Recently I decided to search Pennsylvania birth records for my maternal grandparents Marjorie and Bill Ludwick, who were born in 1894 and 1895, respectively. Finding documents related to births in Pennsylvania before the 20th century can be challenging. Between 1893 and 1905 reporting births was under the county jurisdiction, and compliance was inconsistent. These records, located in the Orphan’s Court Division of the county courthouse, are usually referred to as the county Register of Births.
Each county employed similar procedures for registering births. Information included the child’s name, sex, race, father, mother, residence of parents, occupation of father, child’s birth date and place, and the date the birth was recorded. The submission of the birth and its recording could be months, even a year or more, after it occurred.
Depending on the size of the county and its population, there can be numerous volumes for births. Some organize the volumes by a period of time, such as 1893-1899 and 1900-1905. Others might arrange their births in different volumes for surnames, such as A to F, G to K, etc. Entries are grouped by the first letter of the surname and are not indexed. Either tabs in the book or a key at the front will help locate the page where each letter starts. Names of newborns were entered in chronological order of reporting, but knowing an approximate birth date can assist in narrowing down where to start looking.
Most Pennsylvanian county birth registrations have been microfilmed and can be found at the State Archives. These are also available through Family Search, which has digitized many of their microfilms and made them available to view online. One county, whose records are absent is Lycoming; apparently Lycoming refused to participate when the Mormons recorded documents in the 1940s. Unfortunately, some of these old books have not survived, and those that have, are crumbling or missing pages, meaning some of the registrations for this period in Lycoming County are now lost forever.
Like the county Register of Deaths, the ability to search these records through Family Search is simple and convenient. Visit the site and search the catalog. Search By, Place and type a county, such as “Westmoreland, Pennsylvania”. As you type, a list of possible places display for selection. For Search These Family History Centers: select Online and click the Search button. This will show records grouped by type. Expand the Vital Records grouping and click on the Birth Register link to see available records. As you scroll down, look for a camera and magnifying glass icon; click this to load images of the birth registration book. A camera with a key above it indicates you must visit a local family history center to view those digitized documents. A microfilm reel designates that the collection has not yet been digitized.
On Family Search, I looked at Westmoreland County for the birth registration of my grandfather, William Ludwick. I easily found him as Wm Ludwig near the bottom of page 7 of the L surnames; his full name was not recorded and his surname was spelled an alternate way. Another piece of information caught my eye: the parent’s residence and his birth place was listed as Taylor Street in Southeast Greensburg. The entry above my grandfather’s had identical information for residence and birthplace with both recorded on the same day. Family stories always stated my grandfather was born in a house near the corner of Mt. Pleasant Street and Highland Avenue, which is where the family lived for the 1900 census; this was a few blocks away from Taylor Street. Did the recorder mistakenly enter the wrong information when he received it 2 months later? Or was the family lore slightly wrong and the house was where my grandfather lived when he was young, but not where he was born?
Pondering those questions, I switched to Fayette County registrations to search for my grandmother, Marjorie Fowler. I was surprised that I could not find her. I thought I came across her registration a while ago during a trip to the Fayette County courthouse, but perhaps I was mistaken. Births from 1893 to 1897 in Volume I were typed, suggesting the entries had been re-entered at a later date. Although there were a few Fowler births in the book, none were for Marjorie. I even looked for an unnamed Fowler born in 1894; no births in Volume I were with her birthdate. Did the recorder re-typing the entries miss some? Or was my grandmother’s birth one of those that was neither submitted nor recorded?
Having documents available online, like the register of births, is valuable to the family historian. Browsing the county records for relatives born during that period can provide some new details. Or like my search for my maternal grandparents, it can produce more questions. Even though I have birth information for my grandparents from other sources, those questions from my search still linger. Perhaps they will never be answered. But I’ll continue in my quest to find as many details as possible to tell the most accurate story about my ancestors.
Relatively Speaking Blog 