Research Room of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

Major Genealogical Resources

• Review books (many published genealogies) and accessions received by the GSP since 1994.
• Published and manuscript family histories.
• Hereditary and patriotic society information and lineage papers.
• Pennsylvania church, cemetery, and undertaker records.   Over 800 microfilm reels.  Some of these records have been indexed by volunteers.
• Land records for various Pennsylvania counties.
• Griffith's Evaluation and Householder's Index. Irish tax records.
• Marriage and death indexes to many Philadelphia newspapers.
• Bible records.
• Philadelphia Orphan's Court Records, 1719-1851 and 1854-1856. Microfilm of originals.
• The published Pennsylvania Archives.
• Germans to America, vols. 1-56.
• Bates' History of Pennsylvania Volunteers.  Civil war personnel from Pennsylvania.
• Numerous CD-ROMs and the computers to view them.
• Special collections such as the Richardson, Engle, Minter, Kephart, Rubincam, Stout, Dunkerly, Hocker, Gerberich, and Ely Collections.

Back issues of Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine are available. A review of the indexes to this magazine is a MUST for Pennsylvania research. For example, an examination of the table of contents of the first few issues of this magazine reveals the following items: burial records, marriage certificates, necrologies, tombstone inscriptions, extracts from diaries, family notes, indexes to biographical sketches, marriages, and gleanings from family Bibles. A CD-ROM product that indexes the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine from its first issue to the mid-1990s is also available.

Guides to the Collection

GSP web page.

Besides the web page, the best guides are recent issues of Penn in Hand and Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine.

Point of Contact for More Information

The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, 2207 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-3010. (215) 545-0391 (fax 215-545-0936). It is important to call before you go to make sure that one of the expert volunteers is available to assist with your search. GSP volunteers are exceptionally helpful.