GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH TIPS
The following is a list of good places to begin your genealogical research in Pennsylvania:
 
  1. Contact family members to see if any relatives have done prior family research.
 
  1. Talk to older related family members to see what information they may be able to share.
 
  1. Search the U.S. Censuses for information on the family.  You can visit the Pennsylvania State library and search your family surname in the census indexes.  Or you can subscribe to an online census subscription at www.ancestry.com or www.genealogy.com.
 
  1. Rootsweb.com www.rootsweb.com  This free site has genealogical information which many researchers have placed on the internet. 
 
  1. LDS Family Search www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp  This free site has genealogical information which many researchers have placed on the internet.
 
  1. Pennsylvania State Library www.statelibrary.state.pa.us/libraries/site/default.asp  The state library holds many published family genealogy books, church records, tombstone transcriptions and newspapers. 
 
  1. Social Security Death Index http://www.deathindexes.com/ssdi.html
 
  1. LDS Family History Library Catalog www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp
 
  1. Genforum Surname Forums http://genforum.genealogy.com/surnames
 
  1. Ancestry.com Message Boards http://boards.ancestry.com/   
 
  1. Internet White Pages www.whitepages.com  You can find the address and phone numbers for relatives all over the country from this free site, if they have a listed phone number.
 
  1. Internet Search www.google.com You can search on this or a related search engine for web sites related to your family. 
 
  1. Walk through old cemeteries in the area where your ancestors settled and look for old family tombstones.
 
  1. Contact the historical society in the county which your ancestors settled.  Often these societies have files for different family names and hold books which contain family genealogies, church records and tombstone transcriptions.
 
  1. Visit the courthouse in the county in which your ancestors settled.  You can search the grantor and grantee deed indexes, will books, court records, citizenship records and marriage license applications.
 
  1. When finished, you can upload your family tree to this website:  http://trees.ancestry.com/.
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