Lycoming County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania Lycoming County

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Northumberland County 13 April 1795.
 * County Seat: Williamsport
 * Neighboring Counties: residents may also have records in Tioga (north) • Clinton (west) • Columbia (southeast)  • Union, Montour, and Northumberland (south)  •  Sullivan and Bradford (northeast)  •  Potter (northwest)

Lycoming County was originally named Jefferson County (not the current Jefferson County) in honor of Thomas Jefferson. This name proved to be unsatisfactory. The name change went through several steps. First a change to Lycoming County was rejected, next the name Susquehanna County (not the current Susquehanna County) was struck down as was Muncy County, before the legislature revisited and settled on Lycoming County for Lycoming Creek the stream that was the center of the pre-Revolutionary border dispute.

Boundary Changes
The county was divided several times into a large number of counties.


 * 12 March 1800: Armstrong, Centre, Venango, Warren
 * 30 March 1803: Indiana
 * 26 March 1804: Clearfield, Jefferson, McKean, Potter, Tioga
 * 21 February 1810: Ontario
 * 21 January 1839: Clinton
 * 15 March 1847: Sullivan

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

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.

Presbyterian

 * 1850s-1870s - Jersey Shore Presbyterian Church Baptisms at The USGenWeb Project - free.

Land and Property
Land records in Lycoming County began in 1804. These records are filed with the Register and Recorders office in Williamsport, 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


 * 1825–1873 Mortgages.

Additional Resources

Note that the "Maps" section below also 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 Lycoming 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 1873 Atlas of Lycoming County Pennsylvania from Actual Surveys by and under the Direction of Beach Nichols, published by A. Poweroy &amp; Co. This atlas 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 be used commercially. We hereby give permission to use them strictly for personal use; please attribute to Ancestor Tracks.

A historical map of displaying township boundaries and names of early settlers is available online in County Historical Maps of Pennsylvania at  - free. Counties arranged alphabetically.

Newspapers

 * 1807-1904 - Lycoming Newspaper Index 1807-1904 at James V. Brown Library - free. Includes marriages, obituaries, funerals, political activities, court cases, land sale notices, and news items.

Courthouse
Lycoming County Courthouse 48 West Third Street Williamsport, PA 17701

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Williamsport Pennsylvania Family History Center (Cogan Station)

Taxation

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

Birth

 * 1852-1854 – Pennsylvania Births Ancestry.com – ($) Index with images.
 * 1709-1950

Death

 * 1852-1854 – Pennsylvania Deaths Ancestry.com – ($) Index with images.

Web Sites

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