Thanks so much for that correction Mac. I'll be sure to let my cousin know it too, so that when she and mom head up there to find some of their information they know the real scoop! On May 15, 2004, at 10:55 PM, Fred C McCutcheon wrote: > Diane, > I am afraid you have some oranges in the apple barrel. The Catholic > Diocese is the only record keeping group that seals the records for > 100 years. The Carnegie Library, Oakland Branch, has microfilms of > most of the Pittsburgh newspapers for hundreds of years. Many local > branches have local newspapers for the years they were published. > Birth and death certificates in Pennsylvania are kept by the state > since 1906 and are available at a fee for descendants only from the > Bureau of Vital Records at New Castle, PA. Records from the middle > 1880s to 1906 were kept by the individual counties and before that > only by church records. > The Carnegie Library and Soldiers and Sailors Memorial in Oakland, > the Heinz History Center in the strip and the AIS in Point Breeze are > all a fountain of information. Mac >