Venango County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania  Venango County

History
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

Maps

 * Ancestor Tracks has posted free, downloadable images of two landowner maps: the 1857 Map of Venango County Pennsylvania and Hunt's Improved Map of Venango County Oil Regions of 1865.  Also on this site are links to the Warrantee Maps posted by the Pennsylvania Archives in Harrisburg.

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.