Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States  Pennsylvania  Huntingdon County

Historical Facts
Named for Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, who as one of benefactors of Rev. William Smith's in his exploration efforts. Rev. William Smith was responsible for laying out the town of Huntingdon in 1767.

Wikipedia

Note of Interest
Almost everyone that lives in Huntingdon County speaks English as their first language. The dominant form of speech in Huntingdon County is the Central Pennsylvania accent, although some areas of the county, such as Kishacoquillas Valley, where many Amish and Mennonite people live, German is commonly spoken.

Parent County
20 September 1787: Huntingdon County was created from Bedford County.

Boundary Changes

 * 26 March 1804: Cambria County was set off from one part of Huntingdon County along with other parts from Bedford and Somerset Counties.
 * 26 February 1846: Parts of Huntingdon and Bedford Counties were taken to create Blair County.

Neighboring Counties
Bedford | Blair | Centre | Franklin | Fulton | Juniata | Mifflin |

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

Church Records

 * 1834 Membership of Presbyterian Church of Shavers Creek Manor, USGenWeb Archives
 * Selected Baptisms, 1857-1860, First Lutheran Congregation, Penn Township, Huntingdon County, PA, USGenWeb Archives
 * Church Locations, Huntingdon County PAGenWeb
 * St. Mary's Catholic Church Shade Valley, Cromwell Township, Huntingdon County PAGenWeb

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.

Catholic

 * "100 Years of the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese 1843–1943," Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 1. . Chronology, map, county-by-county information.

Court Records
Some of the Continuence Dockets and the Quarter Session Books are stored in the basement of the Huntingdon County Court House. The Continuence Dockets have been microfilmed and are at the Huntingdon County Pennsylvania Courthouse.

Prothonotary
The Office of Prothonotary/Clerk of Courts is divided into three primary areas of responsibility, those of Prothonotary, Quarter Sessions, and Clerk of Court.

Huntingdon County Office of Prothonotary PO Box 39 Huntingdon, PA 16652

(814) 643-1610 or (814) 643-5511 (814) 643-4271 - fax email: kcoons@huntingdoncounty.net

Orphans' Court (see Vital Records)
The Huntingdon County Register &amp; Recorders Office serves the public in three distinct areas: The Register of Wills; The Recorder of Deeds and Clerk of the Orphans’ Court.

Register and Recorder Courthouse - 223 Penn St. Huntingdon, PA 16652

(814) 643-2740 (814) 643-6849 - fax vcooper@huntingdoncounty.net

Land and Property
Land records in Huntingdon County began in 1803. These records are filed with the Register and Recorder office in Huntingdon, 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:

Land Records on Microfilm


 * 1786–1972 Deeds, 1786-1866; Index to Deeds, 1786-1972; Misc. Index to Deeds, 1790- 1877.
 * 1803–1969 Mortgage Index

Additional Resources

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 Huntingdon 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.)

Newspapers
NewspaperARCHIVE.com has the Huntingdon County News online.

The Pennsylvania State Library has a book entitled Huntingdon County Newspapers, Vol I that contains notices from the Huntingdon Gazette 1806-1811. This book is not indexed. It's call number is 929.37484 NW1001 and is found in Form Room 101.

The Blair County Genealogical Society and the State Library of Pennsylvania has the Huntingdon Gazette on microfilm.

The Blair County Genealogical Society has a copy of the book Huntingdon County Newspaper: A Finding List which was compiled by M. M. Faust and Nancy S. Shedd for the Huntingdon County Historical Society.

Probate Records
The Huntingdon County Historical Society has a wonderful every name indexed compilation by Linnaria B Wheland of Huntingdon County Will Abstracts from 1787-1846.

The original inventories for Huntington county are housed at the Huntington Historical Society.

Courthouse
Huntingdon County Courthouse Register and Recorder Courthouse - 223 Penn St. Huntingdon, PA 16652 (814) 643-2740 (814) 643-8152 - fax

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Societies
Huntingdon County Historical Society

Taxation
Many of the tax lists have been microfilmed, but no one repository has them all. The Huntingdon County Historical Society, State Library of Pennsylvania and the Family History Library each have collections. One can purchase a microfilm roll from the Huntingdon County Historical Society and the State Library of Pennsylvania. The Family History Library will loan their films to their various centers for a small fee.


