Thank you for the reply. This is a difficult time frame without the 1890 census. Were there any State Census done in PA between 1880 and 1900? Are there other records that might help me locate the Gates family around 1890? ................................... In a message dated 10/3/2004 5:36:41 PM Pacific Standard Time, sweeze@zoominternet.net writes: Birth and Death records were not recorded in the State of PA until 1893 and are held at the county level through 1905. Starting in 1906, the state has the records. You can contact them at www.vitalrec.com Marriages are at the county level from 1885 to the present. There is a short time period, 1852-1854 when the state mandated birth, death, and marriage records be kept, but not everyone abided by it. The records that exist are in Harrisburg and have been microfilmed by the LDS. There are a total of 6 films in the series, numbered 1016403-1016408. The counties are on the microfilm alphabetically. I know that Butler County is on 1016404 and I think that Lawrence and Mercer were on 1016406.