This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: schneider_michael Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.pennsylvania.counties.venango/6404.3.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Sorry for your frustrations. There is only one St. Joseph Cemetery in Oil City. St. Joseph is the Catholic Section of Grove Hill Cemetery. Some burials are still taking place there. Calvary Cemetery is the Catholic Cemetery in use today. They are located in different parts of the city. I have encountered difficulties with the Church and I was born raised and educated there. They are very understaffed(priest and secretary) and have difficulty with day-to-day activities.Catholic Church records are difficult to access everywhere. I can attest to that!There are many graves in Grove Hill without headstones or markers. The indices were made from those inscriptions.I am personal friends with a local Funeral Director and he admits that his GF and F didn't have plot numbers in their records. Agreed- church is wrong about HIPPA. However, the Oil City Library, Venango County Genealogical Club, has excellent indices of both libraries. There is another inactive Catholic Cemetery off of Orange St. extension for the early 1800's. Also, the Franklin Library, "PA Room", has excellent archives. All of these places are very busy. Also, you may be able to get help from the Diocese of Erie, Archivist. Most of the records prior to 1920 are there. The records are most frequently in Latin and must be translated.Beyond those problems, priests were notoriously bad record keepers. Best bet- try Oil City Library.They are slow but will come through. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.