Crawford County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania  Crawford County

Guide to Crawford County, Pennsylvania ancestry, family history and genealogy in 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.

Crawford County Pennsylvania Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Allegheny County 12 March 1800.


 * County Seat: Meadville


 * Neighboring Counties: residents may also have records in:


 * Erie (north)
 * Ashtabula County, Ohio (west)
 * Mercer (south)
 * Warren (east)
 * Venango (southeast)
 * Trumbull County, Ohio (southwest)

Named for Col. William Crawford (1732 – 11 June 1782) was an American soldier and surveyor who worked as a western land agent for George Washington. Crawford fought in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. He was tortured and burnt at the stake by American Indians in a notorious incident near the end of the American Revolution. (source:Wikipedia)

Boundary Changes

 * Before 1785: Not included in any county (included in Donation Lands in 1783), still unorganized territory.
 * 9 March 1771: Bedford County created from Cumberland County.
 * 26 February 1773: Westmoreland County split off from Bedford County.
 * 27 March 1781: Washington County was created from Westmoreland County, taking a part of future Crawford County.
 * 24 September 1788: Allegheny County was created from Washington and Westmoreland counties, including the part covering future Crawford County.

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
For a list of record loss in Pennsylvania counties see: Pennsylvania Counties with Burned Courthouses

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

Cambridge: Mitchell Cemetery

Cochranton: Cochranton Cemetery

Meadville: Greendale Cemetery Meadville: Roselawn Cemetery Meadville: St. Brigid's Cemetery

Saegertown: Saegertown Cemetery

Church Records
A good reference for early churches in Crawford County is History of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The various churches are discussed in each of the township chapters. Some of the early denominations include: Baptist, Congregational, Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian and United Brethren.



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, 17:1. FamilySearch Library book 974.8 B2wg. Contains chronolgy, map, county-by-county information.

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.

Orphans' Court

 * 1825-1868 Orphans' Court records; index to Orphans Court records, 1825-1921 . Each volume also has an index.

Published Histories

 * Bates, Samuel P. et al. History of Crawford County, Pennsylvania: Containing a History of the County; Its Townships, Towns, Villages, Schools, Churches, Industries, etc.; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; Biographies; History of Pennsylvania; Statistical and Miscellaneous Matter, etc., etc. Chicago: Warner, Beers and Co., 1885. Digital version at Internet Archive - free.
 * www.crawfordcopa.com/publications.html

Land and Property
Land records in Crawford County began in 1800. These records are filed with the Register and Recorder office in Meadville, 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


 * 1800–1925 Deeds, 1800-1825; Index, 1800-1925.
 * 1800–1925 Mortgages, 1800-1828; Indexes, 1800-1925.

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 Crawford 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
Click the image to view an enlarged version


 * Maps of Pennsylvania (1673-1878)
 * Ancestor Tracks has posted free, downloadable images from the 1876 Historical Atlas of Crawford County, Pennsylvania published by J.C. McDowell. This atlas located in the files of the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg, PA, shows major landowners and geographic sites at the date of publishing.  While the physical documents 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.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Naturalization records available for Crawford 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


 * 1802-1906 Naturalization Dockets, v. 1-3
 * Naturalization Index

Newspapers
Newspapers of Crawford County


 * Pennsylvania Newspapers
 * Chronicling America US Newspaper Directory
 * Meadville Tribute

Online Newspaper Abstracts


 * PA-Roots Newspaper Articles for Crawford County.

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 Crawford County.
 * USGenWeb Obituaries for Crawford County, Pennsylvania.
 * GenealogyMisc
 * Crawford County Obituaries at Crawford County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives]

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

Crawford County Only:


 * 1800-1970-Crawford County Probate Records

Original Probate Records on Microfilm


 * 1800-1889 Register's Dockets - Index included: 1800-1970
 * 1813-1906 Will Books

Courthouse
Crawford County Courthouse 903 Diamond Park Meadville, PA 16335 Phone: 814-333-7400 or 1-800-982-9019 Hours: M-F, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds is available at 814-373-2537. The Register/Recorder maintains probate records and land records back to 1800. A search of estate records costs $10.00 and copies cost $.50 a page.

Office of the Prothonotary First Floor of the County Courthouse 903 Diamond Park Meadville, PA 16335 Phone: 814–333-7324

Museums

 * Cambridge Springs Historical Museum 26 Federal Street Cambridge Springs, PA 16403 (814)398-1827

Societies
Rich in history, contains a number of societies dealing with the history of the area.

Crawford County Historical Society P O Box 411 Meadville, PA 16335 Phone: 814.724.6080

Crawford County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 514 Meadville, PA 16335-0514

Conneaut Valley Area Historical Society 1625 Main St., PO Box 266 Conneautville, PA 16406 Phone: 814.587-3782

Linesville Historical Society 120 Erie St Linesville, PA 16424 Phone: 814.683.4299

Vital Records
See also How to order Pennsylvania Vital Records

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.

Marriage

 * 1677–1950 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1700-1821 - Pennsylvania Marriage Records Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties.
 * 1725-1976 - - free index. Not complete for all years. This index is not necessarily intended to index any specific set of records. This index is not complete for any particular place or region. This collection may include information previously published in the International Genealogical Index or Vital Records Index collections.
 * Pre-1810 – Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties. Includes 35,000 marriage records from vol. VIII of of the second series of the Pennsylvania Archives.
 * 1825-1865 Methodist circuit rider marriages including Crawford County in USGenWeb.
 * 1852-1854 - Crawford County Marriage Index 1852-1854 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batches and.
 * 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.

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 - Crawford County Death Index 1852-1854 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batch.
 * 1852-1854 – Pennsylvania Deaths Ancestry.com – ($) Index with images.
 * 1879, 1890-1898 - Titusville, Crawford County, Death Index 1879, 1890-1898 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batches and.
 * 1893-1905 - Meadville, Crawford County, Death Index 1893-1905 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.

Populated Places
Cambridge Springs | Centerville | Cochranton | Conneaut Lake | Conneautville | Espyville | Meadville | Saegertown | Spartansburg | Titusville | Townville

Genealogy Societies and Libraries

 * List of Pennsylvania Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Crawford County Pennsylvania Genealogy Websites

 * Crawford County, PA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Crawford County PA Genealogy