 * 1788 - Returns of Taxables for the Counties of Bedford (1773 to 1784), Huntingdon (1788), Westmoreland (1783, 1786), Fayette (1785, 1786), Allegheny (1791), Washington (1786) and Census of Bedford (1784) and Westmoreland (1783). (Pennsylvania Archives, Series 3, Vol. 22). Digital versions at Ancestry ($); Google Books - free.


 * 1798 - Pennsylvania, U.S. Direct Tax Lists, 1798 at Ancestry ($).

Birth
Some birth records exist for the 1852–1853 time period for Huntingdon County. Only a small percentage of births were recorded in this time period. These records are available at:


 * 1852-1854- Pennsylvania Births – Ancestry.com – $ Index with images
 * Marriages and Deaths, 1852-1854, Births, 1852-1853 –

Birth records for Huntingdon County began in 1894. The Huntingdon County Clerk of the Orphans' Court maintains the birth records from 1894–1905. To obtain a copy of birth record in the 1894–1905 time period you may contact the Huntingdon County Register and Recorder.

The birth records for Huntingdon County were microfilmed by FamilySearch. These microfilms may be ordered into a local FamilySearch Center or authorized public library for a small fee.


 * Birth Registers, 1893-1905, 1941 –

Beginning in 1906 Pennsylvania birth records are available through the Department of of Health. Birth records become public after 105 years. A statewide index is available. Once an individual is located in the index a certificate can be obtained by writing to:

Division of Vital Records ATTN: Public Records P.O. Box 1528 New Castle, PA 16103

The cost for an non-certified birth certificate is $3.00.

Some Huntingdon County births can be found online in Pennsylvania, Births and Christenings, 1709-1950.

Marriage
Huntingdon County marriages are maintained by the Register and Recorder of Huntingdon County. The county began recording marriages in 1885. A few marriage records were created by the county in the 1853–1854 time period. To obtain a marriage record you may go to or contact the Register and Recorders office.

A free online index with images to some Huntingdon County marriages can be found in the FamilySearch Records Collecton, Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885 – 1950. Most of the records consist of marriage licenses, certificates, applications, docket books, and affidavits. These records have been microfilmed.


 * Marriages and Deaths, 1852-1854, Births, 1852-1853 –
 * Marriage License Dockets, 1885-1907 –

You may also check online fot these marriage listings:


 * 1787-1823, Marriages by Rev. John Johnston 1787-1823, from J. Simpson Africa's History of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, (1883), PAGenWeb
 * 1885-1887, Marriage Licences, contributed by Barbara Lautherboren, PAGenWeb
 * Huntingdon County Marriage Applications, Licenses &amp; Certificates, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives
 * Huntingdon County Marriage Notices, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

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

Death
Huntingdon County began recording deaths in 1893 although some were recorded from 1852–1854. These records are available in the County Courthouse in Huntingdon. You may request a death record from the Register and Recorder.

The 1852-1854 county death records were microfilmed by FamilySearch. They are available through Family History Centers and at the Pennsylvania State Archives.


 * 1807-1827 - Huntingdon County Deaths,1807-1827, PAGenWeb, extracted from J. Simpson Africa's History of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, Pennsylvania, 1883. (Free)
 * 1836-1846 - Huntingdon County Deaths, 1836-1846, PAGenWeb, extracted from the Hollidaysburg Record, a weekly newspaper of Blair County. (Free)
 * 1852-1854 – Pennsylvania Deaths Ancestry.com – $ Index with images
 * Death Registers and Reports, 1894–1896 Partial listing of P surnames – USGenWeb Archives
 * Marriages and Deaths, 1852-1854, Births, 1852-1853 –

Pennsylvania death certificates become public records after 50 years. An annual index is released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Records less than 50 years old are kept by the Division of Vital Records and are not public certificates. Only certain people can request a non-public death certificate. To order a non-public representative you must be:


 * Legal representative of decedent's estate
 * Immediate family member
 * Extended family member who indicates a direct relationship to the decedent
 * Power of Attorney (Please note that a Power of Attorney document is no longer valid upon the death of the individual)

See the Pennsylvania Department of Health website to obtain a copy of a non-public death certificate. The cost is $9.

The cost for a non-certified public death certificate is $3.00. Indexes for Pennsylvania public death records are available online through the Department of Health for 1906 through 1961. Once an individual is located in the index a certificate can be obtained by writing to:

Division of Vital Records ATTN: Public Records PO Box 1528 New Castle, PA 16103

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.