In a previous communication, I had the following questions: "A couple of weeks ago, I sent a request to the PA office of Vital Statistics for the birth certificate of my father. I know he was born on 2/26/1917 and I thought it was in Butler, Butler County. My question: if on the form I listed him as being born in Butler, do they (The PA Vital Statistics folks) look just at that county when searching, or do they do a global search for anyone with that name/date born in the whole state of PA? Additional question: Do birth records for the 1917 time period exist at the county level? Thanks for any help/advice you can give me with this minor problem. Charles Callari" ______________________________ Several people responded with some helpful suggestions, and a couple of additional questions which I will attempt to answer: 1. The PA Dept of Health did respond to my request with a form letter indicating "No-Record Certification" which means they have no original record of this birth as being registered. Comment: It's entirely possible his surname was misspelled, which means I should re-submit the request with an alternate spelling. 2. As far as what church they attended: I'm assuming it was St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church in Butler. Several years ago I made a field trip to Butler and visited the church, where I was able to obtain his baptismal record. He was baptized approximately 2 months after birth. They were extremely helpful there, and led me to several other of his siblings' records. The only other hint I might have is on my grandfather's "Declaration of Intention" to become a US Citizen, which he filed in the late 1930's. There, he said that three of his children (including my father) were born in "Claytonia", which of course, is in the state of PA, and should have been picked up by the PA Vital records folks (I think). Again, thanks for your suggestions and help - I really do appreciate it. Charles Callari