Venango County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania  Venango County  

Historical Facts
The origination of the name "Venago" comes from as it was known to Native Americans of the region as Onenge, meaning Otter. This was corrupted into English as the Venango River

Parent Counties
1784: The future Venango County was part of the huge area secured by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, also known as the "Last Purchase"

1785-1788: The eastern part of the future Venango Co. was annexed to Northumberland County; the western portion was part of the Donation Lands

1788-1795: The eastern part of the future Venango Co. remained part of Northumberland County; the western portion became part of the newly created (1788) Allegheny Co.

1795-1800: The eastern part of the future Venango Co. became part of newly created Lycoming Co. which was carved out of Northumberland Co. in 1795; the western portion remained part of Allegheny Co.

12 March 1800: Venango County was created from Allegheny and Lycoming Counties.

Boundary Changes

 * 11 March 1839: Clarion County set off.
 * 11 April 1848: Forest County set off.

Neighboring Counties
Butler | Clarion | Crawford | Forest | Mercer | Warren

Land and Property
Due to the lack of vital records for Pennsylvania, land records are an important tool in early Pennsylvania research. Land records will list the seller and purchaser of the property and may hide clues to family connections. Land records for Venango County are available from the recorder's office for 1800 to the present.


 * There are no on-line records, but the Family History Library does deeds from 1805 to 1889 and indexes from 1800 to 1925.
 * Deeds 1805-1889; Deed Index 1800-1925

Maps

 * Ancestor Tracks has posted free, downloadable images of the 1857 Map of Venango County, Pennsylvania Compiled from Official Surveys by R. Irwin, C.H. Heydrick, and C. Heydrick and Hunt's Improved Map of Venango County Oil Regions, published by John P. Hunt in 1865. These maps located in the Library of Congress show major landowners and geographic sites at the dates 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.

Family History Centers

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

Web Sites

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