Cameron County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

Guide to Cameron 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.

Cameron County Pennsylvania Historical Facts


Parent Counties: Formed from Clinton, Elk, McKean and Potter Counties 29 March 1860.

County Seat: Emporium

Neighboring Counties: Cameron County residents may also have records in:


 * McKean
 * Clinton
 * Elk
 * Clearfield
 * Potter

Description
The county was named for Senator Simon Cameron. It's county seat is Emporium. It was organized March 29, 1860. It is located in the Central section of the state.

==== Boundary Changes ====


 * Before 1795: Future Cameron County was part of Northumberland County.
 * 13 April 1795: Lycoming County (including future Cameron County) was created from Northumberland County.
 * 26 March 1804: When McKean and Potter Counties were formed from Lycoming County, parts of future Cameron County were included in each, while about a third of today's Cameron remained in Lycoming County.
 * 21 January 1839: When Clinton County was formed from Lycoming and Centre Counties, what is today's Cameron County was split between McKean, Potter, and Clinton Counties.
 * 18 April 1843: A small part of Cameron County was included in Elk County when it was created.

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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

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

Church Records
Finding Church Records at Other Repositories

Additional church records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Cameron County Church Records in online catalogs like:


 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
 * FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

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.

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. Cameron County shares its judicial district with Elk County, Pennsylvania. Judges of the Common Pleas courts are elected to 10-year terms. A president judge and a court administrator serve in each judicial district.

Land and Property
Land records in Cameron County began in 1860. These records are filed with the Recorder of Deeds office in Emporium, 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


 * 1860–1902 Deed books, 1860-1889; Deed Indexes, 1860-1902.

Additional Resources

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 Cameron County Pennsylvania Land in online catalogs such as:


 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog.)
 * (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search.)

Maps

 * Maps of Pennsylvania (1673-1878)

Naturalization and Citizenship
Naturalization records available for Cameron County, Pennsylvania include the following:

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 - ($), indexed, National Archives publication M1622, Middle District court was created in 1901, for earlier dates try the Eastern and Western District court records
 * 1901-1930 - Middle District, US Circuit and District Courts: Naturalization petitions, 1906-1930 located in U.S. Naturalization Records - Original Documents, 1795-1972 (World Archives Project) database on Ancestry.com - ($), indexed, National Archives publication M1622, Middle District court was created in 1901, for earlier dates try the Eastern and Western District court records

Original Naturalization Records on Microfilm


 * 1862-1906 Naturalization Dockets

Newspapers
Newspapers of Cameron County


 * Pennsylvania Newspapers
 * Chronicling America US Newspaper Directory

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.

Online Newspaper Abstracts


 * PA-Roots Newspaper Articles for Cameron 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

Online Obituary Abstracts

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

Cameron County Only:


 * 1854-1976-Cameron County Probate Records

Online Probate Indexes


 * 1683 - 1993 Pennsylvania Wills and Probate Records 1683-1993 at Ancestry.com — index and images $


 * 1683 - 1994 at FamilySearch — images

Archives

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

Courthouse

 * Cameron County Courthouse 20 E. Fifth St. Emporium, PA 15834 Phone: (814) 486-3355


 * Orphans' Court Phone: (814) 486-3355


 * Prothonotary Phone: (814) 486-3349

Family History Centers
Family History Centers (FHCs) are branches of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and are located all over the world. Their goal is to provide resources for family history research.

The main FHC for Cameron County, Pennsylvania is the Cameron County Historical Society. For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the FHC directory.

Libraries
The Barbara Moscato Brown Library 27 West 4th St P.O. Box 430 Emporium, PA 15834-0430 Phone: (814) 486-8011 EMail: [mailto:brocampl@zitomedia.net brocampl@zitomedia.net]

Societies
Cameron County Historical Society P. O. Box 433 Emporium, PA 15834 Email: [mailto:Info@thelittlemuseum.org Info@thelittlemuseum.org]

Vital Records
See also How to order Pennsylvania Vital Records

Marriages

 * 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.
 * 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.

Genealogy Societies and Libraries

 * List of Pennsylvania Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical Genealogical Societies

Cameron County Pennsylvania Genealogy Websites

 * Cameron County, PA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Linkpendium - Cameron County
 * USGenWeb project
 * Cameron County PA Genealogy