Vital Records

Civil Vital Records kept at county level until 1906

• Birth 1852-1855, 1893-1906, 1893-1915 birth records are also held by the Register of Wills, post 1906 held by the Pennsylvania Department of Health
• Marriage 1852-1855, 1885-present (post 1989 has searchable online index) held through Montgomery County Records Department
• Death 1852-1855, 1893-1906, post 1906 held by PA Department of Health
• Pennsylvania State Archives Birth Records 1906-1909 and Death Records 1906-1964 are digitized and searchable free to Pennsylvania residents at: https://www.phmc.pa.gov/Archives/Research-Online/Pages/Vital-Statistics.aspx

Religious vital records come from various churches around the county. In some cases, these are consolidated into a single print/electronic index, in others they are state, region, town, or institutionally specific. This is where a researcher may find Colonial or 19th Century records in periods when civil records were not kept. Two useful books at Montgomery County Norristown Library might be:

1. Baptisms and Burials from the Records of Christ Church Philadelphia 1709-1760 (L.H.C. 929.3748 B222b)
2. Marriages and Deaths in Montgomery County Pennsylvania 1685-1800 (L.H.C. 929.3748 M519m)

Electronic Resources:

• PA Church Records on USGen Web: http://usgwarchives.net/pa/montgomery/church.htm
• Pennsylvania Church Records on Family Search: https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=345&query=%2Bplace%3A%22United%20States%2C%20Pennsylvania%22&subjectsOpen=608051-50
• Montgomery County Records Dept.: http://www.montcopa.org/index.aspx?NID=418
• Montgomery County Historical Society: http://www.hsmcpa.org/
• PA Vital Records: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/certificates/Pages/Vital%20Records.aspx

Cemetery Records

• Find a Grave (searchable by the deceased person’s name): http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi
• Find a Grave also has a listing of Montgomery County Cemeteries, with each individual cemetery searchable by decedent’s name: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=csr&CScnty=2286
• Access Genealogy has a listing of searchable cemetery records: http://www.accessgenealogy.com/cemetery/montgomery-county-pennsylvania-cemetery-records.htm
• Montgomery County Records Department has a browsable (NOT searchable) Register of Veteran’s Burials: http://www.montcopa.org/DocumentCenter/View/749

Court Records

• Office of the Prothonotary has microfilmed copies of Court of Common Pleas cases: http://www.montcopa.org/index.aspx?nid=97 (Historical Society of Montgomery County has originals)

Deed Records

• Montgomery County Historical Society has Deed Records 1784-1893 on microfilm: http://hsmcpa.org/index.php/resources/architectural-and-property-resources/144-deeds
• Recorder of Deeds holds all Montgomery County Deeds from 1850-present. There is a searchable index: https://rodviewer.montcopa.org/countyweb/login.do?countyname=Montgomery
• Book at Norristown Library: Early Pennsylvania Land Records 1685-1793 (L.H.C. 929.3748 E31e)
• There are also several PA land collections that can be found via Ancestry.com (this is an in-library resource only). In general these cover 1733-19th or 20th Century. http://search.ancestry.com/Places/US/Pennsylvania/Default.aspx?category=36

Probate Records

• Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphan’s Court, which hold the original records: http://www.montcopa.org/index.aspx?nid=202
• Family Search has a browsable (NOT searchable-there is no search screen) online collection of Wills and administrative original documents 1683-1994: https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/231938?availability=Family%20History%20Library
• US Gen Web has a searchable Will Abstracts and Administrations collection 1784-1821 (other individual probate records are also included in the collection): http://usgwarchives.net/pa/montgomery/wills.htm

Military Records

• Family Search has an overview of Pennsylvania Military Service: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Pennsylvania_Military_Records#.C2.A0Revolutionary_War_.281775-1783.29.C2.A0
• Most military pension records (the most likely place to find personal and family information about a soldier) are available through the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA): http://www.archives.gov/research/military/
• Subscription Websites such as HeritageQuest (www.heritagequestonline.com) and Fold3 (www.fold3.com) have digitized copies of pension application materials for Revolutionary War. (Norristown Library does not subscribe to either of these sites.)
• Pennsylvania did issue some State-level pensions for Revolutionary War Service, and a searchable index is available: https://www.phmc.pa.gov/Archives/Research-Online/Pages/Revolutionary-War-Pension-Records.aspx

