Genealogists receive help tracing roots
Local genealogists trying to trace their way through all branches of their family trees had their tasks made easier this year.
That's because the enactment of a state law allows the public access to an online index of ancestors' birth and death records, said Luanne Eisler, genealogist at the Butler Public Library.
Starting Feb. 13, records for births from 1906 and deaths from 1906 to 1961 can be searched online.
“They were not available before because of state restrictions. In 1906 the law for recording births changed. Births in Pennsylvania were to be recorded at the state level. Before that births were recorded at the county or city level and they were underreported,” Eisler said.
The online index is posted on the Pennsylvania Department of Health's Division of Vital Statistics website at www.portal.health. state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/public_records/20686.
Following the links to birth and death indices, a researcher will be able to search birth records for 1906 and death records from 1906 to 1961.
Before searching online or in person, researchers should be prepared by knowing the year of the event, the spelling of the name they are searching for, and/or the county of the birth or death.
Eisler said the tricky part is the records are alphabetized by first letter of the surname. Some of the records are handwritten and some are typed.
When you find the person you want from the online index, said Eisler, note the certificate number — that is the critical piece of information. To order copies, you must have the certificate number. There are samples on the Department of Vital Statistics website showing searchers how to find this number.
The state Department of Health is still managing the requests for copies, which can be submitted via its website.
The price will still be $9 for certified copies and $3 for noncertified copies. The records have already been microfilmed and copies will be taken from the film.
Or, Eisler said, researchers can submit a mail request to the Pennsylvania Archives with $15 for state residents or $25 for out-of-state requests to receive a copy made from the original record.
“Before this, if you wanted a copy of a birth certificate, you could order it or go to New Castle (home of the Division of Vital Statistics) in person and order a copy. You had to know the exact name of the person and the exact year of birth.”
“You were at the mercy of a beleaguered and busy clerk and considering how many millions of records, how could you expect someone to search through all the records to find someone?” Eisler said.
It's hard to tell this early if the website is increasing demand for documents.
“Currently, we do not keep track of website hits. However, we can say that we have received more than 2,500 applications for public documents since Feb. 13, 2012,” said Brandi Hunter-Davenport, deputy press secretary with the Department of Health.
“I think it's an excellent thing for them to do,” said Edna Kerr, president of the Butler County Genealogical Society. “I don't know of anything that can go wrong.”
“I'm not one of those people who think things need to be hidden,” Kerr said. “It's just information.”
Eisler said each year another year of records will be made available online. For example, records of 1907 births will go online in 2013.
The Division of Vital Statisics is working on fully digitizing and indexing all certificates to allow for easier online record research.
“Digitization is scheduled to begin in this coming summer, and we are on target to do this. The digitization will take place in Harrisburg,” said Hunter-Davenport.
These changes will be rolled out within the next year. Researchers eventually will be able to search records by first name only, year of occurrence, county, or even by parents' names.
