I'm researching my great(6)-grandfather Thomas Jacob(s), and I just stumbled upon this information in the 1710 minutes of the Chester Monthly Meeting in Pennsylvania: "Thomas Jacob produced a certificate from Friends in Cork, Ireland and one from Darby where he resided most since he came into these parts. Thomas Jacob of Providence Meeting requested a certificate to Newark Monthly Meeting to marry Mary Robinson, dau. of George Robinson." Notes: . Darby is just another town in Pennsylvania . Newark is not the more well-known Newark, NJ but rather Newark, DE where Mary Robinson was from and where they got married . "Providence Meeting" is held in Media, Pennsylvania, about 6 miles north of Chester This raises a few questions in my mind, I'm hoping folks with more experience doing Quaker research can help me . 1) What's "a certificate"? My Google searching keeps turning up wedding certificates, which don't make sense here. It's some sort of "certificate of good standing" or "certificate of moral behavior" or something? 2) Should I be worried that these two sentences could be interpreted to refer to two different people named Thomas Jacob? One "Thomas Jacob" and one "Thomas Jacob of Providence Meeting"? Or is that just the way they wrote these minutes back then? 3) If Thomas is "of Providence Meeting", why is he requesting a certificate from Chester? Why wouldn't he request the certificate from Providence? And then the most important question . 4) Do the records still exist from Cork from that timeframe (probably 1690-1710)? 5) If so, what is the best way for someone from the USA to search those records? 6) Have they been indexed? Thanks! Chris
Have you checked the Irish Times site, they give all available RC records and good info on other religions at: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/records/church/ > > 4) Do the records still exist from Cork from that timeframe (probably > 1690-1710)? > > 5) If so, what is the best way for someone from the USA to search > those > records? > > 6) Have they been indexed? > -- Pat Connors, Sacramento CA http://www.connorsgenealogy.com