It’s estimated that one in four Americans has Keystone State roots. Much of Pennsylvania research – from church records to land documents to courthouse filings – can be done remotely. Learn to get much of your genealogy done without setting foot in Pennsylvania.

• Members Helping Members: The discussion included finding Pennsylvania coal mine and steel mill records, organizing and scanning family photographs, using WikiTree and RootsTech for cousin connections, and exploring Windows PowerToys and NWSGS discussion groups as practical tools for organizing research and sharing tips.
• James M. Beidler gave a strong overview of how to research Pennsylvania ancestors online, stressing that researchers need to understand Pennsylvania’s geography, history, and record-keeping practices in order to search effectively.
• A major takeaway was that Pennsylvania vital records were created in different stages, with scattered early records, limited county registers in 1852 to 1855, county marriage licenses beginning in 1885, county birth and death registers from 1893 to 1905, and statewide birth and death certificates beginning in 1906.
• He showed that Ancestry and FamilySearch both offer major Pennsylvania databases, including death certificates, marriage records, probate material, tax lists, church records, naturalizations, and other collections that can save researchers significant time.
• James emphasized the value of church records, probate files, tax records, newspapers, land records, and county-level resources, especially when official vital records are missing or incomplete.
• One especially useful point was that researchers should think in terms of origination versus destination records, because some records survive at both the county and state level, while others may be fuller or more complete in only one location.
• He highlighted several especially valuable online resources, including the Pennsylvania State Archives, State Library of Pennsylvania, Chronicling America, Pennsylvania GenWeb, and county digitization projects, noting that deeds and local records vary widely by county.
• The handout adds extra member value because it gives a concise roadmap to major Pennsylvania repositories, key websites, and the timeline of Pennsylvania vital records, making it much easier to know where to search next from home.

This replay is worth watching if you have Pennsylvania ancestors and want a clearer plan for researching them online instead of just searching at random. James explains which record sets matter most, where the major databases are, and how Pennsylvania’s unusual record history affects what you can find. The handout is especially useful because it gives you a practical reference list of repositories, websites, and vital-record timelines you can use again and again.

Interim Executive Director for the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, is the author of four commercially published genealogy books as well as writing “Roots & Branches,” an award-winning weekly blog/newspaper column on genealogy. He is also a columnist for German Life magazine and is editor emeritus of Der Kurier, the quarterly journal of the Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society.