Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States &gt; Pennsylvania &gt; Philadelphia County &gt; Philadelphia

History

 * Much of Philadelphia County's functions cease to exist with Act of Consolidation, 1854. Further consolidations took place in 1867, 1895, 1937, 1951, 1963 and finally 1965.

Resources
Much of the resources herein relate to the City of Philadelphia prior to the consolidation and do not include the other places within the County of Philadelphia prior to 1851.

Church History and Records

 * Roman Catholic

Archdiocese of Philadelphia Archives and Historical Collections 1000 East Wynnewood Rd Overbrook, PA (215) 667-2125

Area included in diocese: The City of Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.

The archives contains baptismal and marriage records created before the year 1900 for all parishes presently within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In addition to sacramental records, the archives retains a large collection of parish histories, nineteenth-century newspapers, city directories, Catholic directories, etc., all of which are open to the public. Sacramental records are private and research on them is conducted by archives staff only.


 * The History of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, 1976, James F. Connelly (editor).
 * Catholicity in Philadelphia, 1909, Joseph L. J. Kirlin

Newspapers: The Catholic Standard and Times

Earlier newspapers: The Catholic Herald, est. 1833 and The Catholic Herald and Visitor, est. 1857, microfilmed, not indexed, at the Ryan Memorial Library, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary (same address as the archives.)

Vital Records
The indexes to the Philadelphia Death Records 1803-1915 can be searched on FamilySearch Record Search. The certificates are not digitized. The Family History Library has films containing the certificates.

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * FamilySearch.org Family History Library Catalog for the City of Philadelphia