ONLINE RESEARCH
BCGS Research ServiceWelcome to the Online Reading Room. The reading room houses our growing collection of articles and lists to help you in your genealogical quest in and around Berks County, Pennsylvania. Visit often. We will be adding information on a continuing basis.
Every now and again, researchers stumble upon a broken link that displays the dreaded "HTTP Error 404 - File or Directory not found" or "The webpage cannot be found." error messages. This happens because websites come and go, links are changed, and sometimes they are taken down or expire. Don't give up if this happens. Here are two tips that may resolve the issue.
- If the link is rather lengthy, slowly trim it back from the right end. The link may just have been broken at the end. Going higher up on the URL address may lead to a main page where you may be able to navigate to the information you were seeking.
- Copy the broken link and paste it into the Wayback Machine search engine, an historical archive of preserved pages. If this also fails, try trimming back the link.
Churches, Cemeteries, and Religion
- webCemeteries - Search databases and add memorial or obituary information for the your relatives and ancestors.
- Various Pennsylvania Cemetery Links
- Fairview Cemetery, Kutztown, PA
- Origins of the Brethren Churches
- Oldest Roman Catholic Churches in Southeast Pennsylvania
- St. Michael's Cemetery #2, Hamburg, Tilden Township, Berks County, PA
- Zion (Windsor Castle) UCC Cemetery, Perry Township, Berks County, PA
- Deppen Cemetery (now located at the Berks Heritage Center)
Government
- Government of Berks County, PA
- Berks County Register of Wills - General information on the resources of the register of will office. Searchable indexes of births, death and marriage registers for the City of Reading and County of Berks.
- Berks County Office of the Prothonotary - Searchable indexes for immigration, naturalization, appearance docket.
Immigration
- Find your immigrant ancestors in the Ellis Island records.
Military
- The Archive Records Information Access System - (ARIAS) is designed to facilitate citizen access to archival records created by all branches and levels of Pennsylvania State Government. Records series currently online or in the process of being digitized are:
- PA National Guard Veteran’s Card File, 1867-1921
- Civil War Veterans’ Card File
- Revolutionary War Military Abstract Card File
- World War I Service Medal Application Cards
- Spanish American War Veterans’ Card File of United States Volunteers
- Mexican Border Campaign Veterans’ Card File
- Militia Officers’ Index Cards, 1775-1800
Surnames
BCGS Research Services
Because we are a non-profit organization staffed entirely by volunteers, we cannot undertake to do extensive research for individuals. A local researcher, Dennis Wible, who specializes in Berks, Lehigh, and Northampton counties, will do research in local records for a fee. Contact Dennis for information concerning his services and fees. (Note: Although the BCGS respects his work, we do not guarantee it. This is a private contract between Dennis and the person requesting the research.)
For a $25.00 donation, the library volunteers will search library materials for you. This donation includes the search and up to 5 two-sided copies of records found. There is a 25¢ per page charge for more than 10 pages. The type of records to be searched are determined by the option number selected.
Search Request FormOption 1: Search our Vertical Family File for any information on a named individual or family.
Option 2: Search our Tax Records and our Will Abstracts or Letters of Administration records for any documents on a named individual or family.
Option 3: Search a named Church or Pastor's record for an individual or family record.
Sharon Kreitz, the chairperson of our Research Committee, volunteers her time to follow up on and process the search requests.
