* From listmember Pat Friend:
There was a brief period (1852-55? forget the exact dates without looking them up) when the state tried to institute county reporting of vital statistics. It wasn't very successful. I've read that that was partly due to the fee that had to be paid to make the record. The 1852-1885 records that exist for Allegheny County have been microfilmed and are available from the FHL.
Web Page http://www.rootsweb.com/~paallegh/
Allegheny Co., PA Discussion Mailing List: to join, send only the word SUBSCRIBE to: PAALLEGH-L-request@rootsweb.com
Allegheny County Clerk Of Courts (Criminal Court Office of Record) Court House Pittsburgh, PA 15123 412-350-5322
Allegheny County Prothonotarys Office (Civil Court Office of Record) City-County Building Pittsburgh, PA 15123 412-350-4200 412-350-4201 412-350-4203
Allegheny County Recorder Of Deeds County Office Bldg Pittsburgh, PA 15123 412-350-4226 - Main Office 412-350-4188 - Births and Deaths
Allegheny County Register Of Wills City-County Bldg Pittsburgh, PA 15123 Request Form - http://info.co.allegheny.pa.us/services/regwills/regfrm.htm 412-350-4180 - General Information 412-350-7318 - Inheritance 412-350-4230 - Marriange Licenses 412-350-4177 - Marriage Records (back to 1885) 412-350-4187 - Orphans Court 412-350-4186 - Probate
Allegheny County Department of Elections 604 County Office Building Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-350-4500
Pittsburgh (PA) Public Schools 341 S. Bellefield Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (412) 622-3500
Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania Senator John Heinz Regional History Center 1212 Smallman Street Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Lawrenceville Historical Society, P.O. Box 4015, Arsenal Station, Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society 4400 Forbes Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4080 412-687-6811 http://www.clpgh.org/CLP/Pennsylvania/oak_pennag.html
Carnegie Library Of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Room 4400 Forbes Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4007 412-622-3154 http://www.clpgh.org/CLP
Pittsburgh Regional History Center 2839 Liberty Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15222-4705 412-338-9006
University Of Pittsburgh Library & Information 5 Av & Bigelow Blvd Pittsburgh, PA 15213 412-624-9400 412-624-9405 412-624-9435 http://www.library.pitt.edu/
University Of Pittsburgh Libraries Hillman 5 Av & Bigelow Blvd Pittsburgh, PA 15123 412-648-7800 412-648-7894
Daily News Publishing Co 409 Walnut St Mc Keesport, PA 15132-2613 412-664-9161
All the editions of the McKeesport Daily News from 1880 to 1940 or so are on microfilmed and indexed [by obits] at the Heritage Center (below).
McKeesport Heritage Center 1832 Arboretum Drive Mc Keesport, PA 15132-7600 412-678-1832
Elizabeth Township Historical Society 5811 Smithfield St Boston, PA 15135-1136 412-754-2030
ALLEGHENY-KISKI Historical Society c/o the Allegheny Valley Library 315 E 6th Ave Tarentum, PA 15084-1508 412-226-0770
Pittsburgh History & Landmark Foundation 1 Station Sq Pittsburgh, PA 15219-1122 412-471-5808 412-281-3145
Pittsburgh History Magazine 4338 Bigelow Blvd Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2601 412-681-5533
Diocese of Pittsburgh Archives and Records Center 125 N. Craig St. Pittsburgh, PA 15213-1510 412-621-6217 http://home.netscape.com
A form will be sent to you to complete by the Diocese. The charge a minimum of $15.00 and the form will explain their system.
Latter Day Saints Family History Center 46 School Street Pittsburgh, PA 15220 (Green Tree) (412) 921-2115
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 34 Boulevard of the Allies Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412-263-1100 Letters to the Editor - letters@post-gazette.com
The Post-Gazette includes in it's development earlier papers called
the Sun and the Telegraph. It purchased and closed the Pittsburgh Press.
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George H. Foster fostergh@ix.netcom.com Searching in the USA - and Great
Britain and Prussia before that for - DWYER or DYER FOSTER HESS NOLL VOSS
WHEATLEY WOODS YOUNGMAN
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, 616 North Highland Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15206 (412) 362-5610. Library; Church history pamphlet file; General Assembly records; Published Presbytery histories; Presbyterian periodicals.
Presbyterian Historical Association - 425 Lombard St., Philadelphia, Pa 19147 (215) 627-1852 Library - 200,000+ titles, beginning with the 15th century. Archives - 20 million + manuscripts (18th to 20th century) , relating to the Presbyterian and Reformed tradition. Museum - outstanding pewter and silver communion collection; gallery of 200+ portraits of distinguished Presbyterians Congregational records Services Depository: records of synods, presbyteries and congregations Microfilming at minimal cost Oral history progam Publication: American Presbyterians, Journal of Presbyterian History; beginning 1901; quarterly
Presbyterian Churches in Pittsburgh
Buelah Presbyterian Church, 2500 McCrady Road, Pittsburgh, Pa 15235 (Churchill) 412-242-4570. Incorporated 1784; Cemetery; oldest marked grave, 1793; burial ground for soldiers in all US wars, including 30 Revolutionary War graves. Mother church of East Liberty Presby (1828); Cross Roads Presby (Monroeville) (1834); Hebron United Presby Ch (1849); First Presby Church of Wilkinsburg (1866); Presby Ch of Turtle Creek (1887); Ardmore Mem Presby Ch (1904). Apparently records have been copied by LDS.
