Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania

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United States Pennsylvania Huntingdon County

Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania genealogy and family history research page. Guide to genealogy, history, and 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.

	Pennsylvania Online Records

Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania
Map
Location in the state of Pennsylvania
Location of Pennsylvania in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	September 20, 1787
County Seat	Huntingdon
Courthouse
Address	Huntingdon County Courthouse 223 Penn St. Huntingdon, PA 16652 Huntingdon County Website
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Huntingdon County Pennsylvania Historical Facts

• Parent Counties: Formed from Bedford County 20 September 1787.^[1]
• County Seat: Huntingdon
  
• Neighboring Counties: Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania residents may also have records in ^[2]Centre (north) • Mifflin and Juniata (east) • Blair (west) • Bedford (southwest)  • Fulton (south)  • Franklin (southeast)

Named for Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, who as one of benefactors of Rev. William Smith's in his exploration efforts. Rev. William Smith was responsible for laying out the town of Huntingdon in 1767.

Wikipedia

• Almost everyone that lives in Huntingdon County speaks English as their first language. The dominant form of speech in Huntingdon County is the Central Pennsylvania accent, although some areas of the county, such as Kishacoquillas Valley, where many Amish and Mennonite people live, German is commonly spoken.

Boundary Changes

• 26 March 1804: Cambria County was set off from one part of Huntingdon County along with other parts from Bedford and Somerset Counties.
• 26 February 1846: Parts of Huntingdon and Bedford Counties were taken to create Blair County.

Huntingdon County Pennsylvania Genealogy Resources

Bible Records

Cemeteries

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

Census

For tips on accessing Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania Federal (or United States) census records online, see: Pennsylvania Census.

There are no county or state census records available for Pennsylvania. County and city tax records can be used as a substitute when census records are not available.

Church Records

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. In Pennsylvania, church records are often used as a substitute for birth, marriage, and death information. For general information about Pennsylvania denominations, view the Pennsylvania Church Records wiki page.

• Church Locations, Huntingdon County PAGenWeb
  

Finding Church Records at Other Repositories

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

• Historical Society of Pennsylvania
• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL 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.

Contains church records of:

• Cassville: Cassville Lutheran Church
• Huntingdon: St. John's Episcopal Church; United Methodist Church
• Mount Union: St. Luke's Lutheran Church
• Orbisonia: First United Methodist Church; Otterbein United Methodist Church
• Woodward: Birmingham Presbyterian Church

Catholic

• "100 Years of the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese 1843–1943," Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 1. FHL Book 974.8 B2wg. Chronology, map, county-by-county information.
• St. Mary's Catholic Church Shade Valley, Cromwell Township, Huntingdon County PAGenWeb
  

Lutheran

• Selected Baptisms, 1857-1860, First Lutheran Congregation, Penn Township at USGenWeb Archives
• Selected Baptisms, 1857-1860, First Lutheran Congregation, Penn Township, Huntingdon County, PA, USGenWeb Archives
  

Presbyterian

• 1834 Membership of Presbyterian Church of Shavers Creek Manor, USGenWeb Archives<

Court Records

Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania court records are housed at the Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania Courthouse. For many counties copies of court records may be found at the Pennsylvania State Archives and in the FamilySearch collection. Note that within these collections some films may contain the same records, but have different titles. Other titles are not duplicates. See Finding Court Records at other repositories within this section for links to the online catalogs for these two collections. Films at the Pennsylvania State Archives are not available for inter-library loan. If court records are available FamilySearch films may be ordered at a local Family History Center.

Some of the Continuence Dockets and the Quarter Session Books are stored in the basement of the Huntingdon County Court House. The Continuence Dockets have been microfilmed and are at the Huntingdon County Pennsylvania Courthouse.

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. Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania 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.^[3]

Clerk of the Court

The Clerk of Courts prepares and maintains the records for the Criminal Division of the Court of Common Pleas. The Clerk signs and affixes the Seal of the Courts to all writs and processes, administers oaths and affirmations, and assumes custody of the seal and records of the Courts. The Clerk certifies and distributes orders of the Court. The Clerk also certifies and prepares bills of costs for the defendants and utilizes the computerized financial management system to disburse fines, costs and restitution.^[4] For the Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania Clerk of Courts address see the Courthouse section on this page.

Prothonotary

The office of the Prothontary is the custodian of all civil matters in the county. This includes naturalization, immigration, equity actions, judgements, federal and local tax leins, city liens, family court, arbitrations, license suspension appeals, appeals to higher court, commercial code filings, applications for passports and divorce proceedings. See the Courthouse section on this page for the Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania Prothonotary office information.

