Documents, ‘cheat sheets’ and more

Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.

Documents are the genealogist’s lifeline.

They enable us to conclude that an ancestor lived here, got married to this person or passed away in this year.

Genealogists pursuing ancestors here in Northeastern Pennsylvania have long been frustrated that so many vital records were not kept consistently at the county level back in the 1800s even though the state sometimes ordered that they be kept.

Well, that much bad news is still with us. But recently members of the Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society found in their email inboxes the summer newsletter with an article summarizing exactly what is and is not available, thus saving us a lot of look-up time and wild goose chases.

By “available” I mean primarily at the genealogical society’s North Franklin Street, Wilkes-Barre headquarters. It’s in Annex 2 of the Kirby Health Center, second floor. If you are a member (and it’s open only to members) reserve a time on Thursdays between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The records at issue for Luzerne County (and early on for what would become Lackawanna County) are largely birth and death records, marriages, wills, deeds and naturalizations. As you look through the article you will find lengthy gaps in some of them, with custody changing to the state for others.

At least now you will know exactly what is and is not available at the society or at the state level and for what time periods.

You will also realize that for the missing information you will have to go a route other than official records – such as using the society’s church records or using local newspaper backfiles for marriages and deaths.

Contact the genealogical society by phone at 570-829-1765. Email is [email protected].

Cheat sheets: While you might have been punished in school for being caught with what we’ll call a “study aid” during an exam, these devices are OK in genealogy.

“Family Tree Magazine” publishes numerous handy “cheat sheet” guides for genealogists seeking basic information about their ancestral nations. They are brief, one-page collections of historical terms such as provinces and their English translations, plus maps.

If you miss the magazine, you can order them online at www.familytreemagazine.com.

Census: The Bureau of the Census doesn’t waste time. It recently announced that the first planning meeting for the 2030 U.S. Census was set July 26. The bureau will announce the locations for a test run of the system that will be used in the actual census of 2030.

While statistics from the 2020 census are being made available, the personal information it contains will not be made public until 2092, because of the bureau’s 72-year embargo policy. The most recent census fully available to the public is that of 1950, which became public two years ago.

The 1950 census is valuable in part because it shows the population shifts that occurred in the wake of World War II, as people moved for new jobs in the postwar and post-depression economy.

Transition: Tom Jesso, caretaker of the Shawnee Cemetery in Plymouth, died last month at 72. His Times Leader obituary lauded him for his decades of volunteer work maintaining the old burial ground and making it possible for people to find the graves of ancestors there.

Volunteers: If you’ve noticed that your favorite regional sources of information do not have the extended hours you’d like, why not consider volunteering to help? Particularly if you’re a genealogist, there are any number of libraries and historical societies that can always use some assistance.

Tom Mooney is a Times Leader history and genealogy writer. Reach him at [email protected].