Thursday, January 26, 2012

Pennsylvania Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 on Ancestry.com

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The press release today from Ancestry.com highlights the Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1593 to 1708.  However, the database available is really for 1708 to 1985, as shown below:


I checked that Ancestry Card Catalog for a Pennsylvania database spanning 1593-1708, and didn't find one.

The database description says:


"This database is a large collection of records containing vital (birth, marriage, death) information and other details from churches and other organizations in Pennsylvania.
Records in this Database
"The documents in this database are primarily Protestant church records from congregations in Pennsylvania, but there are additional sources as well, including funeral homes, cemeteries, newspapers, historical societies, and personal records, among others. They include a wide variety of records, such as
  • lists of church officers
  • communion lists
  • marriages
  • registers of members
  • registers of elders, deacons, etc.
  • baptisms
  • confirmations
  • burials
  • probationers
  • histories
  • receipts, agreements, other miscellaneous items
  • newspaper extracts
"The documents list millions of names, and many contain details on vital events such as births, marriages, and deaths. In them, you may find
  • names
  • birth dates
  • marriage dates
  • spouse’s name
  • parents’ names
  • places where an event (baptism, marriage, death, burial, etc.) took place
"For more information about church and town records in Pennsylvania, visit the Historical Society of Pennsylvania website."
I've been poking around in the database for two days now, and have found some useful Seaver records, especially in Philadelphia church and burial records.  I had hoped to find church and town records out in the western counties (Westmoreland, Beaver, Lawrence, Mercer) to help sort out some of my Carringer, Spangler, Feather and Remley challenges.  
Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not only can you find Pennsylvania records, but there are hundreds of Talbot County, Maryland Records also

Susan Spangler ELicker Mundis said...

My father's mother was Maggie Spangler, here in York PA died 1979 We just had a Spangler Reunion at Elicker's Grove, Spring Grove PA on July 15 2017 Last time Spangle'rs had a reunion was almost 60 years to the day here at Elickers Grove.
Question: I am looking for baptismal record of my GGG Grandfather, George Spangler born Dec 10 1805. Parents were Jonas and Sarah Spangler They married March 1805, exactly 9 months before George was born. George's name is in the book" Annals of the Families of Casper, Henry and Baltzer"; book on the Spanglers that can be read online
York History Center here in York, on Jonas's children it states the baptismal records are from Red Run Church in East Berlin. I asked the church a couple weeks ago but on response.
Would you think the Historical Society in Phil would have these records?
Thank you, Susan