Northampton County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania Northampton County

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Bucks County 14 October 1751.
 * County Seat: Easton
 * Neighboring Counties: residents may also have records in Monroe (north) • Bucks (south) •  Lehigh (west)  • Carbon (northwest)  •  Warren County, New Jersey (east)

Scotch-Irish immigrants made a settlement in what is now Northampton County (then Bucks County) in 1728. The settlement grew rapidly and became known as "Craig Settlement" or "Irish Settlement."

Boundary Changes
Several counties set off:


 * 21 March 1798: Wayne
 * 1 March 1811: Schuylkill
 * 6 March 1812: Lehigh
 * 1 April 1836: Monroe
 * 13 February 1843: Carbon

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

Transcribed Cemetery records for Northampton and adjacent Counties

Individual cemeteries:


 * Memorial Park Cemetery, Bethlehem BillionGraves
 * Mount Zion Cemetery, Bangor BillionGraves

The Mennonite Heritage Center 565 Yoder Road Harleysville PA 19438-1020 215-256-3020 [mailto:library@mhep.org library@mhep.org] Hours: Tuesday thru Friday, 10am–5pm, Saturday, 10am–2pm The Cemetery Database at the Mennonite Heritage Center includes 86,000 burial records from 125 local cemeteries. Records cover cemeteries in the counties of Berks, Bucks, Butler, Chester, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, and Westmoreland. The database provides transcriptions from Mennonite, Brethren, Lutheran, Reformed, Union, Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, community, and private cemeteries. Search the list of cemeteries and the alphabetical surname lists in Adobe PDF format. Visit the Mennonite Heritage Center to search the cemetery database by various criteria. The transcriptions are available for further research at the MHC library.

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 – $; 7,542,774 entries. This database is incomplete for all counties.
 * 1774-1840 – Northampton County, Pennsylvania Church Records, 1774-1840 at Ancestry.com - ($), births, marriages, and deaths from Lutheran and Reformed congregations of Moore Township

Lutheran

 * 1763-1832 – Dryland Union Lutheran Church, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1763-1832 at Ancestry.com – ($), includes baptism, marriages, and burials

Methodist

 * 1836-1885 – First Methodist Church, Marriages, 1836-1885 at PAGenWeb – Free, church located in Easton, Pennsylvania but some of the marriages may have taken place in Warren County, New Jersey

Moravian
Moravians established a settlement at Bethlehem in 1741. The Bethlehem Digital History Project (winner of a National Endowments for the Humanities prize) includes community records, Bethlehem diary, bills of sale and manumissions, business activity, meeting minutes, Moravian Indian diaries 1763-1765, registers of baptisms, marriages, and deaths, and church regulations.

Presbyterian
Several Presbyterian churches were built in what is now Northampton County (Bucks County until 1751) to accommodate Scotch-Irish settlers. A Presbyterian Church was organized at "Craig's Settlement" by 1737. Mount Bethel Prebyterian Church was organized in 1738 in "Hunter's Settlement" in Lower and Upper Mount Bethel Townships.

Reformed
The Third Street Reformed Church located in Easton was organized between 1745 and 1750 and was the first Reformed church in the area.


 * 1756-1845 – Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1756-1845: Christ Union Church at Ancestry.com – ($), Reformed Congregation of the Christ Union Church located in Saucon Township, includes births, marriages, and deaths
 * 1769-1881 – Lowhill Reformed Congregation, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1769-1881 at Ancestry.com – ($), Lowhill Reformed Congregation Church, includes baptism, marriages, and burials

Roman Catholic
Before 1828, those living in what was Northampton County would have attended the Blessed Sacrament Church in Goshenhoppen now Bally) in Berks County. Records thereafter would be found in St. John the Baptist Church at Hayock. St. Bernard's Church in Easton was dedicated in 1836.

Land and Property
Land records in Northampton County began in 1752. These records are filed with the Recorder of Deeds office in Easton, Pennsylvania. Most of the 19th century deeds are preserved in the county Archives.

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


 * 1985–present Images are available online using the Landex system. There is a fee to view the images.

Land Records on Microfilm


 * 1752-1926 Deeds, 1752-1866; Miscellaneous Records, 1815-1866, and Index, 1752-1926
 * 1752–1922 Mortgages, 1799-1822; Index, 1752-1922.

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 Northampton 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
Click the image to view an enlarged version

Ancestor Tracks has posted free downloadable images from the 1860 Map of Northampton Co., Pennsylvania, published by Smith, Gallup &amp; Co. This wall map located 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.

