Adams County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania  Adams County

Adams County, Pennsylvania genealogy and family history research page. Guide to genealogy, history, and courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, wills, deeds and land records, Civil War records, Revolutionary War records, family histories, cemeteries, churches, tax records, newspapers, and obituaries.

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from York County in 22 January 1800.
 * County Seat: Gettysburg
 * Neighboring Counties: residents may also have records in Cumberland (north) • York (east) • Franklin (west) • Frederick County, Maryland and Carroll County, Maryland (south)

Cemeteries
Cemetery records often reveal birth, marriage, death, relationship, military, and religious information.


 * Harry Senft York and Adams County Cemetery Pictures Harry Senft has taken pictures of 100s of 1000s of headstones in over 200 cemeteries in York and Adams counties that are ALL posted online. In conjunction with [mailto:familyhart@aol.com FamilyHart] (aka Don &amp; Jeanine Hartman), Custom Google Maps for each cemetery location have been produced so that the user can easily find the cemetery. An index of the cemeteries listed is also provided by name and by location. In addition, indexing of the actual cemetery picture files with links to the FamilyHart Online Databaseare being compiled. The FamilyHart Online Database contains over 719,000 linked family names, most of which have connections to York and Adams counties. This family database is the most comprehensive and complete listing of York and Adams County names on the Internet. It grows by about 1,000 names per week, and is updated online quarterly.


 * The Cemeteries of Adams County, Pennsylvania includes many of the same images taken by Harry Senft (along with those of others) posted online with indexing. In addition there are transcriptions of some cemeteries that do and don't have photographic images. Many older stones are unreadable in photographs so these transcriptions are often invaluable.


 * Adams County USGenWeb Project This site has several links to Adams County cemetery listings online.
 * Listing of Adams County, Pennsylvania Cemeteries reported in 1993 lists all known Adams county cemeteries including name changes and earliest / latest burials.


 * Idaville United Methodist Cemetery on BillionGraves. On Highway 34, just north of a very small town by that name, in a very rural area. Two land parcels to this cemetery, nearly side by side on east side of highway as shown on this page.


 * Lower Bermudian Lutheran Cemetery, Latimore BillionGraves

Census
1890 Census


 * 1890 Germany Township at Adams County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives
 * 1890 Littlestown Township at [Adams County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

Church Records
Perhaps the earliest religious denomination to be established in the county was the Church of the Brethren or the Dunkards who came around 1840. The Church of England or Episcopal congregations if the English were formed soon after. They kept few records. The Dutch Reformed church came around 1865. German Lutherans came to the county around 1780-1800. Other groups to come included Methodists, Irish Catholics, and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. Not all the early churches to settle in the county stayed active to the present day.

The Adams County Historical Society Archives of the Historical Society:


 * A church and cemetery file.
 * A collection of Parish Register Transcripts: Many from old Lutheran and German Reformed congregations, and some from Presbyterian, Methodist, and Roman Catholic churches situated in the greater south-central and southeastern Pennsylvania and Maryland areas.
 * Baptisms, marriages, etc. in over 300 Lutheran &amp; many non-Lutheran Churches in Adams County and area.

The Adams County Historical Society website includes a detailed list of Adams County Clergymen covering the entire period of the county's history (1800-present). Clergymen's names, churches served, and dates served are included in this free online resource.

Historical Sketches


 * Church Histories of Christ's Church (Union Twp.); Lower Marsh Creek Presbyterian Church (Fairfield) and Saint Aloysius Church of Littlestown. Found at Adams County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

County-wide Database - Multi-denominational

 * 1708-1985 - Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 at Historical Society of Pennsylvania – $, free to members of the society; Also available at Ancestry.com – $; This database is incomplete for all counties.


 * Contains church records of:
 * Abbottstown: St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church; St. John's Lutheran Church
 * Arendtsville: Zion United Church of Christ
 * Barlow: Mount Joy Lutheran Church
 * Bendersville: Bethlehem Lutheran Church
 * Biglerville: St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church; Trinity United Church of Christ
 * Butler: Benders Church
 * Conewago: Sacred Heart Basilica
 * East Berlin: Trinity Lutheran Church
 * Fairfield: St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church; Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
 * Franklin: Lutheran Church
 * Gettysburg: Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church; St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church
 * Latimore: Chestnut Grove Evangelical Lutheran Church; Lower Bermudian Lutheran and Reformed Union Church
 * Littlestown: Christ United Church of Christ; St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church
 * McSherrystown: St. Paul Lutheran Church
 * Mount Joy: Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church; Marks German Reformed Evangelical Lutheran Congregations
 * Mount Pleasant: St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church; United Brethren in Christ
 * Straban: St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church
 * Uriah: United Methodist Church
 * York Springs: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church; United Brethren in Christ


