On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 20:59:05 EDT Trippworks59@wmconnect.com writes: > Hi > Are there any death records for Frances P. Turner the wife of James N.Turner? > She died before 1948. They had one daughter, Martha. They lived in > Springfield Twp., Erie Co., PA. She was born in 1884. She is 15 when she married > James. They probably married in 1900--any marriage record that early? > They are found on the 1900 census in Springfield Twp, Erie Co. Why are they > not on later census as they continued to live in that area until they died? > Any help would be greatly appreciated.--Betty Betty, In the spirit of wanting to teach people to fish, instead of fishing for them I submit to you the following: These questions can be answered by looking for the dates that Pennsylvania kept vital records (birth, marriage, and death). Aside from many books written on the topic, this kind of information is available on the web and can be found by doing a search through www.Google.com. Put the following into the search box: Pennsylvania +"Vital Records" Also at www.Rootsweb.com under the USGenWeb project for Pennsylvania are links to various geographies which would describe what is available where. In the case of birth and death records, the Pennsylvania Vital Records department has an on-line form that you would fill out and submit to them. The rules have recently changed and only family members can request these records which are from 1906 to present. If you do not know the exact date they can do a 10 year search for you. Their site is http://www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/cwp/view.asp?a=168&q=229939 While the State of Pennsylvania handles the birth and death records from 1906 to present, the county records the marriage records from 1885 to present. So you should find out what county the couple filed their application in, and that is where the record is. This is not necessarily the same county in which they lived, or in which they got married. These are public records and you could write to the marriage records bureau to see if they will send you a copy of the applicaton and certificate (the application has the really great genealogical info including parents' names) and what the cost is. A lot of libraries have the census on-line now as a patron service. Working them can be another story. Be open to spelling variants and finding them in places you may not expect. Our expectations of what we think we should see sometimes blinds us to our ancestor's data even when we are staring at it in the face. I hope that you will pursue some of these avenues and find the thrill of the chase is even more exciting than finding them! Best wishes, -- Elissa Scalise Powell, CGRS CGRS and Certified Genealogical Records Specialist are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license after periodic evaluations by the Board. http://www.BCGcertification.org/ ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!