>I understand the Franklin Co. Courthouse was built in 1793. My GGG >Grandfather Jacob Grow was born 15 Sept. 1792. I'm trying to get a birth >cert. for him. Was records kept before the courthouse was built? Does anyone >have a suggestion on were I could look? > >Ken Hite, Jr. >York, Pa. >HHite94965@aol.com Before the 1880s very few birth records were kept at the courthouse, if any. That as the "duty" of the local church. Any courthouse records were burned in 1864 by Confederate soldiers. Finding a birth record before that or up until around the 1880s will be tough! Church records are your best bet as well as any local newspapers. The State centralized birth and death records from 1906 to the present. Curt Sanders ************* ICQ# 10936209 AIM: K3URT http://www.paonline.com/csanders (Personal--genealogy & amateur radio service) http://www.rootsweb.com/~paadams/adams.htm (Adams Co., PA GENWEB Coordinator)