Death, confirmation, and school records
DEATH, FUNERAL, AND BURIAL RECORDS
CONFIRMATION RECORDS
SCHOOL RECORDS
DEATH, FUNERAL, AND BURIAL RECORDS:
PAHRC does not have death records, with two exceptions:
Holy Trinity
Death Registers: 1790-1836, 1848-1872
Old St. Mary’s
Burial Registers: 1823-1878
Funeral Registers: 1856-1874
Death Registers: 1837-1856 (Lists cause of death)
Inscriptions of tombstones from Old St. Mary’s at 11th and Moore Streets (Handwritten Copybook and Word document).
Parish cemetery records are maintained by individual parishes.
Brief history of early parish cemeteries
Records from diocesan cemeteries are maintained by the Catholic Cemeteries Office:
Catholic Cemeteries Office
(215) 895-3450
cemetery@adphila.org
Published Sources:
“St. Mary’s Graveyard, 4th & Spruce Sts., Philadelphia, Records & Extracts from Inscriptions on Tombstones” in Records of the American Catholic Historical Society, Vol. III.
“Burials in Old St. Mary’s Cemetery, 1788-1800″ in Records of the American Catholic Historical Society, Vol. V.
Some of the early baptismal registers contain an alphabetical list of those who received Confirmation that year, but these are scattered throughout the register. Usually, the alphabetical list is the only information.
Although PAHRC has some administrative materials concerning Archdiocesan schools as well as information regarding the history of some educational institutions, PAHRC in general does not have school records. The Archives has some school records, report cards mostly, for three parochial schools: St. Teresa of Avila, St. Peter Claver, and St. Philip Neri. Please contact PAHRC staff for more information.
Researchers should contact individual parishes or schools for information. Also, if a school or academy was run by a particular religious order, researchers should contact the order’s archives for information.