Orphans' Court

The Huntingdon County Register & Recorders Office serves the public in three distinct areas: The Register of Wills; The Recorder of Deeds and Clerk of the Orphans’ Court.

Register and Recorder
Courthouse - 223 Penn St.
Huntingdon, PA 16652

Phone: (814) 643-2740
(814) 643-6849 - fax
vcooper@huntingdoncounty.net

Finding Court Records at Other Repositories

Additional court records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania Court Records in online catalogs like:

• Historical Society of Pennsylvania
• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search).

Emigration and Immigration

For information about emigration into Pennsylvania, see the Pennsylvania Emigration and Immigration page.

Ethnic Groups

Germans

Gazetteers

Genealogy

History

Published Histories

Land and Property

Land records in Huntingdon County began in 1803. These records are filed with the Register and Recorder office in Huntingdon, 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

• 1786–1972 Deeds, 1786-1866; Index to Deeds, 1786-1972; Misc. Index to Deeds, 1790- 1877. FHL film 900605 (first of 47 films)
  
• 1803–1969 Mortgage Index FHL film 902449

Land Abstracts

• 1787-1889 Pennsylvania Archives Land Warrant Lists at Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

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 Huntingdon County Pennsylvania Land in online catalogs such as:

• Historical Society of Pennsylvania
  
• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog.)
  
• Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search.)

Maps

Migration

Military

Naturalization and Citizenship

Naturalization records can contain information about immigration and nativity. Prior to 1906, it is rare to find the town of origin in naturalization records. See Pennsylvania Naturalization for more information about the types of records and availability.

Naturalizations granted at the county level were kept by the office of the Prothonotary. Naturalizations could also be granted on the Federal Court level.

Newspapers

Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania newspapers may contain genealogical value including obituaries, births, marriages, deaths, anniversaries, family gatherings, family travel, achievements, business notices, engagement information, and probate court proceedings.

To access newspapers, contact public libraries, historical/genealogical societies, college or university libraries, or state archives in the area where the newspaper was published.

For information on state-wide newspapers see Pennsylvania Newspapers

Newspapers of Huntingdon County

• Pennsylvania Newspapers
• Chronicling America US Newspaper Directory
• The Pennsylvania State Library has a book entitled Huntingdon County Newspapers, Vol I that contains notices from the Huntingdon Gazette 1806-1811. This book is not indexed. It's call number is 929.37484 NW1001 and is found in Form Room 101.
• The Blair County Genealogical Society has a copy of the book Huntingdon County Newspaper: A Finding List which was compiled by M. M. Faust and Nancy S. Shedd for the Huntingdon County Historical Society. Also available at various libraries (WorldCat

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.

• Newspaperarchive.com has the Huntingdon County News online.

Online Newspaper Abstracts

• PA-Roots Newspaper Articles for Huntingdon County.

Newspapers on Microfilm

The Blair County Genealogical Society and the State Library of Pennsylvania has the Huntingdon Gazette on microfilm.

Newspaper Excerpts and Abstracts

• McFarland, K.T.H., Hollidaysburg Records : Marriages, Deaths & Partitions from Weekly Newspapers of Hollidaysburg, Huntingdon/Blair Cos., Pa., 1836-1852 (Apollo, Pennsylvania:Closson Press, c1994) At various libraries (WorldCat; FHL book 974.875/H1 B3m

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

Sometimes the fastest way of finding obituaries is to call or email the local public library in the area where the person died. If the library does not have newspapers, a librarian often will know where they are kept. If a death date is known, and the newspapers are at the library, someone on staff will usually make a search for a small fee, or will indicate someone who will do the search.

Obituary Indexes

• Archie Claar Obituary Collection Index, Volume 19, 20 through Blair County Genealogical Society. Online
• Wion, John H. Deaths in Central Pennsylvania; an Index to the Obituaries Appearing in the Democratic Watchman, Bellefonte, Pa. (S.I.:s.n., 1969) FHL film 873814 item 2; book 974.8 V4w v.1,2

Online Obituary Abstracts

• PA-Roots Obituaries for Huntingdon County.

Occupations

Indentured Servants

Periodicals

Poorhouse, Almshouse

Probate Records

Probate matters in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania are handled by the Orphans' Court and start when the county was created. To obtain original probate records, contact the Orphan's Court in the County Courthouse.