First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, 320 Sixth Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa 15222. 412-471-3436. Incorporated 1787; submit requests for info to church.
Lebanon Presbyterian Church, 2800 Old Elizabeth Rd., West Mifflin, PA 15122. 412-466-7184. Inc. late 1770,s, cemetery. Call for info.
Here is some information about early German Lutheran church activity in Allegheny Co. The two major sources I am using are a booklet published by the WPGS (and presumably for sale by them) called “Holy Pittsburgh Records”, and “The United Evangelical Protestant Church, Smithfield St., Pittsburgh, 1782-1812” by Rev. Paul Miller Ruff, and offered for sale by him. Neither volume is copyrighted, marked “rights reserved” or has any other indication of proprietary interest in the material contained therein. Nevertheless, I am only passing on short extracts of selected information. If this is an area that interests you, I would recommend that you consider purchasing these two books. In the same vein, if anyone has very early (pre 1820) German Protestant ancestry in the Western Pa. areas that are present day Westmoreland, Armstrong, Washington, or that part of Allegheny Co. that contains Pitt Township, Elizabeth Township, or the parts that became Allegheny from Washington Twp., Rev. Ruff’s extensive works on German Church Records in the area are a “must.” According to Ruff, the first organized German and Reformed activity in the Pittsburgh area was 1782. This group evolved into the church named above, and the original log church is presumed to have been erected where Diamond and Wood Sts. now cross. In 1787 Penn granted all of the land between 4th and 5th Aves. on Smithfield St. The early church existence was marked by friction and conflict between the Lutheran and the Reformed congregations. Some of the earliest records have never been recovered. Around 1813 some members joined the West Salem Lutheran Church (now North Zion). Around 1837 some other dis-satisfied members formed the First English Lutheran Church, the First German Lutheran Church, and St. John’s Lutheran Church in Allegheny (now North Side.) In 1853 a group of people left to form Grace, the first Reformed church in Pittsburgh. In 1833 a friendly decision was made to split off part of Smithfield to form the Voeghtly Church.
The First German Lutheran Church noted above came to be known as First
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 535 Neville St., Pittsburgh. 15213.
Records are at the church, and microfilm is at Hillman. St. John’s (noted
above) was orig. at Madison and Lockhart (Liberty) Sts. Original records
are at the Brighton Heights Lutheran Church, 3830 California Ave., Pittsburgh.
15212. Voeghtly Church (First Evangelical Protestant Church of Alleghenytown)
org. 1833, closed 1985. Original records are at Historical Society of Western
Pa. , and microfilm is at Hillman. Closson Press has published “Inscriptions
from Two German Protestant Cemeteries , Allegheny (now Pittsburgh), Pa.”
St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery (Spring Hill) and Voegtly Cemetery (Troy Hill)
by K.T.H. McFarland. Note that these are extant tombstone inscriptions
only. In 1846 a group from Voeghtly formed German United Evangelical Church
of St. Paul’s Congregation (Weitershausen). Orig. building was on S. Canal
St., and later building on East St., Allegheny City. Church is now Allegheny
United Church of Christ, 501 Avery St., Pittsburgh, 15212. Original records
are at Eden Seminary. Chris
The booklet, “Holy Pittsburgh Records” if not out of print, may be obtained
from the Western Pa. Genealogical Society, 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh,
Pa. 15213-4080. Their answering machine number for telephone inquiries
is 412-687-6811. If you send a #10 (large) SASE, they will return a list
of all currently available publications.
Rev. Paul Miller Ruff has privately published numerous volumes on early Western Pa. German Church Records. He is the official archivist for his synod, and his work is of excellent quality and highly regarded. The last address I have for him is: 18 Fosterville Rd., Greensburg, Pa. 15601. His phone number in 1993 was 412-837-2359. He has been extremely over-committed for years, so don’t be surprised if you wait for a mail reply.
The “Inscriptions From Two German Protestant Cemeteries, etc.” that I referenced is available from Closson Press, 1935 Sampson Drive, Apollo, Pa. 15613-9209. Their phone number is 412-337-4482.
Director: Gary Link
Property Taxes
1879 thr 1900 1905 1935 every 5th year
Research must be done in person unless request is specific.
Gary will be conducting a 3 hr seminar in the spring at ACC. Genealogical Research in Allegheny County records Flyer in January
AND NEW NEWS FROM AL:
I called and talked to Gary Link today concerning the records and seminar
and the info below is the result.
Allegheny County Records Center 1441 Metropolitan St Pittsburgh, PA 15233 412-231-4452
Director: Gary Link
Property Taxes ACC 1940 through 19070 every 5th year Research must be done in person unless request is specific.
Gary will be conducting a 3 hr seminar in the spring at ACC. Genealogical Research in Allegheny County records Flyer in January
Researching Your Family History Using County Records March 18 tentative 6:30 - 9:30 Allegheny Campus $20 circa
Gary wasn't sure of the date or the cost. I left a message at the college and hopefully I'll be able to post all the of information next week.
The records of property taxes BEFORE 1940 are located at the State Archives in Harrisburg. 1879 - 1900 1905 - 1935 every 5th year
I spoke with a staff member at the Hillman Library and she is sending me a brochure that was prepared by Frank Zebrosky, now retired, concerning collections and records deposited at Hillman Library which would be of interest for genealogical researchers. I will post this info as soon as I receive it.
Al Lenkner Pgh