Warren County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

Guide to Warren 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.

Warren County Pennsylvania Historical Facts
Parent Counties: Formed from Allegheny and Lycoming Counties 12 March 1800.

County Seat: Warren

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


 * Chautauqua County, New York
 * Forest
 * Cattaraugus County, New York
 * Crawford
 * McKean
 * Elk
 * Venango
 * Erie

Description
It's county seat is Warren and was founded October 1, 1819. It is located in the West-central tip of the state.

Boundary Changes

 * 1784:  The future Warren County was part of the huge area secured by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, also known as the "Last Purchase," and much of the land was secured for speculation by the Holland Land Company


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


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


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

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

Church Records



 * Warren County Historical Society 210 Fourth Avenue PO Box 427 Warren, PA 16365 814-723-1795 Email: [mailto:warrencountyhistory@aol.com warrencountyhistory@aol.com]
 * Society houses area church records.
 * Visit website for available hours, services and fees.


 * Linkpendium


 * Church History by township in Warren County by USGenWeb

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.
 * Contains the church records of:
 * Deerfield: Presbyterian Church in Deerfield

Presbyterian

 * 1815-1862  Presbyterian Church, Lottsville, Baptism Index 1815-1862 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batch.

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

Published Histories

 * 1887 History of Warren County, Pennsylvania with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers edited by J. S. Schenck

Land and Property
Land records in Warren County began in 1800. These records are filed with the Register-Recorder office in Warren, 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


 * 1819-1897 Deeds, 1819-1884; Index to Deeds, 1819–1897

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 Warren 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

 * Maps of Pennsylvania (1673-1878)
 * Ancestor Tracks has posted free, downloadable images from the 1878 Howden &amp; Odbert's Atlas of Warren County, Pennsylvania from Actual Surveys &amp; Records by &amp; under the Direction of J.A. Howden &amp; A. Odbert (Washington, PA: F.G. Longdon and Wilson Porter, 1878). This atlas on file 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 to be used commercially.  We hereby give permission to use them strictly for personal use; please attribute to Ancestor Tracks.

Military

 * World War I Photographs of Warren County World War I Soldiers from the book "Warren County Boys Over There," 1918.

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

Online Naturalization Indexes and 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

Original Naturalization Records on Microfilm


 * 1847-1906 Alien dockets, 1847-1906,

Newspapers
Newspapers of Warren 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 Warren County, Pennsylvania.
 * Warren County, Pennsylvania Newspapers Part of the PAGenWeb Project including links to transcribed newspaper extractions of "birth and marriage announcements, land transactions, obituaries and gossip columns."

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


 * PA-Roots Obituaries for Warren County, Pennsylvania.
 * Warren County, Pennsylvania Obituaries Part of the PAGenWeb Project

Obituary Excerpts and Abstracts


 * Compiled by Joan M. McRae, Marriage and Death Notices Extracted from Warren County, Pennsylvania Newspapers (Olmsted Falls, Ohio:J.M. McRae, c1982-1983) ;

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:


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


 * 1683-1994  at FamilySearch.org

Warren County Only:


 * 1820-1918 Warren County Probate Records

Original Probate Records on Microfilm


 * 1820-1918 Registers Docket, includes Index 1824–1971
 * 1875-1916 Intestate Docket

Repositories

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

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

 * Warren County Courthouse 204 Fourth Avenue Warren, PA 16365
 * Visit website for information and driving directions for a personal visit (click on the "Warren" tab).


 * Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts Phone: 814-728-3440 Hours: 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM


 * Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court Phone: 814-728-3430 Fax: 814-728-3476

Libraries

 * Warren County Library Association consists of five public libraries in Warren County. Each library has access to genealogical databases - especially US Census indexes and newspapers. Many are accessible with your library card from home.
 * Visit website for list of the libraries in this system, contact information and websites.


 * Warren Public Library205 Market St. Warren,PA 16365 Phone: 814-723-4650 Fax: 814-723-4521 Email: [mailto:reference@warrenlibrary.org reference@warrenlibrary.org]
 * The Library has a large holding plus access to HeritageQuest and Ancestry Library Edition.
 * Visit website for hours and services.


 * Sugar Grove Free Library 22 Harmon St. PO Box 313 Sugar Grove, PA 16350 Phone: 814-489-7872 Fax: 814-489-7826 Email: [mailto:sgfreelibrary@gmail.com sgfreelibrary@gmail.com]
 * Visit website for hours

Museums

 * Wilder Museum of Warren County History 51 Erie Ave. PO Box 144 Irvine, PA 16329 Phone: 814-563-7773 or 814-723-1795 Email: [mailto:warrenhistory@kinzua.net warrenhistory@kinzua.net]
 * The museum focuses on the Seneca Nation, local history, military actions, and more. The Warren County Historical Society is connected to the museum.

Societies

 * Warren County Historical Society 210 Fourth Avenue PO Box 427 Warren, PA 16365 814-723-1795 Email: [mailto:warrencountyhistory@aol.com warrencountyhistory@aol.com]
 * They have a wide collection of genealogical material available for searching. They have a database indexes to Birth and Death records from 1893 to 1905. Some of the other records available include, cemetery records, military records, school records, and directories.
 * Visit website for available hours, services and fees.


 * Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society (WPGS) c/o PA Department, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh 4400 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4080
 * The focus of the WPGS is the 26 counties west of Centre County, including Warren County. They are based out of Pittsburgh, PA in the Pennnsylvania Department of the Carnegie Library.
 * Visit website for research services and fees.

Vital Records
See also How to order Pennsylvania Vital Records

Birth

 * 1815-1930  – free index. Not complete for all years. This index is an electronic index for the years 1726 to 1930. It 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.

Marriage

 * 1677-1950   at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1700-1821  Pennsylvania Marriage Records Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties.
 * 1725-1976   - free index. Not complete for all years.
 * Pre-1810 Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties. Includes 35,000 marriage records from vol. VIII of of the second series of the Pennsylvania Archives.
 * 1852-1976   - free index. Not complete for all years.
 * 1852-1854  Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry.com – ($) Index with images.
 * 1885-1950   Extracted marriage records – free. Most of the records consist of marriage licenses, certificates, applications, docket books, and affidavits. This database is incomplete for all counties. May also contain marriage records earlier than 1885.


 * Register and Recorder's Office Warren County Courthouse 204 4th Avenue Warren, PA 16365 Phone: 814-728-3430 Hours: 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM

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

Death

 * 1852-1854  Pennsylvania Deaths Ancestry.com – $ Index with images.
 * 1893-1906  Warren County Death Index 1893-1906 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.

Warren County Pennsylvania Genealogy Websites

 * Warren County, PA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * PAGenWeb project
 * USGenWeb archives
 * Warren County PA Genealogy