Migration
Early migration routes to and from for settlers included:


 * Delaware River a pre-historic patthway serving as the border between New Jersey and Pennsylvania rises in Schoharie County, New York and flows by the Lehigh Canal in Pennsylvania, Frenchtown, Trenton where river meets tidewater, and past Bordentown in New Jersey, Philadelphia in Pennsylvania to empty into the North Atlantic Ocean.
 * Delaware and Raritan Canal 1834 connected New Brunswick, New Jersey on the Raritan River (and NY City) to Bordontown, New Jersey on the Delaware River and parts of Pennsylvania including the Lehigh Canal and Northampton County with the D&amp;R Canal at Frenchtown.

Revolutionary War
Many Germans from Northampton County served in the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment. Northampton County men also served in the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment (probably) and the 3rd Pennsylvania Regiment.

Archives
The Moravian Archives 41 West Locust Street Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18018 610-866-3255 Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm info@moravianchurcharchives.org

The Moravian Archives is the official repository for the records of the Moravian Church in America – Northern Province. This covers the Moravian churches in the United States (except for North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Virginia) and Canada. The Archives in Bethlehem also holds records from the Moravian church in Alaska, Labrador, Nicaragua and the Eastern West Indies.

The Archives is located in a modern 9,200 square foot building with two climate-controlled vaults. It contains approximately 8,000 linear feet of material.

Check the website to learn more:


 * List of Holdings
 * Currently Available Inventories
 * Archives Library
 * Bibliographies
 * List of Congregation Records
 * Bethlehem Digital History Project

The collection includes finding aids of the Moravian collections, church registers, the Memoir Index, records of the mission to the American Indians from 1740 to 1820 (indexed in the Fliegel Index), historical newspapers on microfilm, and a photo collection.

Services include monthly lectures, tours, a German Script course, research by mail, reproduction orders, translation, and publications including a monthly electronic newletter.

Courthouse

 * Northampton County Courthouse
 * 669 Washington Street
 * Easton, PA 18042-7475
 * Phone: (610) 559-3000
 * Hours: 8:30AM to 4:30PM Monday – Friday


 * Copies of documents including birth, marriages, deaths, divorces, land, and probate records can be obtained by using: Pennsylvania Public Record. Click on the link for the record you wish to request.

Libraries
Jane S. Moyer Library and Research Facility 342 Northampton St. Easton PA 18042 610-253-1222 Hours: Tues thru Fri 9:30 am to 2:30 pm, and by appointment

This Northampton County local and family history collection includes:


 * 5,000 books
 * 10,000 manuscript items
 * 6,000 surname files
 * 2,000 history vertical files
 * 120,000 photographs
 * thousands of maps, drawings, and architectural plans detailing the history and families of Northampton County, PA

The Mennonite Heritage Center 565 Yoder Road Harleysville PA 19438-1020 215-256-3020 [mailto:library@mhep.org library@mhep.org] Hours: Tuesday thru Friday, 10am–5pm, Saturday, 10am–2pm

The Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania support the John L. Ruth Historical Library and Museum at the Mennonite Heritage Center. Located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania the records and resources of this treasure also cover the counties of Bucks, Chester, Berks, Lehigh, Northampton, and Philadelphia. The website provides a comprehensive overview of library resources, online cemetery database, manuscript collections, photo collections, archival collections, and more.

Museums
Sigal Museum 342 Northampton St Easton PA 18042 610-253-1222 Hours: Tues - Sat 9:30 am – 3:00 pm, Sun 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Headquarters of the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society NCHGS.

Societies
Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society NCHGS Sigal Museum and Jane S. Moyer Library 3432 Northampton Street Easton PA 18042 610-253-1222

Taxation

 * 1772, 1785-1786, 1788 - Proprietary, Supply, and State Tax Lists of the Counties of Northampton and Northumberland: For the Years 1772 to 1787. (Pennsylvania Archives, Series 3, Vol. 19). Digital version at Google Books - free.


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

County-wide Database

 * 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.

Birth

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

Marriage

 * 1725-1976 - - free index. Not complete for all years.
 * 1772–1774, 1824–1836 Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Marriage Licenses issued by Isaac Hicks at Ancestry.com - ($); index only.

Divorce
Divorce records are handled by the office of the Prothonotary. While no on-line indexes or records are available, records may be obtained by visiting or writing to the Prothonotary at: Office of the Prothonotary See Civil Division Court Services 669 Washington Street Easton, PA 18042-7475 Phone:610–559-3000

Death

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

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.