This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: boswell879 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.pennsylvania.counties.venango/6404.3/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Thanks for hitting on what must be my greatest genealogical frustration to date. St. Joseph Cemetery, more accurately known as Calvary Cemetery in Oil City. There is no phone book listing for it nor is one available from Directory Assistance. The only contact is the secretary at St. Joseph Church (which is also unlisted. Call St. Joe's rectory secretary at 814-677-4004. Address is 35 Pearl Avenue, Oil City, PA 16301. The Pastor is Msgr. John Swoger. The secretary works only certain days for a few hours. The Church is the only way to contact anyone about the cemeteries. Here's the kicker: Father Swoger says that the Church has records of the cemetery only from 1922 to date. Absolutely no records before 1922. I can go back hundreds of years for my German relatives in Pennsylvania but can't find the graves of my 2nd great grandparents at St. Joe's. The Church secretary is incredibly uncooperative and it took a huge hassle just to get the grave sites information for my great! -grandparents, whose graves my Mom wanted to visit with me last summer. We never did find them, but at least now I know the lot numbers. There are two cemeteries for St. Joseph's. One is "the Old Cemetery," for which no one is willing or able to tell me where it is. I even got the run-around from these people to even give me directions to the Old Cemetery so I can look for my family. I still don't have an address or directions for that. Then there is Calvary, which is the newer church cemetery and still taking burials. I wanted to review the old church records myself and offered to even transcribe them for others for genealogical use of everyone, but the secretary recoiled in horror of the idea of allowing me to see 100 year old records, even if just to look for my folks, because of "privacy law" regarding medical items such as causes of death. I informed her that recent HIPPA privacy laws concern only electronic transmission and relation of medical information regarding! living people so as to protect identities, etc. She then fell back on the excuse of "well, that's how we feel here." It's insane. I have never before had such problems with getting cemetery information. Good luck to you. As a Catholic myself, I am absolutely filled with horror and disgust with how careless this parish was with the information about the dead they cared for. It's a total disrespect for the dead and for history itself. and don't believe their song and dance hogwash excuse about "traveling priests." St. Joe's has had in-house priests for generations. I even know some of their names. One last thing - Fr. Swoger may tell you to check with the Mormon's records (that just breaks me up). The sad fact is, the Mormons can't have records that St. Joe's never kept in the first place. 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.