RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => United States of America => Topic started by: Elan on Tuesday 06 November 18 18:56 GMT (UK)
-
Hi there
Can kind person please give me some advice and or websites on finding pre 1900 BDMs in the Pennslyvania, Ohio, New York states.
Thanking you in advance :) :) :)
-
Have you exhausted the possibilities at FamilySearch?
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/list?fcs=recordType%3AVITAL&ec=region%3AUNITED_STATES%2CrecordType%3AVITAL
-
Pretty much. Im looking at dates 1850 - 1870 mostly and all Irish immigrants. Just thought I may find a site I didnt know about. Thanks for your help.
-
Depends what county or city. Here are the ones I know about.
Cambria County PA
http://blacklick2.000webhostapp.com/interest.html
Obituary indexes to the Johnstown Tribune and other papers are at the bottom of the page.
----
Mahoning Co Ohio
http://www.mahoningcountychapterogs.org/Information.aspx
Coroners Inquests, 1883-1908
Some other early records.
-----
New York City
http://www.italiangen.org/records-search/
I haven't looked for deaths here, usually marriages.
Familysearch finds early birth records in Cleveland, Ohio. Sometimes there are two or three results for each birth. Click on all of them. Look for an image of "Return of a Birth". That is the form the midwife or doctor filled out and sent to the city. I have actually found Irish county of origins twice or three times on these forms, but never on the city or county copies. There isn't always one on familysearch for every birth, however.
Same with Cuyahoga Co marriage and death records at familysearch, as with every location, really. If there are two, the one from the city came first, then the county made a copy. Sometimes you lose a little detail in the copying.
--------
I have also seen items in City Directories that noted that the occupant had died on a certain date in the previous year. I don't remember what city though, but the chances are good that it was Cleveland, Ohio, or Boston Massachusetts, since that is where I have looked at the most city directories.
And sometimes the widow will be listed starting the year after a man dies as "widow of".
-----
There are probably other localized databases as well for other counties, but the ones above are the localities I have researched in.
Google is your friend. Also the old Genweb sites for counties. Some are good for telling you available resources, and some aren't.
A local library webpage might help, or an email to the research librarian, asking for such sites.
What are your Irish names? If they are in Cleveland especially, I might have seen some of them.
-
I just noticed the list of names that comes with your user name. I don't recognize them.
-
Have you tried, Joyce Tice?, joycetice.com/jmtindex.htm great site maybe able to help with the tri counties, good luck, Nikitah.
-
You might find old death notices for New York State at
http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html
If his search drives you crazy, which it does me, then do a site search at Google for
site:http://www.fultonhistory.com/ surname surname etc.
I find it easier. And his coverage is much more than Fulton County NY - lots of mid to upstate NY, maybe some nearby Pennsylvania, I don't know.
-
Lots of links by state/county here - https://www.deathindexes.com/sites.html
None of the states you mention required vital registration until later than the time that you're looking at, so it's likely to be hit or miss on whether such records exist.
-
Wow thanks all. That information will keep me busy. :) :) :)
-
For Irish immigrants of that period in those areas, I would think your focus should be on Catholic sacramental records. Depending on the parish and diocese, those records might still be held by the original church or might be held in a diocese archive.
I’d suggest trying to identify the church(es) where the baptisms, marriages, or funerals might have taken place, and then contact either the parish or diocese to determine where the records are held.
If the people lived in a city, most city directories list all of the churches and their locations, and this can help you pinpoint likely churches that would have performed the ceremonies.
Steve
-
Some ships' passenger lists have a column indicating where the immigrant is going. That might narrow down where you might look.
:)
-
Thanks sbny and uk. Good advice. Sbny are you saying no public records are available in that area for that period? AND how do I access these records? I live down under so I am very unfamiliar with BDMs in the US as you can guess. Anything to help would be most appreciated. Thankyou.
-
The answer to your question really depends on the locality, but in general, there were few civil BDM records required during that period.
FamilySearch.org has microfilmed most of the records that do exist. You can do a search of their catalog by location, and whatever records they have will be listed under Vital Records for that location. Most but not all have been digitized and can be accessed online, although for some you may need to access them through your local Family History Centre.
Philadelphia is the one locality where you would be most likely to find civil BMD records for that period.
Pennsylvania required birth and death reporting from 1852-54, but compliance was spotty and the law was repealed. But most of the records have survived and are held at the county level.
There may be some limited records for areas that are now part of New York City.
As for Catholic sacramental records, the New York archdiocese is the only one I know of whose old records are available online (Findmypast). For the others you will need to contact either the parish or the diocese to see if they can search their records. The Pittsburgh diocese has their records in a centralized archive and has info about ordering records on their website.
For other dioceses, if you can’t find info on their website, I would think most would respond to email inquiries on how to proceed.
Steve
-
https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ohio_Online_Genealogy_Records
https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Pennsylvania_Online_Genealogy_Records
https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/New_York_Online_Genealogy_Records
If you know the deathplace of someone, findagrave is always worth a try:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial
Next is another site that might be fruitful to search. It has more states than just Pennsylvania. Search box is to the right of "PA-Roots Genealogy DataBoards"
http://www.pa-roots.org/data/index.php
https://www.rbhayes.org/main/ohio-obituary-index/
http://usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/search/search.cgi/searchny.htm
-
Thanks uspetticrew I can see that not a lot of work will be getting down in the domestic stakes today!!
-
Elan do you have any names etc? nikitah