Cambria County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

Guide to Cambria 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.

Cambria County Pennsylvania Historical Facts


Parent Counties: Formed from Somerset and Huntingdon Counties 26 March 1804.

County Seat: Ebensburg

Neighboring Counties: residents may also have records in:


 * Clearfield
 * Blair
 * Indiana
 * Somerset
 * Westmoreland
 * Bedford
 * Centre

Description
The county was named for the nation of Wales, which in Latin is known as "Cambria". It's county seat is Ebensburg. It was organized November 2, 1807. It is located in the Northwest corner of the state.

==== Boundary Changes ====


 * Prior to 1771: Future Cambria County was part of Cumberland County.
 * 9 March 1771: Bedford County (including the area of future Cambria County) was created from Cumberland County.
 * 20 September 1787: When Huntingdon County was carved from Bedford County, half of Cambria County was part of Huntingdon County and half remained in Bedford County.
 * 17 April 1795: When Somerset County was formed from Bedford County, half of Cambria became part of Somerset County while the other half stayed in Huntingdon 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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Biographies

 * Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria County by Samuel Wiley, 1896 at Cambria County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

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

Church Records
The three religious groups that settled early in Cambria County were the Pennsylvania Germans and Scotch Irish Presbyterians in the south, Catholics who came from Maryland and settled in the northeast, and Welch Protestants who settled in the central part of the county.

Finding Church Records at Other Repositories

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


 * Historical Society of Pennsylvania
 * 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.
 * Benedictine Fathers in Cambria County, Pennsylvania at Cambria County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives
 * History of St. Augustine's Parish at Cambria County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives


 * Contains church records of:
 * Barnesboro: St. Thomas Episcopal Church
 * Blandburg: Blandburg Evangelical Lutheran Church
 * Ebensburg: First United Presbyterian Church
 * Elton: Dunmyer Evangelical Lutheran Church
 * Glasgow: Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
 * Johnstown: Bethany Presbyterian Church
 * Lilly: St. Luke's Lutheran Church
 * Patton: Trinity Episcopal Church
 * Portage: First Lutheran Church

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. Cambria County 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.

Land and Property
Land records in Cambria County began in 1804. These records are filed with the Recorder of Deeds office in Ebensburg, 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


 * 1869–1886 Deeds.

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 Cambria 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)
 * Cambria County maps, including the 1890 atlas showing land owners, have been posted at the PAGenWeb site

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

Online Naturalization 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
 * 1835-1991 – Cambria County Naturalization Records Index 1835-1991 on Johnstown Area Genealogical and Historical Society - free, orignals at the Cambria County Public Records Center


 * 1835 - Cambria County Naturalization Records 1835 at PAGenWeb - free.

Original Naturalization Records on Microfilm


 * 1835-1906 Naturalization Dockets - Index included

Newspapers
Newspapers of Cambria County


 * Pennsylvania Newspapers
 * Chronicling America US Newspaper Directory


 * Johnstown - Tribune Democrat
 * Ebensburg - Mountaineer Herald

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 Cambria County.

Newspaper Excerpts and Abstracts


 * Democrat and Sentinel (Ebensburg, Pennsylvania) (SLC, Utah, 1954)

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


 * USGenWeb Cambria County Obituary Abstracts
 * PA-Roots Obituaries for Cambria County.

Obituary Excerpts and Abstracts


 * Teeter, Grace A., The Nathaniel Teeter Family and Other Related Families (Rialto, California:G.A. Teeter, 1997) Digitized version available through Family Search catalog entry.

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

Cambria County Only:


 * 1806-1980-Cambria County Probate Records
 * 1808-1854, 1899-1907 - Cambria County Will Indexes, Vol. 1 and Vol. 5 at PAGenWeb - free.

Online Probate Indexes


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


 * 1683 - 1994 at FamilySearch — images

Original Probate Records on Microfilm


 * 1808-1919 Records of the Orphan's Court and Register of Wills -Estate and Proceedings Indexes included, 1806-1980

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

Courthouse

 * Cambria County Courthouse 200 South Center Street Ebensburg, PA 15931 Phone: (814) 472-5440


 * Clerk of Courts Phone: (814) 472-1540


 * Orphans' Court Phone: (814) 472-1438


 * Prothonotary Phone: (814) 472-1638 Fax: (814) 472-5632

Family History Centers

 * Johnstown Pennsylvania Family History Center

Libraries
Blair County Genealogical Society The Roller-Hojeth Memorial Library 431 S. Scotch Valley Road Hollidaysburg, PA 16648-9697 Phone: 814-696-3492 Website For more information, see Roller-Hojeth Memorial Library
 * Collection covers Blair and surrounding counties, particularly Huntingdon, Cambria, and Bedford Counties.

Museums

 * Nant-Y-Glo Tri Area Museum and Historical Society 929 Roberts Street Nanty Glo, PA 15943 Phone: (814) 749-7352 Email: [mailto:ngtamhs@itxbb.net ngtamhs@itxbb.net]


 * Johnstown Flood Museum 304 Washington Street Johnstown, PA 15901 Website includes a list of flood victims.

Societies

 * Cambria County Historical Society 615 North Center Street P.O. Box 278 Ebensburg, PA 15931 Phone: (814) 472-6674


 * Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society 4400 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4080 Phone: (412) 687-6811 Email: [mailto:info@wpgs.org info@wpgs.org]

Taxation

 * 1820 - 1820 Summerhill Township Tax List at PAGenWeb - free.


 * 1861 - 1861 Chest Township Tax List at PAGenWeb - free.


 * 1867 - 1867 Gallitzin Township Tax List at PAGenWeb - free.


 * 1894 - 1894 Reade Township Tax List at PAGenWeb - free.

Vital Records
See also How to order Pennsylvania Vital Records

Births

 * Cambria Freeman Births 1905 - 1912 at Cambria County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

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.
 * 1885-1920 - Cambria County Marriages 1885-1920 at PAGenWeb - free.
 * 1902-1912 - Cambria Freeman Newspaper Collection at Cambria County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

Divorce
Divorce records are available through the office of the Prothonotary. The office of the Prothonotary is located in the courthouse building.

Deaths

 * 1893-1905 - Cambria County Death Index 1893-1905 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.

Genealogy Societies and Libraries

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

Cambria County Pennsylvania Genealogy Websites

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