Beaver County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania  Beaver County

Guide to Beaver County, Pennsylvania ancestry, family history and genealogy 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.

Beaver County Pennsylvania Historical Facts



 * Parent Counties: Formed from Allegheny, Lycoming and Washington Counties 12 March 1800.


 * County Seat: Beaver


 * Neighboring Counties:
 * Lawrence
 * Butler
 * Columbiana County, Ohio
 * Hancock County, West Virginia
 * Washington
 * Allegheny

Boundary Changes

 * 1780: Future southern 1/3 of Beaver County was disputed between Virginia and Pennsylvania until Mason-Dixon Line was finalized.
 * 1785: Future northern 2/3 was not included in any county until 1785.
 * 27 January 1750: Future southern 1/3 was incorporated into Cumberland County when it was formed.
 * 9 March 1771: Future southern 1/3 became part of Bedford County when it was erected.
 * 26 February 1773: Future southern 1/3 became part of Westmoreland County when it was formed.
 * 28 March 1781: Future southern 1/3 became part of Washington County when it was formed.
 * 1783: Future northern 2/3 was designated as Depreciation Lands for Revolutionary War soldiers.
 * 1785: Future northern 2/3 was annexed to Northumberland County.
 * 24 September 1788: Nearly all of Beaver fell into Allegheny County when it was created. a small southern portion remained in Washington County.
 * 20 March 1849: Lawrence County was created, giving Beaver County its current boundaries.

For animated maps illustrating Pennsylvania county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Pennsylvania County Boundary Maps" (1673-1878) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Records Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

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

Church Records


Moravians who came in the 1770s were perhaps the earliest religious group to arrive in the county, and they came to preach to the Indians. The early settlers were almost exclusively Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who arrived by 1785. Methodists arrived in the early 1800s. They kept very poor records. Episcopalians arrived around 1799. The minister of that church performed many of the early marriages in the county.

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 – $; 7,542,774 entries. This database is incomplete for all counties.

Contains church records of:
 * Aliquippa: House of Prayer Evangelical Lutheran Church
 * Beaver: First Presbyterian Church
 * Beaver Falls: Christ Lutheran Church; First United Methodist Church
 * Conway: Conway United Presbyterian Church
 * Freedom: First Presbyterian Church
 * Monaca: Lutheran Church of the Redeemer
 * New Brighton: Christ Episcopal Church
 * Rochester: Grace Lutheran Church

Catholic

 * "100 years of the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese 1843–1943". Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Quarterly, 17:1. FamilySearch Library book 974.8 B2wg. Contains chronolgy, map, county-by-county information.
 * The Archives of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh contains all sacramental records older than 70 years beginning in 1808 for parishes in the following counties of Pennsylvania: Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Greene, Lawrence and Washington. Sacramental records include baptismal, first communion, confirmation, marriage and death registers. The only records older than 70 years that are open for research are death records. They are released without restriction. The research can only be done by Archive staff. Research fees are charged at an hourly rate. For more information about obtaining records of the Diocese and its records click here. For records before 1808 researchers should contact: Diocese of Greensburg 723 E. Pittsburgh Street Greensburg, PA 15601 Telephone: (412) 837-0901 Fax: (412) 837-0857 Website

Presbyterian

 * 1852 - 1885 United Presbyterian Church, Hookstown, Marriage Index 1852-1885 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batch.

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. Beaver County has its own judicial district.

Land and Property
Land records in Beaver County began in 1800. These records are filed with the Recorder of Deeds office in Beaver, 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


 * 1957 – present Beaver County offers online access to indexes and images. Fees apply.

Land Records on Microfilm


 * 1800 – 1918 Deeds, 1800-1887; Deed Indexes, 1800-1918.
 * 1800 – 1918 Mortgage Index.

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 Beaver County Pennsylvania Land in online catalogs such as:


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

Maps

 * Maps of Pennsylvania (1673-1878)
 * Ancestor Tracks has posted free, downloadable images of the township maps showing landowners from Map of Lawrence and Beaver Counties from Actual Surveys by N.S. Ames which was published in 1860. 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.

Revolutionary War
Men living in what is now Beaver County (then Washington and Westmoreland counties) served in the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Naturalization records available for Beaver County, Pennsylvania include the following: Online Naturalization Indexes and Records


 * 1820 - 1906 Index to Declarations and Petitions in the Western District of Pennsylvania, US Circuit and District Courts located in US Naturalization Records Indexes, 1794-1995 database on Ancestry.com - ($), National Archives publication M1208


 * 1820 - 1930 Naturalization Petitions of the U.S. District Court, 1820-1930, and Circuit Court, 1820-1911, for the Western District of Pennsylvania on Fold3.com - ($), indexed, National Archives publication M1537, incomplete for all counties


 * 1820 - 1930 Naturalization Petitions of the U.S. District Court, 1820-1930, and Circuit Court, 1820-1911, for the Western District of Pennsylvania located in Selected US Naturalization Records - Original Documents, 1790-1974 database on Ancestry.com - ($), indexed, National Archives publication M1537

Original Naturalization Records on Microfilm


 * 1906 - 1934 Declarations of Intention
 * 1804 - 1906, 1906 - 1920, 1929 - 1931 Naturalization Records - Index included: 1804-1982