Naturalizations

• County-level Naturalizations are held by the Office of the Prothonotary: http://www.montcopa.org/index.aspx?nid=97
• Any pre-1906 (local, municipal, state, or federal) Naturalizations are held by the Pennsylvania State Archives: https://www.phmc.pa.gov/Archives/Research-Online/Pages/Naturalization-Immigration.aspx
• Federal Naturalizations post 1906 are held at the NARA regional facility in Philadelphia: http://www.archives.gov/frc/philadelphia/

Newspapers

• Listing of PA Newspapers: http://www.usnpl.com/panews.php
• Some local Newspapers at Norristown Library: The Mercury, Main Line News, The Colonial, North Penn Line, The Reporter, Souderton Independent, Times Chronicle, Times Herald (12/20/1951-7/6/1970; 11/2/1987-1/31/2011) Philadelphia Inquirer (1972-2012), New York Times (1851-present). Note: Current issues of most local newspaper are kept in paper form for four weeks only. Bolded items above are microfilmed for listed dates.

City Directories

• Norristown Library has copies of city directories for Norristown and Bridgeport 1860-1861 and for Norristown, East Norriton, West Norriton, Bridgeport, and Plymouth Meeting 1902-1978
• Historical Society of Montgomery County holds city directories for Norristown, Pottstown, and Bridgeport from 1860-1978
• Ancestry.com also has searchable city directories (Note: this is a subscription web site, available for in house use)

Useful Links

• Norristown Library Genealogical Resources: http://mnl.mclinc.org/library-resources-available
• PA State Archives Holdings for Montgomery County: http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/rg47m.htm
• Genealogical Society of Montgomery County Info on Montco Historical Records: https://genpa.org/sites/default/files/ResearchTip-MontCo.pdf
• Guide to library at Montgomery County Historical Society: http://nebula.wsimg.com/8d1447aad6b068ba72a30fcd60399804?AccessKeyId=48E321E655F9C34F24F0&disposition=0&alloworigin=1
• Historical Society of Pennsylvania Online Catalog (try a search on Montgomery County): http://discover.hsp.org/
• PA State Archives Genealogy: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/genealogy/3183

Montgomery County Genealogy Resources

(Note: Many of these agencies allow you to order records online)

Birth and Death Records 1852-1855, Births 1893-1915
Montgomery County Records Department
2010 Old Arch Road
Norristown, Pa 19401
PH: 610-278-3441
Website

Birth and Death Records post 1906
PA Department of Vital Statistics
110 N. 8th St. #108
Philadelphia, PA 19107
PH: 215-560-3054
Website

Open Access PA Birth and Death records
Ancestry.com Pennsylvania (Free to PA residents)
Pennsylvania State Archives
PH: 717-783-3281
Website (read instructions carefully)

Cemetery Records
Find a Grave.com
Website

Marriage Records 1852-1855, 1885-present
Montgomery County Records Department
2010 Old Arch Road
Norristown, Pa 19401
PH: 610-278-3441
Website

Court Records
Office of the Prothonotary
P.O. BOX 311
Norristown, PA 19404-0311
PH: 610-278-3360
Website

Deed Records 1784-1893
Historical Society of Montgomery County
1654 DeKalb Street
Norristown, PA 19401
PH: 610-272-0297
Website

Probate Records
Register of Wills
P.O. Box 311
Norristown, PA 19404-0311
PH: 610-278-3400
Website

Military Records
The National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
PH: 1-866-272-6272
Website

Military Records
PA State Archives
Website

County Naturalization Records pre-1906
Office of the Prothonotary
P.O. BOX 311
Norristown, PA 19404-0311
PH: 610-278-3360
Website

Naturalization Records post-1906
NARA Philadelphia Regional Facility
14700 Townsend Road
Philadelphia, PA 19154-1096
PH: 215-305-2044
Website

Local Newspapers
Montgomery County Norristown Public Library
1001 Powell St.
Norristown, PA 19401
PH: 610-278-5100 X201
Website

City Directories
Montgomery County Norristown Public Library
1001 Powell St.
Norristown, PA 19401
PH: 610-278-5100 X201
Website

City Directories
Historical Society of Montgomery County
PH: 610-272-0297
Website

Deed Records 1850-present
Recorder of Deeds
One Montgomery Plaza
3rd Floor
Swede and Airy Streets
P.O. Box 311
Norristown, PA 19404-0311
PH: 610-278-3289
Website

Naturalization Records pre-1906
PA State Archives Pennsylvania State Archives
350 North Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120
PH: 717-783-3281
Website

Questions? Please contact the Reference Department at (610) 278-5100 x201

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