 * 1729-1881 – Pennsylvania Church Records - Adams, Berks, and Lancaster Counties, 1729-1881 at Ancestry.com – $; details on 180,000 church-goers from 50 churches; incomplete.
 * Early 1800s- Present - An alphabetical list of Adams County Clergymen: Their names, their churches, and their years of service.


 * Book: History of Saint Aloysius Church of Littlestown, Pennsylvania (1893) - full-text online

German Baptist

 * 1839-1907 - Marsh Creek German Baptist Brethren Index, Book 2, 1839-1907 at Adams County Historical Society website - free. Book 1 is lost.


 * 1908-1956 - Marsh Creek Congregation Church of the Brethren, Book 3, 1908-1956 at Adams County Historical Society website - free.

Lutheran

 * 1785-1874 - Adams County, Pennsylvania, 1785-1874: Lutheran and Reformed Congregations at Ancestry ($).

Presbyterian

 * Burial Record of Lower Marsh Creek Presbyterian Church at Ancestry ($).

Reformed

 * 1785-1874 - Adams County, Pennsylvania, 1785-1874: Lutheran and Reformed Congregations at Ancestry ($).

Court of Common Pleas
The Courts of Common Pleas are the trial courts of Pennsylvania. Major civil and criminal cases are heard in these courts. Judges also decide cases involving adoption, divorce, child custody, abuse, juvenile delinquency, estates, guardianships, charitable organizations and many other matters. The Common Pleas courts are organized into 60 judicial districts. has its own judicial district. Judges of the Common Pleas courts are elected to 10-year terms. A president judge and a court administrator serve in each judicial district.

Prothonotary
See Divorce

Emigration and Immigration
The Scotch-Irish made settlements at the "Marsh Creek Settlement" and the "Great Conewago Settlement" about 1740 in what was a predominantly German area.

History

 * Adams County USGenWeb Project This site has several online histories of Adams County.

Land and Property
Land records in Adams County began in 1800. These records are filed with the Register of Wills/Recorder of Deeds office in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts, indexes, mortgages, leases, grants, sheriff sales, land patents, and maps. Property records include liens as well as livestock brands and estray records.

The following are examples of available resources:

Online Land Records


 * 1800–1936 Adams County offers online access to indexes and images. Fees apply. Refer to the website for current availability and fees.
 * PA Original Land Records The Rev. Neal Hively has done extensive land record compilations and land mapping of York and Adams counties with indexes available online.

Land Records on Microfilm


 * 1800–1934 Deeds, 1800-1851; Index 1800-1937.

Additional Resources

Note that the "Maps" section below includes maps related to land ownership.

See Pennsylvania Land and Property for more information about using land records, especially about original land warrants, surveys, and patents filed at the state land office.

Additional resources can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Adams County Pennsylvania Land in online catalogs such as:


 * Historical Society of Pennsylvania
 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog.)
 * (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search.)

Maps
Click the image to view an enlarged version


 * Adams County USGenWeb Project This site contains several maps curent and past of Adams County, Pennsylvania.


 * Ancestor Tracks has posted free, downloadable images from the 1858 Map of Adams Co., Pennsylvania by G. M. Hopkins. This wall map located in the Library of Congress shows major landowners and geographic sites at the date of publishing. While the physical maps are in the public domain, the images we have taken of the maps belong to us and are not to be used to commercially.  We hereby give permission to use them strictly for personal use; please attribute to Ancestor Tracks.

Military

 * Adams County USGenWeb This site has several online military record listings for Adams County that are online.
 * Military Records of Adams County at Adams County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives Includes Civil War lists of drafted men and exemptions, draft registrants from 1917, 1940, 1942, and Army enlistees for World War II.

Revolutionary War
Men from what is now Adams County (then York County) served in the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment.

Civil War
Civil War service men from Adams County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Adams County.

Civil War Battle
The following Civil War battle was fought in Adams County.


 * July 1-3, 1863 = Gettysburg

Gettysburg National Military Park helps visitors relive this battle.


