Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States &gt; Pennsylvania &gt; Lancaster County

County Courthouse
http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/lanco/site/default.asp Register of Wills 50 N. Duke St. P.O. Box 83480 Lancaster, PA 17608-3480 email: Mary Ann Gerber - MGerber@co.lancaster.pa.us

Office of the Clerk of Courts County of Lancaster 50 North Duke Street P.O. Box 83480 Lancaster, PA 17608-3480 Phone: (717) 299-8275 Fax: (717) 295-3686 Email: ClerkofCourts@co.lancaster.pa.us

Quick History
Wikipedia

Parent County
14 October 1728: Lancaster County was created from Chester County.

Boundary Changes

 * 14 October 1749: York County set off.
 * 14 October 1751: Berks County set off.
 * 27 January 1750: Cumberland County set off.
 * 21 March 1772: Northumberland County set off.
 * 16 October 1813: Lebanon County set off.

Neighboring Counties
Berks | Chester | Dauphin | Lebanon | York | Maryland counties: Cecil | Harford

Cemeteries
You can search all available online transcriptions at this site:

lancastergenealogy.tripod.com/cemeteries/cemeteries.htm

The Family History Library has a number of cemetery records in books and on films.

Court
The Office of Records and Archives Services. Their website tells where each type of record is held:

http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/courts/cwp/view.asp?a=474&amp;Q=262027

Land
The Recorder of Deeds is found on the following website:

http://searchdocs.lancasterdeeds.com/countyweb/login.jsp?countyname=Lancaster

Local Histories
Some of the Lancaster County histories available in the Family History Library:

History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 (Has been microfilmed on #547037 or on #1000559 Item 3)

History of Lancaster County : to which is prefixed a brief sketch of the early history of Pennsylvania Rupp, Israel Daniel, 1803-1878 (Has been microfilmed on #1036814 Item 3)

An authentic history of Lancaster County, in the state of Pennsylvania Mombert, J. I. (Jacob Isidor), 1829-1913 (This book has been digitized)

1875 historical atlas of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Everts &amp; Stewart (Has been microfilmed on #982071 Item 13)

Maps

 * [Lancaster County USGenWeb Project http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~palanca2/} This site contains several maps of Lancaster County both old and modern.

Online map site: http://www.800padutch.com/lancastermap.shtml

Military
The state of Pennsylvania has listed all of the volunteers in the Civil War, and this is the website for those serving from Lancaster County:

http://www.pacivilwar.com/county/lancaster.html

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has set up the following website for those serving in the Revolutionary War from Lancaster County:

http://www.cms.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/revolutionary_war_militia_overview/4125/lancaster_co__revolutionary_war_militia/435889

Vital Records
These records are held at the County Archives--( http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/courts/cwp/view.asp?a=474&amp;Q=262027):


 * Marriage Licenses are recorded continuously from 1885.
 * Old birth records from 1881 through 1906 only are kept by the Register of Wills
 * Old death registrations from 1894 through 1907 only are kept in the County Archives

Birth/Death records from 1907 to the present are kept by the Pennsylvania Department of Vital Records at New Castle, Pa. For full information go to: http://www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/cwp/view.asp?a=168&amp;Q=229939

The Lancaster County Register of Wills maintains a 24-hour telephone information line (717-295-2001) which gives specific details about how to access these birth/death records

Societies and Libraries
There are two very helpful societies in Lancaster County:

Lancaster County Historical Society

230 N President Ave Lancaster, PA 17603 (717) 392-4633 www.lancasterhistory.org

The Family History Library has some of the journals they have published on microfilm.

This society also has a research library:

http://www.lancasterhistory.org/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=52&amp;Itemid=61

Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society

2215 Millstream Rd Lancaster, PA 17602-1499 (717) 393-9745 www.lmhs.org This society also has an online catalog: www.lancasterhistory.org/index.php

Web Sites

 * Lancaster County PA GenWeb Project, a member of The PAGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project, may have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.


 * Family History Library Catalog