Pike County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

Guide to Pike County, Pennsylvania ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
The county was named for Zebulon Pike. It is located in the northeastern tip of the state.

County Courthouse
Pike County Courthouse 412 Broad Street Milford, PA 18337 Phone: 570-296-3556 Fax: 570-296-6054 Register of Wills Phone: 570-296-3508 extension 1160 Record of Deeds Phone: 570-296-3508 extension 1160 Prothonotary/Clerk of Courts/Orphan's Court Phone: 570-296-7231 extension 1210 Pike County Website Clerk Comm has birth, death, and burial records 1893-1905, marriage records from 1885, divorce, probate, court and land records from 1814

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cemeteries

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

Additional Cemetery Resources
 * ca.1700-ca.1950 -  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images (incomplete)


 * PA-Roots
 * Names in Stone
 * Ancestry($)

Census Records
Federal Census
 * 1850-1880  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Church Records

 * 1620-1991 (*) at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images



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 $

Methodist Members of the Methodist Church at Dingman's Ferry started gathering in 1830 although the church was not erected until 1870.

Presbyterian Church The Presbyterian Church in this county was created in 1825 in Milford.

Reformed In 1737, the Reformed Church in Port Jervis was founded. List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1798-1828  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; Alphabet index then by numbered entry
 * 1900-1923  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images only (by county)
 * 1952-1957   at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Land and Property Records
Land records in Pike County began in 1814. These records are filed with the Recorder of Deeds office in Milford, Pennsylvania.

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

Local Histories

 * History of Wayne, Pike and Monroe Counties, Pennsylvania. 1886. Ed. by Alfred Mathews. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : R.T. Peck. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Internet Archive, Google Books.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps
 * Maps of Pennsylvania (1673-1878)
 * Ancestor Tracks has a CD of the First Landowners of PA: Warrantees of Wayne &amp; Pike Counties, Map &amp; Index by Jason Torrey, 1814 ($). The CD contains first landowner names and tracts, the warrant register index for Northampton County (the source for both Pike and Wayne Counties), and the warrant registers for both counties.
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Migration
Early migration routes to Pike County for European settlers included:


 * Minsi Path from Kingston, New York to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
 * Delaware River.

Military Records
Civil War
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1865-1936  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

World War II
 * 1933-1947  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1795-1931  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1795-1952  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

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 $

Newspapers
Newspapers of Pike County

Online Newspapers

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


 * Chronicling America US Newspaper Directory.
 * Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive
 * Pennsylvania Newspapers

Online Newspaper Abstracts


 * PA-Roots Newspaper Articles for Pike County, Pennsylvania.

Obituaries

 * 1947-2021  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1977-2010  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Online Obituary Abstracts
 * PA-Roots Obituaries for Pike County, Pennsylvania.

Probate Records

 * 1683-1994  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images only (by county)

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014  at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Birth

 * 1520-1999  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1709-1950  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1852-1854 Pennsylvania Births Ancestry $
 * 1941-1976  at FamilySerch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Marriage

 * 1512-1989  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1626-2016 Pennsylvania, United States Marriages at FindMyPast ($)
 * 1677-1950  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1682-1976  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1700-1821 Pennsylvania Marriage Records Ancestry $
 * 1709-1940  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
 * Pre-1810 Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry $
 * 1852-1854 Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry $
 * 1885-1950  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1947-2010  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Death

 * 1720-1999  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index, some images
 * 1852-1854 Pennsylvania Deaths Ancestry $
 * 1856-1971  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Divorce
Divorce records are available through the office of the Prothonotary Pike County Courthouse.

Archives

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

Family History Centers

 * Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania Family History Center

Libraries

 * Pike County Public Library 201 Broad Street Milford, PA 18337 Phone: 570-296-8211 Website Visit website for branch locations and hours

Societies
Pike County Historical Society 608 Broad Street Milford, PA Phone: 570-296-8126 Email: [mailto:pikemuse@ptd.net pikemuse@ptd.net] Facebook Website Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society 57 North Franklin Street Wilkes Barre, PA 18701 Phone: 570-829-1765 Email: [mailto:nepgsmail@gmail.com nepgsmail@gmail.com] Website

Websites

 * USGenWeb
 * Pike County PA Genealogy
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.

Research Guides
Woodroofe's guide to Pike County "hidden sources" at The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania is available online:


 * Woodroofe, Helen Hutchison. "A Genealogist's Guide to Pennsylvania Records," The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 34, No. 3 (1986):239-240. Online at: WeRelate.