 * Map showing Civil War battles in Pennsylvania.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Naturalization records available for Adams County, Pennsylvania include the following:

Online Naturalization Indexes and Records


 * 1901-1930 – Naturalization Petitions of the U.S. Circuit and District Courts for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 1906-1930; and 1901-1906 on Fold3.com - ($), indexed, National Archives publication M1622, Middle District court was created in 1901, for earlier dates try the Eastern and Western District court records
 * 1901-1930 - Middle District, US Circuit and District Courts: Naturalization petitions, 1906-1930 located in U.S. Naturalization Records - Original Documents, 1795-1972 (World Archives Project) database on Ancestry.com - ($), indexed, National Archives publication M1622, Middle District court was created in 1901, for earlier dates try the Eastern and Western District court records

Original Naturalization Records on Microfilm


 * 1802-1906 Naturalization and Declaration of Intention Papers

Newspapers
Newspapers of Adams County


 * Chronicling America
 * Pennsylvania Newspapers

Online Newspapers

To learn if there are newspapers on line for a specific town or city in Pennsylvania, see news.google.com/newspapers and search for the town or the name of a newspaper


 * The Adams Centinel Nov 19, 1800 - Mar 19, 1883
 * The Centinel (Gettysburg, Pa.) 1805-1813
 * Adams County News Nov 28, 1908-25 August 1917. Also on Ancestry.com ($)
 * Gettysburg Compiler January 1, 1869-December 26, 1953
 * The Gettysburg Gazette January 21, 1803 - August 19, 1803
 * the Gettysburg Times January 1, 1909 - April 30, 2009
 * The Republican Compiler September 16, 1818 - July 16, 1888
 * The Sprig of Liberty Jan 27, 1804 - Jan 23, 1807

Online Newspaper Abstracts


 * PA-Roots Newspaper Articles Adams County.
 * Miscellaneous Newspaper Articles

Newspaper Excerpts and Abstracts


 * Stover, Robert, Abstracts From the Republican Compiler, Adams County, Pennsylvania 1831-1851 (Gettysburg, PA:R. Stover, c1976) ;
 * Sullivan, Raymond (compiler), A collection of newspaper clippings of vital records from the Evening Sun, Gazette and Daily, Adams Co., York Co., Pennsylvania, Carroll Co., Maryland, 1968-1969; Sykesville Times Caroll County Times, Carroll Co., Maryland, 1967-1968, 1967-1969 (SLC, Utah:1969) Includes "Evening Sun," (Gazette and Daily) " "Carroll Co. Times," Sykesville Times," (Gazette and Daily) and "Evening Sun."

Obituaries
Obituaries are generally found in local newspapers where the person died. However, sometimes an obituary is found in the location from which he or she originated. To find an obituary, see the information under the Newspaper heading.

Online Obituary Abstracts


 * USGenWeb Archives Adams County Obituaries
 * PA-Roots Obituaries for Adams County.

Probate Records
Online Probate Records

Original probate records for some Pennsylvania counties are available free online as digital images at FamilySearch.org. The dates vary significantly for each county and not all counties are listed. Some counties may only have probate indexes. This Pennsylvania collection of images may be browsed through the links listed below:

Complete Collection:


 * 1683-1994- at FamilySearch.org 

Adams County Only:


 * 1849-1976- Adams County Probate Records

Original Probate Records on Microfilm


 * 1849-1976 Estate files
 * 1800-1851 Register of wills -Index included: 1800-1864


 * 1800-1864 - Young, Henry James. An Index to the Wills and Administration Bonds of Adams County, Pennsylvania (Books "A-G") 1800-1864. 1940. Digital version at - free.

Courthouse
Adams County Courthouse 111 Baltimore St. Gettysburg, PA 17325-2312 Phone: (717) 334-6781 Hours: M - F  8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.  The courthouse houses records of county births and deaths (1893-1905) and Marriage records (1885- to the present). The Office of the Prothonotary is located in the courthouse and is a good place to search for divorce and civil case records.

