Snyder County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania Snyder County

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Union County 2 March 1855.
 * County Seat: Middleburg
 * Neighboring Counties: residents may also have records in Union (north) • Perry (south) •  Juniata (southwest)  • Mifflin (west)  •  Northumberland (east)

Named for Simon Snyder, Governor (1808-1817), of Pennsylvania.

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.

Lutheran
The first church building in Selin's Grove was the Union Church (later known as the First Lutheran Church). The Evangelical Lutheran Church was created from members of the First Lutheran Church in 1843.


 * 1889-1943 – Zion Lutheran Church, Snyder County, Pennsylvania at Ancestry.com – ($), includes baptism, marriages, and burials

Methodist
It is unknown when the Methodist Episcopal Church was first organized, but they errected their own church in 1848.

Reformed
The Reformed congregation met as early as 1780. In 1802 they met in a union church with the Lutherans until 1855 when they built their own church.

Land and Property
Land records in Snyder County began in 1855. These records are filed with the Register and Recorder office in Middleburg, 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.

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 Snyder 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 Pomeroy &amp; Beers 1868 Atlas of Union &amp; Snyder Counties, Pennsylvania. 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.

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

Snyder County Only:


 * 1816–1980 – Snyder County Probate Records

Courthouse

 * Snyder County Courthouse P.O. Box 217 9 West Market Street Middleburg, PA 17842 Phone: (570) 837-4208
 * Copies of documents including birth, marriages, deaths, divorces, land, and probate records can be obtained by using: Pennsylvania Public Record. Click on the link for the record you wish to request.

Libraries
The Snyder County Libraries have four branches. The main library is temporarily located in the Jackson Penn Elementary School, 297 Route 204, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, 17870. Their phone number is (570) 374-7163. Call to verify location and hours. They have access to Ancestry.com, if you visit the library.

Societies

 * Synder County Historical Society 30 East Market St P.O. Box 276 Middleburg PA 17842 570-837-6191 e-mail: schs@snydercounty.org Library collection includes family genealogies, local histories, church records, pastoral records, funeral records, microfilm of historical newspapers and U.S. census records. Hours are posted on the website. Visitors will be charged a $2.00 user fee, with no charge for members of the society. The fee for research requests by mail, phone or e-mail is $20.00 plus copy costs.

County-wide Database

 * 1700-1821 - Pennsylvania Marriage Records Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties.
 * Pre-1810 – Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties. Includes 35,000 marriage records from vol. VIII of of the second series of the Pennsylvania Archives.

Birth

 * 1852-1854 – Pennsylvania Births Ancestry.com – $ Index with images.

Marriage

 * 1725-1976 - - free index. Not complete for all years.

Divorce
Divorce records are handled by the office of the Prothonotary. While no on-line indexes or records are available, records may be obtained by visiting or writing to the Prothonotary at:


 * Office of Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts Snyder County Courthouse P.O. Box 217 9 West Market Street Middleburg, Pennsylvania 17842 Phone: 570–837-4202 E-mail: [mailto:prothonotary@snydercounty.org prothonotary@snydercounty.org]

Death

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

Yearbooks

 * Susquehanna University Yearbooks - 1898-2010 (almost all inclusive) via the Internet Archive

Web Sites

 * Susquehanna PAGenWeb - free genealogy resources; part of the national USGenWeb Project