Have found these posts fascinating! How did you get to see the original parish register with parents' names, etc.? I have found it difficult, if not impossible, to get certificates from individual parishes in the New York Archdiocese, let alone access to the original records (or even a copy of them). Also, a friend of mine has been repeatedly denied access to dispensation records (these would not be included in the book mentioned in this thread as they were many years later). Pat