In addition to wills and administrations, the Orphans' Court also handles: audits of accounts of executors, administrators, trustees, and guardians; distribution of estates of decedents, incompetents, and minors; appointment and control of guardians; adoptions; appeals from the Register of Wills involving probate matters; inheritance tax appeals and various petitions and motions.

Online Probate Indexes

• Huntingdon County Wills and Estate Records at Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

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:

• 1683-1994- Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994 at FamilySearch.org
  

Huntingdon County Only:

• Huntingdon County Probate Records
  

The Huntingdon County Historical Society has a wonderful every name indexed compilation by Linnaria B Wheland of Huntingdon County Will Abstracts from 1787-1846.

The original inventories for Huntington county are housed at the Huntington Historical Society.

Original Probate Records on Microfilm

• 1787–1908 Wills FHL film 854230 (first of 9 films)
• 1787–1918 Index to Wills and Administrations FHL film 854230
• 1788–1866 Orphans' Court Dockets FHL films 900587–900592
• 1786–1972 Index to Orphans' Court Dockets FHL film 900587

Additional Probate Indexes and Abstracts

Additional probate indexes or abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania probate wills in online catalogs like:

• Historical Society of Pennsylvania
• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search).
  

Repositories

Archives

• The Pennsylvania Archives collection contains county archive records that can be searched onsite. Currently the Archives' staff cannot provide research or make copies of these records. Their collections include Almshouse Registers; Tax records; Birth, Death and Marriage Indexes and Records; Midwife records; African American records; Wills; Deeds; Naturalizations; Coroner's inquests; and Orphan's Court dockets. A list of the Archive's county holdings are on Microfilm or Manuscript form.
  
  

Courthouse

Huntingdon County Courthouse
Register and Recorder
Courthouse - 223 Penn St.
Huntingdon, PA 16652
(814) 643-2740
(814) 643-8152 - fax

Prothonotory/Clerk of Court
Kay Coons
Huntingdon County Courthouse
P.O. Box 39
Huntingdon PA 16652
814-643-1610 or 814-643-5511
Fax: 814-643-4271
E-mail: kcoons@huntingdoncounty.net

Family History Centers

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• <a _fcknotitle="true" href="Introduction to LDS Family History Centers">Introduction to LDS Family History Centers</a>

Libraries

Museums

Hartslog Heritage Museum
Main St
Alexandria, Pennsylvania 16611
(814) 669-4313

The Museum is located on the 2nd floor of the Alexandria Memorial Public Library. It houses over 4000 artifacts that represent the areas' past. Most notable is a rare historic map of Huntingdon County.

Societies

Rich in history, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania contains a number of societies dealing with the history of the area.

Huntingdon County Historical Society
100 4th Street
P.O. Box 305
Huntingdon, PA 16652-1418
(814) 643-5449

Taxation

Many of the tax lists have been microfilmed, but no one repository has them all. The Huntingdon County Historical Society, State Library of Pennsylvania and the Family History Library each have collections. One can purchase a microfilm roll from the Huntingdon County Historical Society and the State Library of Pennsylvania.  The Family History Library will loan their films to their various centers for a small fee.

• 1788 - Returns of Taxables for the Counties of Bedford (1773 to 1784), Huntingdon (1788), Westmoreland (1783, 1786), Fayette (1785, 1786), Allegheny (1791), Washington (1786) and Census of Bedford (1784) and Westmoreland (1783). (Pennsylvania Archives, Series 3, Vol. 22). Digital versions at Ancestry ($); Google Books - free.

• 1798 - Pennsylvania, U.S. Direct Tax Lists, 1798 at Ancestry ($).

Vital Records

Vital records are handled by the County Orphans' Court. Between the years 1852-1855 Pennsylvania made a failed attempt to record birth, marriage and death events at the county level. While the records for that time period are available, there were few events recorded. County marriage records were kept in earnest in 1885. Births and deaths, at the county level, were begun in 1893 and kept through 1905. Abstracts and copies of vital records are available for some counties, but most are incomplete. For the most complete set of records, always contact the County Orphans' Court.

Use substitute records for birth, marriage and death information. These substitute records include Bible Records, Cemeteries, Church Records, Newspapers, and Probate Records.

Birth

• 1726-1930 - Pennsylvania, Births and Christenings, 1709-1950 - 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.

