JEANFAZZ@aol.com wrote: > Hello- > Where do I look for birth records in Franklin County for the 1780-1800 time > period? > Are there published church records similar to other PA counties......... > > Jean I searched the archives because I thought Jean's question had been answered to the list before, but did not find the right info. Here's some general info I found:From Alice Eichholz, Ancestry's Red Book, Pennsylvania Although a colonial law of 1682 provided for the recording of births,marriages, and burials in Pennsylvania, few if any of these events were ever entered in civil records. A new law in the mid-ninteenth century required these events be recorded by the county register of wills, with copies sent to Harrisburg. Some of these records are still in the courthouses, and others are at the Pennsylvania State Archives, where microfilms of many are available. Indexes to these records are arranged first by county, then by event, then by year. Films of some of these records are also available at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. >From 1860 through 1893, and in some cases to a later date, births and deaths were recorded in Philadelphia and other cities—Allegheny, Easton, Harrisburg, Pottsville, Pittsburgh, and Williamsport—although there are gaps. Since 1885 the clerk of the orphans' court in each county has had the responsibility of recording marriages. Films of some of these records are at the state archives and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Births and deaths in Pennsylvania were also recorded in the county orphans' courts for the period 1893 through 1905, and here also may be found delayed birth records for events occurring as far back as the 1860s. The state archives has films of some of these records; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania has those for Philadelphia. The official repository for early records in Franklin County is The Kittochtinny Historical Society. Write to them at 175 E. King St., Chambersburg, PA 17201. Be sure to include a sase, and a small donation wouldn't hurt. Be prepared to wait as they are swamped and understaffed. For the court house, write to : Franklin County Courthouse Register of Wills 157 Lincoln Way East Chambersburg. PA, 17201 -- Bill Hawk