County of Adams Prothonotary 117 Baltimore Street Room 104 Gettysburg, PA 17325 Phone: 717-337-9834

County of Adams Clerk of Courts &amp; Orphans' Court 117 Baltimore Street Room 103 Gettysburg, PA 17325 Phone: 717-337-9806

Accounts, Adoptions, and Guardian records are filed in the Orphans' Court. The court maintains records from 1800 to the present. They also have indexes to birth records from 1852 to 1855 and 1893 to 1905, indexes to death records from 1852 to 1855 and 1893 to 1905, and indexes to marriage records from 1852 to 1855.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Gettysburg Pennsylvania Family History Center (New Oxford)

Libraries
Adams County Library System 140 Baltimore Street Gettysburg, PA 17325 Phone: (717) 334-5716 Fax: (717) 334-7992 Mon-Thurs: 9 am to 8:30 pm Fri/Sat: 9 am to 5 pm Sun: 1 pm to 5 pm

Museums
Appalachian Trail Museum Society 1120 Pine Grove Road Gardners, PA 17342 Phone: (812) 936-3366

Societies
Adams County Historical Society P.O. Box 4325 111 Seminary Ridge Gettysburg, PA 17325 Phone: (717) 334-4723

Houses the county's historical records. Website includes helpful worksheets for Adams County census, property, surname, and taxation research. Finding Aids available online cover microfilms, vertical file index, family file index, list of cemeteries, list of clergymen, Marsh Creek German Baptist Brethren Index, Marsh Creek Congregation Church of the Brethren Index, Adams County Delayed Birth Register 1893-1905, Original Land Records Name Index (3 vols.). A look-up service is available for a small fee. Includes Battle of Gettysburg Research Center.


 * Come Join our Adams County Genealogy Group on Facebook

Taxation

 * Adams County USGenWeb Project This site has the Returns of Taxables of the County of York for the Years 1779, 1780, 1781, 1782, and 1783 online. Adams County was a part of York County during these years.

Birth

 * 1726-1930 - - free index. Not complete for all years. This index is an electronic index for the years 1726 to 1930. It is not necessarily intended to index any specific set of records. This index is not complete for any particular place or region. This collection may include information previously published in the International Genealogical Index or Vital Records Index collections.
 * 1852-1854 – Pennsylvania Births Ancestry.com – $ Index with images.
 * 1893-1905 - Adams County Delayed Birth Register 1893-1905 at Adams County Historical Society website - free. Includes name, gender, date of birth.

Marriage

 * 1700-1821 - Pennsylvania Marriage Records Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties.
 * Pre-1810 – Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties. Includes 35,000 marriage records from vol. VIII of of the second series of the Pennsylvania Archives.
 * 1725-1976 - - free index. Not complete for all years. This index is not necessarily intended to index any specific set of records. This index is not complete for any particular place or region. This collection may include information previously published in the International Genealogical Index or Vital Records Index collections.
 * 1852-1854 - Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry.com – ($) Index with images.
 * 1885-1950 - Extracted marriage records – free. This database is incomplete for all counties. May also contain marriage records earlier than 1885.
 * Marriage Records alphabetically arranged at Adams County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

Divorce
Divorce records are available through the office of the Prothonotary. The office of the Prothonotary is located in the courthouse building.

Death

 * 1852-1854 – Pennsylvania Deaths Ancestry.com – $ Index with images.

Web Sites

 * Adams County Government Web Site


 * Adams County USGenWeb Project This site contains a significant number of links to online Adams County genealogical data.


 * Linkpendium - Adams County




 * FamilyHart Online Database, [mailto:familyhart@aol.com FamilyHart](aka Don &amp; Jeanine Hartman), has the largest collection of York and Adams County family genealogies online (Total database size over 630,000 linked names, most with York and Adams County ties). They also have a large collection of family photgraphs, documents, and headstone pictures associated with these families.


 * Harry Senft York and Adams County Cemetery Pictures Harry Senft has taken pictures of 100s of 1000s of headstones in over 200 cemeteries in York and Adams counties that are ALL posted online. In conjunction with [mailto:familyhart@aol.com FamilyHart] (aka Don &amp; Jeanine Hartman), Custom Google Maps for each cemetery location have been produced so that the user can easily find the cemetery. An index of the cemeteries listed is also provided by name and by location. In addition, indexing of the actual cemetery picture files with links to the FamilyHart Online Databaseare being compiled. The FamilyHart Online Database contains over 600,000 linked family names, most of which have connections to York and Adams counties. This family database is the most comprehensive and complete listing of York and Adams County names on the Internet. It grows by about 1,000 names per week, and is updated online quarterly.


 * Pennsylvania Dutch Family History, Genealogy, Culture and Life This site contains links to everything Pennsylvania Dutch.