Some birth records exist for the 1852–1853 time period for Huntingdon County. Only a small percentage of births were recorded in this time period. These records are available at:

• 1852-1854- Pennsylvania Births – Ancestry.com – $ Index with images
• 1852-1853 – Births FHL film 900604
• 1893-1905, 1941 – Birth Registers FHL film 900604 The birth records for Huntingdon County were microfilmed by FamilySearch. These microfilms may be ordered into a local FamilySearch Center or authorized public library for a small fee.
  

Birth records for Huntingdon County began in 1894. The Huntingdon County Clerk of the Orphans' Court maintains the birth records from 1894–1905. To obtain a copy of birth record in the 1894–1905 time period you may contact the Huntingdon County Register and Recorder.

Beginning in 1906 Pennsylvania birth records are available through the Department of of Health. Birth records become public after 105 years. A statewide index is available. Once an individual is located in the index a certificate can be obtained by writing to:

Division of Vital Records
ATTN: Public Records
P.O. Box 1528
New Castle, PA 16103

The cost for an non-certified birth certificate is $3.00.

Some Huntingdon County births can be found online in Pennsylvania, Births and Christenings, 1709-1950.

Marriage

Huntingdon County marriages are maintained by the Register and Recorder of Huntingdon County. The county began recording marriages in 1885. A few marriage records were created by the county in the 1853–1854 time period. To obtain a marriage record you may go to or contact the Register and Recorders office.

• 1700-1821 - Pennsylvania Marriage Records Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties. 
• 1725-1976 - Pennsylvania, Marriages, 1709-1940 - 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.
• 1787-1823 Marriages by Rev. John Johnston 1787-1823, from J. Simpson Africa's History of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, (1883), PAGenWeb
  
• 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. 
• 1852-1854 – Marriages FHL film 900604
  
• 1885-1907 – Marriage License Dockets films 900593–900603
• 1885-1950 - Pennsylvania County Marriage, 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.
• 1885-1887 Marriage Licences, contributed by Barbara Lautherboren, PAGenWeb
  
• Huntingdon County Marriage Applications, Licenses & Certificates, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives
  
• Huntingdon County Marriage Notices, 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.

Death

Huntingdon County began recording deaths in 1893 although some were recorded from 1852–1854. These records are available in the County Courthouse in Huntingdon. You may request a death record from the Register and Recorder.

• 1807-1827 - Huntingdon County Deaths,1807-1827, PAGenWeb, extracted from J. Simpson Africa's History of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, Pennsylvania, 1883. (Free)
  
• 1836-1846 - Huntingdon County Deaths, 1836-1846, PAGenWeb, extracted from the Hollidaysburg Record, a weekly newspaper of Blair County. (Free)
• 1852-1854 – Pennsylvania Deaths Ancestry.com – $ Index with images
  
• Death Registers and Reports, 1894–1896 Partial listing of P surnames – USGenWeb Archives
• 1852-1854 – Deaths FHL Collection The 1852-1854 county death records were microfilmed by FamilySearch. They are available through Family History Centers and at the Pennsylvania State Archives.
  

Pennsylvania death certificates become public records after 50 years. An annual index is released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Records less than 50 years old are kept by the Division of Vital Records and are not public certificates. Only certain people can request a non-public death certificate. To order a non-public representative you must be:

• Legal representative of decedent's estate
• Immediate family member
• Extended family member who indicates a direct relationship to the decedent
• Power of Attorney (Please note that a Power of Attorney document is no longer valid upon the death of the individual)

See the Pennsylvania Department of Health website to obtain a copy of a non-public death certificate. The cost is $9.

The cost for a non-certified public death certificate is $3.00. Indexes for Pennsylvania public death records are available online through the Department of Health for 1906 through 1961. Once an individual is located in the index a certificate can be obtained by writing to:

Division of Vital Records
ATTN: Public Records
PO Box 1528
New Castle, PA 16103

Finding Vital Records at Other Repositories

Additional vital records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania Vital Records in online catalogs like:

• Historical Society of Pennsylvania
• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search).

Huntingdon County Pennsylvania Genealogy Websites

• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• Family History Library Catalog

Huntingdon County Pennsylvania Places

Populated Places

Huntingdon County Pennsylvania Genealogy References

1. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), [FHL book 973 D27e 2002].
2. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Adams County, Pennsylvania" in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adams_County,_Pennsylvania (accessed 17 July 2012).
3. ↑ The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania http://www.pacourts.us/T/CommonPleas/ accessed 10 July 2012.
4. ↑ Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, Clerk of Courts in http://www.pacourts.us/T/CommonPleas/ClerksOfCourts.htm (accessed 25 Aug 2012)