), births and deaths (1893-1905), and adoptions (since 1925). Published abstracts of wills and administrations with comprehensive indexes are available for most of the oldest or largest counties.
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SOCIETIES
. Members of the society include descendants of Huguenot families immigrating to America before November 1787 and anyone who has made the Huguenots a subject of research papers, etc. The society was organized in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1918. They published:
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Version of Data: 4/3/2006]