Armstrong County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania Armstrong County


 * This article is about a west Pennsylvania county. For other uses, see Armstrong.

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Allegheny, Lycoming and Westmoreland Counties 12 March 1800.
 * County Seat: Kittanning
 * Neighboring Counties: residents may also have records in Clarion (north) • Indiana (east) • Butler (west) • Westmoreland (south)  • and Jefferson (northeast)

Boundary Changes

 * 1771-1772: The future southern 1/3 of today's Armstrong County became part of Bedford County; the rest remained unsettled.
 * 1773: The future southern 1/3 of Armstrong was incorporated into Westmoreland County when Westmoreland was formed 26 February 1773.
 * 1785: For the first time, the future northern 2/3 of Armstrong became part Northumberland County; the future southern 1/3 remains in Westmoreland County.
 * 1796: The future northern 2/3 was subdivided, with most becoming part of Lycoming County and the rest part of Allegheny County; lower 1/3 remains in Westmoreland County.
 * 11 March 1839: Clarion County was set off, resulting in Armstrong County's current boundaries.

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.


 * Contains church records of:
 * Apollo: Apollo United Methodist Church
 * Chicora: St. Paul's United Church of Christ
 * Elderton: Elderton United Presbyterian Church
 * Gilpin: Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
 * Kiskiminetas: Boiling Springs Presbyterian Church
 * Kittanning: St. Paul's Episcopal Church
 * Leechburg: Greystone United Presbyterian Church
 * Manorville: Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
 * Redbank: St. Mary's Episcopal Church


 * Armstrong County Church Records is sponsored by the Armstrong County Genealogical Project. There are records of a few churches represented in this website, and the information varies greatly from a history of the church to lists of members or baptisms.

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.

Lutheran

 * 1838-1883 - Bapismal records for Forks-Zion Lutheran Church with additional information on individuals listed.
 * 1840-1889- Church Book of the Reformed and Lutheran Churches: Plum Creek Township, Armstrong Co., PA at USGenWeb. The books from which these records were taken were in the old Church at Gastown, Pennsylvania. The records are not consistent from minister to minister.

Presbyterian
In 1802 two Presbyterian churches were organizes about eight miles apart on the west side of the Allegheny River in Buffalo Township. From those two churches sprang all the Presbyterian churches in the county.

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. County has its own judicial district. Judges of the Common Pleas courts are elected to 10-year terms. A president judge and a court administrators serve in each judicial district.

History

 * History of Armstrong County Pennsylvania, published in 1883 by Robert Walter Smith, has been transcribed and posted online at the Armstrong County Genealogy Project. The description on the site says, "This history is considered to be the best Armstrong County resource for researchers.  It contains very detailed information about each of the townships to include the descriptions of the property and who owned it."
 * The two volumes of History of Armstrong County, Pa, Her People, Past and Present have been transcribed and posted online as part of the Armstrong County Genealogy Project. Volume 1 contains the historical record of the county and volume 2 contains hundreds of biographical articles of Armstrong County people.

Land and Property
Land records in Armstrong County began in 1805. These records are filed with the Register and Recorder office in Kittanning, 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:

Online Land Records


 * 1805–present Armstrong County offers online access to indexes and images. Fees apply.

Land Records on Microfilm


 * 1805–1941 Deeds, 1805-1891; Index, 1805-1941.

Maps


 * 1793–1906 Land Surveys.

Note that the "Maps" section below includes maps related to land ownership.

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 Armstrong 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 Map of Armstrong Co., Pennsylvania which was published in 1861 and is referred to in histories of the county as "Pomeroy's Map." 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 to commercially. We hereby give permission to use them strictly for personal use; please attribute to Ancestor Tracks.

Revolutionary War
Men living in what is now Armstrong County (then Westmoreland County) served in the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment.

Newspapers
Newspapers of Armstrong 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 Armstrong County.
 * USGenWeb Armstrong County Historical News Abstracts

Newspaper Excerpts and Abstracts


 * Shirley, Carmella Corcetti (collected and arranged), Marriages and anniversaries: taken from the Leader Times newspapers, 1922-1962-1997-1998-1999-2001 &amp; the Vandergrift News, 1997-1998-1999-2001 (Chicora, Pennsylvania:Mechling Bookbindery, c2002)

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 Armstrong County Obituaries
 * PA-Roots Obituaries for Armstrong County.
 * Armstrong County Obituaries at Armstrong County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

Obituary Excerpts and Abstracts


 * Shirley, Carmella Corcetti, Obituary Abstracts from Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Newspapers (Butler, Pennsylvania, Mechling Bookbindery, c1997,c2002)

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

Armstrong County Only:


 * 1797-1918-Armstrong County Probate Records

Orginal Probate Records on Microfilm


 * 1805-1918Will Books -Index included: 1797-1961
 * 1805-1881Probate Records -index included: 1805-1935

Probate Abstracts


 * Armstrong County Wills and Estate Records at Armstrong County, Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives Includes Will Book Index, Books 1- 3 and many abstracts of wills and estate records.

Courthouse
Armstrong County Courthouse 450 Market St. Kittanning, PA 16201 Phone: (724) 543-2500 Hours: 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM, Monday – Friday

Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts Armstrong County Courthouse 500 E. Market Street Suite 103 Kittanning, PA 16201 Phone: 724-548-3252

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Libraries
The Armstrong County Libraries do not appear to have a central library. There are currently four libraries in the system:Apollo, Ford City, Kittanning and Worthington Libraries. These can be visited by clicking on the above links.

Societies
Armstrong County Historical Museum and Genealogical Society 300 N Mckean St Kittaning, PA 16201-1373 Phone: (724) 548-5707

The Society has collected historical and genealogical records including family and church histories. It offers a look-up service at a very reasonable rate.

Births

 * 1726-1930 - - free index. Not complete for all years.
 * 1852-1854 – Pennsylvania Births Ancestry.com – ($) Index with images.

Marriage

 * 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.
 * 1725-1976 - - free index. Not complete for all years.
 * 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.
 * 1885–1889 Armstrong Marriages–free. Courtesy of USGenWeb.

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

Deaths

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

Web Sites

 * Armstrong County Genealogy Project
 * Armstrong County PAGenWeb Site
 * Linkpendium - Armstrong County
 * Armstrong County Old Photos