With an update to PERSI for genealogy, Pennsylvania birth and death records, and a tidbit or two from the United Kingdom and Scotland, you will start this year off right! It’s a new year and we are ringing in some great new and updated genealogical record collections.
PERSI for Genealogy
A monthly PERSI update has been added at Findmypast. With over 67,000 new articles and five new titles, the Periodical Source Index is the go-to source for those looking for stories of their ancestors. The new titles cover the American Historical Society, Chicago, Maryland, and British family histories & heraldry and will allow you to discover articles, photos, and other material you might not find using traditional search methods.
To fully appreciate PERSI as a genealogical tool, read our previous blog post “PERSI for Genealogy: the Periodical Source Index.” And you’ll find more related articles at the bottom of this article.
Pennsylvania – Birth and Death Records
This week, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania released the 1911 births (105 years old) and 1966 death records (50 years old) to the public. This makes birth records publicly accessible from 1906 through 1911, and deaths 1906 through 1966. This collection index is free through the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission portal.
Ancestry.com offers these records in digital form as well, but there is a subscription cost to use Ancestry. However, Pennsylvania residents can access these records free of charge through Ancestry.com Pennsylvania.
To access the index only, start with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission page on Vital Statistics for links to the indexes. You need to know the year of the event and the surname. If you do not know the year, you can search several years, one by one. These indexes are not digitized but are PDF files of the ones the State uses. If you locate a state file number for a certificate, you can order it from the State Archives.
However, if you are a Pennsylvania resident, you will be able to access the certificates digitally using the link to Ancestry.com Pennsylvania as mentioned above.
United Kingdom – Huntingdonshire – Marriages
New at Findmypast this week, the Huntingdonshire Marriages 1754-1837 collection contains over 1,000 names taken from 26 volumes of marriage records from the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire. These records will allow you to discover when and where your ancestor was married.
Scotland – Roxburghshire – Patient Registers
Also at Findmypast, explore the Roxburghshire, Kelso Dispensary Patient Registers 1777-1781. These registers contain over 1,700 names that list the date and outcome of patients’ treatment (such as cured, relieved of symptoms, or died). This may be particularly helpful for those unable to find a death date.
It should be noted that these are transcriptions only and you will not be able to see a digital image of the original.
More PERSI for Genealogy Articles
PERSI Digitized Collections Gaining Ground
New FindMyPast Hints Help Find Records
The Genealogy Gems Podcast Premium Episode 135: Compa
rsion of Google Scholar & PERSI (Premium Member Subscription Needed)
Hi Amie, Can you please clear something up for me. You suggested that we read the other PERSI post, and I did. It states,
“To search PERSI at Findmypast you do not actually need a subscription. They allow anyone to search and see the list of results. To see a image of a specific search result, you will need a subscription OR you will need to purchase their pay-per-view credits. You can also use Findmypast at Family History Centers and at many libraries that have institutional subscriptions.
Once you have located an article, it’s inexpensive to order a copy directly from the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. Simply download the order form PDF from their website, fill it out, and mail it in. You can request up to six articles for only $7.50, which you pre-pay and then they bill you separately for copies at 20 cents per page.”
Does this mean that after we pay for membership with Findmypast, we still don’t have access to a digital copy of the document? Or does it mean you pay the ACPLGC to have a paper copy mailed to you?
Thank you!
Hi Val, Amie asked me to jump in and reply, since I wrote the previous post you’re asking about.
I’m sorry for confusing you! What I meant to say was: if you’re not a subscriber, you’ll only see a list of search results, but not the full details of each citation. As a subscriber, you can click on PERSI’s search results and see all the details in the index (author, title, date, page numbers, etc). Findmypast has gradually been adding digitized versions of some of the articles indexed in PERSI. If they’ve got a digitized article, you as a subscriber can see it. If they DON’T have a digitized version, you’ll at least be able to see the full citation and you can then order a copy from the ACPL Genealogy Center (and yes, an additional but very modest fee applies, especially since you can request multiple articles at a time for the same fee). Does that help?
Thank you, Sunny! You have answered my question.
I’m just being picky, but I wanted to point out a couple of things regarding the two FindMyPast news items.
United Kingdom – Huntingdonshire – Marriages
Whilst Huntingdonshire is now a district of Cambridgeshire, for the period that the records mentioned relate to (and in fact up until 1974) it was a county in its own right.
Scotland – Roxburghshire – Patient Registers
For the moment, at least, Scotland is still part of the United Kingdom, and the Roxburghshire-Kelso Patient Records are part of the Britain collection.
I would have headed the two articles as follows:
Britain – England – Huntingdonshire – Marriages
Britain – Scotland – Roxburghshire – Patient Registers
As I say, I know that I’m being picky, but aren’t we genealogists sticklers for accuracy in the details?!