Franklin and Marshall College Library

United States Pennsylvania Archives and LibrariesFranklin and Marshall College Library

Franklin and Marshall College Library Contact Information E-mail: ask.us@fandm.edu Address: Franklin and Marshall College Library 450 College Ave PO Box 3003 Lancaster, PA 17604 Telephone:  717-291-4223 Hours and holidays: Hours and holidays click the "Hours" tab. Internet sites and databases: About Us: Locations & Policies describes holdings of each library building. JSHA Collection "Hessian" German soldiers in the American Revolutionary War. Online Catalog Select the "Books & More" tab. Search by keywords, author, title, or subject, and in WorldCat. Research Resources subject guides, class guides, subscription databases, visual resources and government documents. Collection Description Shadek-Fackenthal Library  holds the American Studies, Anthropology, Business, Government, History, Religious Studies, and Sociology collections. Martin Library of the Sciences  holds the Archives and Special Collections. History, government, Pennsylvania-German culture, U.S. Civil War. Special Collections  has personal manuscripts of prominent local individuals; rare books, historic maps, prints, posters, photographs, newspapers; and the German-American Imprint Collection consisting of newspapers, books, almanacs, fraktur and broadsides printed in German in North America. The JSHA is an outstanding collection for "Hessian" soldiers from German principalities who served as part of the British army during the American Revolutionary War. Note:  All church records and family histories were transferred to the Evangelical and Reformed Historical Society (ERHS) at the Lancaster Theological Seminary in 1967. Tips Visitors are welcome, but asked to use only guest computers. Guides Subject guides including religious studies, Africana, Americana, History, and Judaica A to Z list of subscription databases Government Documents and Information at F&M, federal, state, local, and international documents. Alternate Repositories If you cannot visit or find a source at the Franklin and Marshall College Library, a similar source may be available at one of the following. Overlapping Collections National Archives at Philadelphia records of federal agencies and courts for Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, censuses, ships lists, naturalizations, and military records. Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, indexes and original sources of Pennsylvania Archives, such as vital records, military records, naturalization, prisoners, land records, censuses, and ships lists 1728-1808. Also, unfilmed transcripts from many historical societies and courthouses. State Library of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, indexes and surname files, histories, atlases, land records, maps, ship lists, church and cemetery records, censuses, regimental histories, ethnic and religious groups, newspapers, obituaries, naturalizations, and city directories. Similar Collections Evangelical and Reformed Historical Society (ERHS), Lancaster, Reformed Church records and genealogy resources including parish registers originally housed at Franklin and Marshall College. Neighboring Collections Lancaster County Lancaster County Archives, manuscripts, city and county government records, and newspapers. Marriages 1894-1942, divorce index, wills and probate records 1729-1908, taxes 1750-1939. Prothonotary, Lancaster, Civil court records such as divorce, deeds and mortgages, naturalizations, and passports. Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court, Lancaster, marriages, probates, adoptions and guardians. Clerk of Courts (Common Pleas), Lancaster, court records. Lancaster County Historical Society Library, Lancaster, births 1852-1855, 1894-1907, deeds 1729-1894 and 1935-1958, cemeteries, censuses, church records, county histories, directories, family files, genealogies, immigration and naturalization, newspaper marriage and death index 1800-1905, periodicals, taxes, wills and probates. Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, Lancaster, card index to over 800,000 persons, genealogies, local histories, biographies, directories, passenger lists, census, deeds, obituaries, surname files. Lancaster Public Library, Lancaster, censuses, local newspapers, histories, atlases, family histories, cemetery records, limited passenger lists, city directories. Repositories in surrounding counties:  Pennsylvania:  Berks, Chester, Dauphin, Lebanon, York, Maryland:  Cecil, and Harford. Delaware County Haverford College Library, Haverford, Quaker Collection of diaries, photos, family papers, meeting and organizational records; 35,000 books, 2,400 linear feet of manuscripts. Swarthmore College Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore, has 45,000 books, 60,000 photos, and 9,000 volumes of original Quaker meeting records, plus local history of the Mid-Atlantic states. Philadelphia County Pennsylvania Division of Vital Records, Philadelphia, birth and death records 1906-present. Order in-person, order online through VitalChek, or order births by mail, or order deaths by mail. Philadelphia City Archives births 1860-1915, marriages 1860-1915, divorces 1851-1975, deaths 1803-1915, naturalizations 1800-1933 (except 1905-1913), house deeds 1683-1952, tax lists, prisoners, mayors' warrants, cemeteries, constables, streets and city directories. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, has early Quakers, Germans, Scots-Irish and other ethinc groups in PA, NJ, DE, and states east of the Mississippi River, Balch Institute passenger arrival lists, huge manuscript collection including many indexes, and Philadelphia neighborhood records. Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, has great online indexes to books, periodicals, family folders, genealogies, and research aids for Pennsylvania and surrounding states. Library Company of Philadelphia has huge German-American collection, Pennsylvanians in the Civil War, and early Philadelphia documents as if it were a second city archives. Free Library of Philadelphia very large book collection, periodicals, genealogies, city directories, maps, family folders, vertical files, manuscripts, and Pennsylvania histories. University of Pennsylvania Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, Philadelphia, many manuscripts, newspapers, county records, ethnic sources, denominational records, and county histories. Temple University Urban Archives, Philadelphia, churches, fraternal groups, unions, guilds, clubs, businesses, and societies especially related to the growth of Philadelphia and vicinity. U.S. District Court Clerk, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, court records. German Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, church history, genealogy, immigrants, immigrant aid records, German newspapers, old GSP memberships, and German-American periodicals. Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia, Melrose Park, Jewish genealogy research manuals, society newsletters, regional cemeteries, and resource guide for south PA, NJ, and DE. Lutheran Archives Center at Philadelphia ELCA archives for Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Upstate New York (excluding New York City) and New England. Includes clergy and synod papers, and some parish registers (baptisms, marriages, funerals, confirmations) (some in German). Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, national archives of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Repositories in other surrounding states: Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Ontario. Historical Society of Delaware Library, Wilmington, colonial records, newspapers, church records, state records, Revolutionary War records, Civil War records, Delaware histories, and genealogies. Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, records of Germans and Scots-Irish who traveled the Great Valley Road from Penn. to Virginia, including manuscripts, newspapers, biographies, and histories. Sources