Erie County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States  Pennsylvania  Erie County

Historical Facts


Named for Lake Erie. Erie is also the name of a tribe of Indians who lived south and east of the lake before 1654. Over half of Erie County was located in an area called the Erie Triangle. This area was under claim by Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. These four states surrendered their claims to the federal government, which in turn sold this area to Pennsylvania in 1792.

Parent County
Erie County was created from Allegheny County on March 12, 1800. The county was unable to sustain itself and was united with Crawford County by an act passed April 9, 1801. The county seat was at Meadville. This relationship continued until 1803, when the first county officers were elected in Erie County, and Erie became the county seat.

Boundary Changes
In 1850 a boundary line dispute between Erie and Crawford counties was settled. The line was straightened and a long, narrow strip of land was added to Erie County and some land was added to Crawford County. A number of Crawford County citizens became residents of Erie County and a less number of Erie County residents were shifted to Crawford County.

Neighboring Counties
Crawford | Warren | Chautauqua County, New York | Ashtabula County, Ohio

Record Loss
The Courthouse suffered a fire on March 23, 1823. The building and all books, papers, and records were destroyed.

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


 * Intergreen Gorge Cemetery, Harborcreek BillionGraves
 * Dunn Valley Cemetery, McKean BillionGraves

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.

Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Erie

Prothonotary
The Prothonotary is the Clerk of the civil division of the Court of Common Pleas. The office of the Prothonotary is located in the main courthouse building:

Erie County Prothonotary Erie County Courthouse, Room 120 140 West 6th Street Erie, PA 16501 Telephone: (814) 451-6250 Email: prothonotary@eriecountygov.org

History

 * History of Erie County 1843 from GenealogyTrails.
 * Erie County from An Illustrated History of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1876, from archive.org.
 * History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, 1884, by Samuel P. Bates. Transcription on line from the Erie County PAGenWeb site. Digitized book on line at archive.org.
 * History of Erie Co from its First Settlement, 1894, by Laura G. Sanford. Digitized book on line at archive.org.
 * Nelson's Biographical Dictionary &amp; Historical Reference Book of Erie County, 1896. Digitized book online at archive.org.
 * A Twentieth Century History of Erie County, Pennsylvania: A Narrative Account of Its Historic Progress, Its People, and Its Principal Interests, 1909 by John Miller, two volumes. Digitized book online at archive.org, Volume 1 Volume 2
 * Popular History of Erie County, Pennsylvania by D. P. Robbins. Digitized book on line at archive.org.
 * History of Erie County Pennsylvania, 1925 by John Elmer Reed. Digitized book on line at archive.org.
 * Images of America : Erie County, PA by Erie Yesterday. Limited preview at GoogleBooks
 * Lost Erie: The Vanished Heritage of City and County, 1991 by John R. Claridge, Erie County Historical Society. Available from the Erie County Historical Society
 * Historic Erie County: An Illustrated History, 2004 by Edward T. Wellejus, Erie County Historical Society. Available from the Erie County Historical Society
 * Souvenir of Erie, Penna. 1888, Illustrated. Also called: The City of Erie, PA, 1888.
 * Erie: a Guide to the City and County, 1938. Digitized book on line at archive.org.
 * Erie County, PA Tornadoes, Blizzards, Floods and Other Events
 * Greetings from Wesleyville by Debbi Lyon. http://www.erieyesterday.org/local-author-debbi-lyon/
 * Greetings from Wesleyville Vol. 2 by Debbi Lyon.

Land and Property
Land records in Erie County began in 1823. These records are filed with the Recorder of Deeds office in Erie, 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


 * 1976–present Erie County offers online access to records. Fees apply.

Land Records on Microfilm


 * 1823–1946 Deed Books, 1823-1886; Deed Index, 1823-1946.
 * 1815–1919 Mortgages, 1815-1836; Mortgage Index, 1823-1919. Earlier records are for what would later become Erie County that fell within the boundaries of the parent counties.

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 Erie 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
Ancestor Tracks has posted free downloadable images from the Map of Erie County, Pennsylvania from Actual Surveys by &amp; under Supervision of J. Chace Jr. (Troy, NY: McLeran &amp; Morris Publishers, 1855). 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 commercially. We hereby give permission to use them strictly for personal use; please attribute to Ancestor Tracks.

Migration
Early migration routes for European settlers to and from included:


 * Lake Erie
 * Catskill Turnpike, trail 1760s; turnpike 1804, from Catskill to Bath, New York with extensions to Buffalo, New York, or Erie, Pennsylvania
 * Lake Shore Path, 1792 from Buffalo, New York to Cleveland, Ohio

Newspapers
Several different newspapers are available on microfilm in the Heritage Room at the Blasco Memorial Library in Erie, PA. Some of the titles include the Erie Gazette, the Erie Observer, the Erie Dispatch, Erie Dispatch-Herald, the Erie Daily Times, the Erie Morning News and the Erie Times-News. Some of the Erie County newspapers that are available on microfilm include the Cosmopolite (Girard, PA), the Corry Evening Journal and the Edinboro Independent. The library also has one German language newspaper on microfilm.