Newspapers
Newspapers of Beaver County


 * Pennsylvania Newspapers
 * Chronicling America US Newspaper Directory

Online Newspapers


 * Beaver County Times - full-text of more than 11,000 issues spanning 1954-2007 available for free on Google Newspaper Archive.
 * Beaver Falls Tribune - more than 2,700 full-text issues spanning 1912-1928 available for free on Google Newspaper Archive
 * Beaver Times - full-text of close to 800 digital issues spanning 1900-1906 available for free on Google Newspaper Archive
 * Beaver Valley Times - full-text of more than 2,500 issues spanning 1946-1960 available for free on Google Newspaper Archive

Online Newspaper Abstracts


 * PA-Roots Newspaper Articles
 * Selected items from The Western Argus, 1830-1834 at Beaver County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts


 * Foster, Nancy (compiler), Every-name Index to History of the Newspapres of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. (Cincinnati, Ohio:N.B. Foster, c1993)
 * Two books by Mark H Welchley, used together, provide abstracts from the Beaver County Argus newspaper from 1830 - 1858. Argus Genealogical Gleanings covers 1830-1838 and Beaver County, Pennsylvania Marriages from Beaver County Newspapers  covers 1830-1878. Note that the content of these books do not overlap, despite the overlapping of the dates.
 * Clear, Helen G. Beaver County Deaths (abstracted from Warner's History) (S.I. : s.n., 19--) ; A list of deaths taken from newspapers. Death dates are 1817-1886.

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


 * PA-Roots Obituaries for Beaver 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


 * 1803 - 1917 Beaver County Probate Records, includes index to register's office, 1803-1965 (FamilySearch)

Online Probate Indexes


 * 1683 - 1993 Pennsylvania Wills and Probate Records 1683-1993 at Ancestry.com — index and images $


 * 1683 - 1994 at FamilySearch — images

Original Probate Records on Microfilm


 * 1803 - 1917 Probate Records -Index included: 1803-1965

Archives

 * National Archives at Philadelphia 14700 Townsend Road Philadelphia, PA 19154-1096 Phone: (215) 305-2044 Fax (215) 305-2052
 * National Archives at Philadelphia 14700 Townsend Road Philadelphia, PA 19154-1096 Phone: (215) 305-2044 Fax (215) 305-2052

Courthouse

 * Beaver County Courthouse 810 Third Street Beaver, PA 15009 Phone: (724) 728-5700


 * Clerk of Court: Room 207 Phone: (724)-770-4586


 * Register of Wills and Orphans' Court Phone: 724-770-4550


 * Prothonotary Office Phone (724)-770-4570 Fax: 724-728-3360 Email: nwerme@beavercountypa.gov

Family History Centers

 * Beaver Valley Pennsylvania Family History Center (Monaca)

Libraries

 * Beaver County Library System 109 Pleasant Drive, Suite 101 Aliquippa, PA 15001 Phone: (724) 378-6227 The Beaver County library system consists of nine libraries.

Museums

 * Beaver Area Heritage Museum 1 River Road Beaver, PA 15009 Phone: (724) 775-7174
 * Air Heritage Museum &amp; Aircraft Restoration Facility Beaver County Airport 35 Piper Street Beaver Falls, PA 15010 Phone: (724) 843-2820

Societies

 * Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society 4400 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4080 Phone: (412) 687-6811 Email: [mailto:info@wpgs.org info@wpgs.org]
 * Beaver County Genealogy History Center 1301 Seventh Avenue Beaver Falls, PA 15010 Phone: (724) 847-9253 E-mail: [mailto:beavercountyresearch@yahoo.com beavercountyresearch@yahoo.com]
 * Beaver Falls Historical Society and Museum 1301 7th Ave. Beaver Falls, PA 15010 Phone: (724) 846-4340
 * Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame 1 Campus Drive Monaca, PA 15061 Phone: (724) 869-9684

Vital Records
See also How to order Pennsylvania Vital Records

Births

 * 1852 - 1854 Pennsylvania Births Ancestry.com – ($) Index with images.
 * 1893 - 1904, 1942 - 1971 Beaver County Birth Index 1893-1904 and 1942-1971 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.

Marriages

 * 1677 - 1950 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 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.
 * 1852 - 1854 Beaver County Marriage Index 1852-1854 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1885 - 1950  Extracted marriage records – free. This database is incomplete for all counties. May also contain marriage records earlier than 1885.

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

Deaths

 * 1852 - 1854 Pennsylvania Births Ancestry.com – ($) Index with images.
 * 1852 - 1854, 1893 - 1906 Helen G Clear. Registration of Deaths, Beaver County, Pennsylvania (New Brighton, Pennsylvania: H. G. Clear, c 1984).
 * 1852 - 1854, 1893 - 1907 Beaver County Death Index 1852-1854 and 1893-1907 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1893 – 1907 Registration of Death, 2 volumes

Genealogy Societies and Libraries

 * List of Pennsylvania Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical Genealogical Societies

Beaver County Pennsylvania Genealogy Websites

 * Beaver County, PA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Linkpendium - Beaver County
 * Beaver County PAGenWeb site
 * Beaver County PA Old Photos
 * Beaver County PA Genealogy
 * , FamilySearch