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One of the three original counties created by William Penn in 1682. The county seat is Doylestown.

BIRTH AND DEATH RECORDS:

• https://www.phmc.pa.gov/Archives/Research-Online/Pages/Birth-Indices.aspx
• https://www.phmc.pa.gov/Archives/Research-Online/Pages/Death-Indices.aspx

On January 1, 1906, the newly established Pennsylvania Department of Health officially began to issue birth and death certificates. Prior to 1906, Pennsylvania births and deaths were recorded only sporadically by the counties and some cities such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Genealogists must rely on county records or nongovernmental sources such as church registers, gravestone inscriptions and newspapers to obtain data for this earlier period. The State Archives holds the following birth and death records:

Birth Certificates, 1906-1908 
Death Certificates, 1906-1963 
Original birth certificates for 1906-1908 and death certificates for 1906-1963 are available at the State Archives. These records may be reviewed in person during public research hours, Wednesday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Certificates will not be pulled from 12:00-1:00pm, and call slips for records to be retrieved before noon must be turned in by 11:45am. An index is available on the website of the Division of Vital Records as well as in the Archives research room.Researchers are limited to ten certificates per day, and records will be pulled in the order that they are requested. The researcher must be in the Archives research room to place a records retrieval request; no telephone or e-mail requests in advance of one's visit to the Archives will be accepted. Researchers should plan to allow a minimum of 30-60 minutes for retrieval of these records. *Effective March 5, 2014, families (per household) will be limited to twenty certificates per day.

Pennsylvania Death Certificates from 1906-1944 are now available for research online at Ancestry.com.  Pennsylvaina residents may access these records through Ancestry.com Pennsylvania.

Required by law in Bucks Co.
*-1852 to 1854 Clerk of Orphans Court, available at Spruance
*-1893 to 1906 Clerk of Orphans Court, available at Spruance
 For birth and death records, 1906-present, contact the Division of Vital Records, P.O. Box 1528, 101 South Mercer Street, New Castle, PA 16103; telephone (724) 656-3100. Enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope along with $4.00 for birth records or $3.00 for death records, and provide the following information: name of person, as well as the date and place of birth or death. (MAY 2000) --Birth dates may be recorded in bible, newspaper, family history, church, tombstone, *GGI (International Genealogical Index) and other sources.

Specifics and prices may change, please check with Spruance for current information - - -

*-MICROFILM OR MICROFICHE

SPRUANCE LIBRARY

Spruance Library Research Services
Bucks county Historical Society
84 S. Pine Street
Doylestown PA 18901-4999

(215) 345-0210 (215) 230-0823 (FAX)

Prepared by:
Nancy C. Benner Janyszeski