I know this is off-topic, but I can't seem to get the info I am looking for by doing web searches. I am at a brick wall with my own surname The only thing that I know is that my grandfather's father was born in Pennsylvania and his parents were William and Mary (or Ellen). No town, no county known. I can't find any good leads from the census either. This info (the state of PA) was gather from birth and death records of my grandfather's siblings and parents. I am hoping that my grandfather's grandparents left a will. What I want to know is: (1) does PA have a calendar or index of Wills like NJ? If so, what dates would such a book cover? (2) What years can you review Wills in PA at the state archives? --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 250MB free storage. Do more. Manage less.

This might help. http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/faq.htm On January 1, 1906, birth and death records began to be officially recorded by the Commonwealth. Prior to 1906, records were not required to be maintained except in a few exceptional cases. During the years 1852 to 1854, the Register of Wills for each county was required by law to keep records and indexes of births, deaths and marriages. Copies from 49 of the 64 counties existing at that time are maintained at the Archives; however, returns are not inclusive for these years. There are no returns for Blair, Clarion, Clinton, Crawford, Erie, Fayette, Forest, Fulton, Jefferson, Lebanon, Philadelphia, Pike, Potter, Sullivan, or Wyoming County. From 1893 to 1906, birth and death records were recorded and maintained by the Clerk of the Orphans Court at the various county courthouses; however, many individuals failed to comply with this law. The Clerk of the Orphans Court or the County Marriage License Clerk has kept marriage licenses since September 30, 1885. (Some vital records from this period may be reviewed on microfilm at the State Archives but State Archives staff cannot search them.) County records, or unofficial sources such as newspaper files, church registers, family Bibles, and gravestone inscriptions must be used to obtain data for earlier years. For Birth and death records, 1906-present, contact the Division of Vital Records, P.O. Box 1528, 101 South Mercer Street, New Castle, PA 16103; telephone (724) 656-3100. --- john newman <johnfnewman@yahoo.com> wrote: > I know this is off-topic, but I can't seem to get the info I am looking for by doing web > searches. > > I am at a brick wall with my own surname The only thing that I know is that my grandfather's > father was born in Pennsylvania and his parents were William and Mary (or Ellen). No town, no > county known. I can't find any good leads from the census either. This info (the state of PA) > was gather from birth and death records of my grandfather's siblings and parents. I am hoping > that my grandfather's grandparents left a will. > > What I want to know is: > > (1) does PA have a calendar or index of Wills like NJ? If so, what dates would such a book > cover? > > (2) What years can you review Wills in PA at the state archives? > > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail - 250MB free storage. Do more. Manage less. > > > ==== NJHUNTER Mailing List ==== > Visit the Updated Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter > > ============================== > Jumpstart your genealogy with OneWorldTree. Search not only for > ancestors, but entire generations. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13972/rd.ashx > > ===== Nancy Janyszeski Bucks County & Northampton History and Genealogy http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~buckscounty/ http://www.pa-roots.com/~northampton/http://www.nockamixon.us http://rootsweb.com/~pabucks __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

Concerning Wills and index to Wills, have you seen: www.sampubco.com This is all USA, indexes to Wills state by state. The index is FREE and you only pay if you want a copy of the Will. Best regards, Lilly Martin ----- Original Message ----- From: "john newman" <johnfnewman@yahoo.com> To: <NJHUNTER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 7:23 AM Subject: [NJHUNTER] help with PA research