Obituaries
The Erie County Library compiled and maintains a paper and an online version for Erie County obituaries. The index comes from Erie newspapers and covers 1822 to the present. Microfilmed copies of the newspapers are located in the Heritage Room of the Blasco Memorial Library. The Information Services staff of the Library will do limited genealogical research or requests for obituaries by mail. There is a fee for this service.

Courthouse


Erie County Courthouse Room 122 140 West 6th Street Erie, PA 16501 Phone: (814) 451-6260

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Erie Pennsylvania Family History Center

Erie County Public Library
The Erie County Public Library maintains a large collection of genealogical materials. The majority of this collection is housed in the Heritage Room on the second floor of the Blasco Memorial Library. The focus of this collection is Northwestern Pennsylvania and the tri-state area. An important part of their holdings are the obituary indexes that cover 1822 to the present. The Heritage Room has microfilm copies of the Erie newspapers, going back to 1820. They also have microfilm copies of the 1800 to 1930 censuses for Erie County and selected censuses for other Pennsylvania counites. Additionally the library has city directories for Erie beginning in 1853 and suburban directories beginning in 1957. The library subscribes to Ancestry.com Library Edition and to HeritageQuest Online. The Blasco Memorial Library is located at 160 East Front St. Erie, PA 16507.

Erie Society for Genealogical Research (ESGR)
The Erie Society for Genealogical Research is a non-profit organization run by volunteer officers elected by the membership. It is affiliated with the Erie County Historical Society. The offices for both societies are housed in the Erie County History Center located at 417-419 State Street in Erie, Pennsylvania. The ESGR through their volunteer research committee will peform some research requests. The types of research that they are able to undertake, and the fees involved, are outlined and may be obtained by clicking on this types of research link. A valuable tool that the ESGR provides on their website is a name index to the Keystone Kuzzins publication. Keystone Kuzzins is quarterly publication of the Erie Society for Genealogical Research and has been published for over 30 years. The index contains over 85,000 name entries. They also provide a subject index which covers volume 1 through volume 25. The mailing address for the Erie Society for Genealogical Research is PO Box 1403 Erie, PA 16512-1403.

Vital Records
Vital records are kept by the County Orphan's Court. Between the years 1852-1855 Pennsylvania made a failed attempt to record birth, marriage and death events at the county level. There are no known vital records kept from that time period for Erie County. County marriage records were kept in earnest in 1885. Births and deaths, at the county level, were begun in 1893 and kept through 1905.

Birth
Birth records for the City of Erie began May 1, 1888. The birth registers for Erie City are maintained by the Erie County Historical Society. They have an agreement with Erie Society for Genealogical Research to handle all genealogy requests from walk-in researchers, people who phone, write in or e-mail requests for information on family history. These birth registers are not indexed and do not list the child's name. You must know the parent's name. If a delayed birth certificate was made then the child's name was added to the register. The records cannot be viewed by the general public. To obtain copies of a birth record that occured in the city of Erie from 1888 through November 1905, you may write to:

ESGR PO Box 1403 Erie, PA 16512-1403

Birth records for Erie County began in 1893. The Erie County Clerk of Records maintains birth records through 1905. Individuals are allowed to search these records. The Clerk of Records office will conduct a search for you, but there is a search fee of $20.00 payable to the Clerk of Records. To obtain a copy of birth record in the 1893–1905 time period you may contact:

County of Erie Births Clerk of Records Room 122, Erie County Courthouse 140 W 6th St. Erie, PA 16501

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


 * Birth records, 1893-1906 

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

Marriage
Erie County marriages are maintained by the Clerk of Records. Erie County began recording marriages in 1885. To obtain a marriage record you may go to or mail the Clerk of Records office at:

Erie County Courthouse 140 West 6th Street, Room 120 Erie, PA 16501

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


 * Marriage License Dockets (Erie County, Pennsylvania), 1885-1950 ; index, 1885-1968 

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

Erie County Prothonotary Erie County Courthouse, Room 120 140 West 6th Street Erie, PA 16501 Phone:814–451-6250

E–mail: [mailto:prothonotary@eriecountygov.org prothonotary@eriecountygov.org]

Death
Death records for the city of Erie exist beginning July 5, 1875. They are available from the [http://erie.pa-roots.com/ Erie Society for Genealogical Research (ESGR). ]According to their website "There are five volumes of the death records dating from July 5, 1875 to January 24, 1908. There are six volumes of indices for these records. Typical information found for each entry is: name, color, sex, age, marital status, occupation, date of death, cause of death, place of birth, ward number, street address, time of residence, name of physician, place of intended interment, date of intended interment, date of certificate, and name of undertaker." They have records to January 24, 1908. These records cannot be viewed by the general public. You may request ESGR to research the city vital records in your behalf.

Erie County began recording deaths in 1893. Records from 1893 – 1905 are available at the Clerk of Records office in Erie City. You may request a death record from the Clerk of Records. The address is:

County of Erie Deaths Clerk of Records Room 122, Erie County Courthouse 140 W 6th St. Erie, PA 16501

These county death records were microfilmed by FamilySearch.


 * Death records, 1892-1906 – 

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

 * Erie County PAGenWeb site maps, history and other information.
 * Erie County Old Photos