Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania  Susquehanna County  

County Courthouse
Recorder of Deeds Register of Wills Clerk of the Orphans’ Court

PO Box 218 11 Maple Street Montrose, PA 18801 (570) 278-4600 Fax (570) 278-2963

Our office hours are 8:30 to 4:30 Monday through Friday

MARRIAGE LICENSES are only available until 4:00

http://www.susqco.com/subsites/gov/pages/regrec/regrechome.htm

Historical Facts
Susquehanna County was once a part of Connecticut, along with Luzerne, and several other northeastern Pennsylvania counties. For further information on this go to: http://www.cslib.org/susqsettlers.htm

Susquehanna County is named for the Susquehanna River. which runs through the county. In 1810 the county had 10 townships and 3500 residents. In the 2000 Federal Census, Susquehanna County had 27 townships and 13 towns. Residents numbered 42,238.

Parent County
21 February 1810: Susquehanna County was created from Luzerne County.

Neighboring Counties
Bradford | Broome | Lackawanna | Wayne | Wyoming | Tioga County, New York

Cemeteries
There are four different titles for Cemeteries in Susquehanna County listed in the Family History Library Catalog, with three of them having been microfilmed. They are listed under Pennsylvania, Susquehanna. (See under websites)

A listing of Susquehanna County cemeteries is given on website:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mjwanc/suscem.htm

History
There are several good histories of Susquehanna County, but the one by Emily Blackman is superior:

History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania : from a period preceding its settlement to recent times, including the annals of geography of each township... by Emily C. Blackman (FHL 1425564 Item 5)

Another history is: Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania by Rhamanthus Menville Stocker

974.834 H2 (FHL 1000573 Item 1)

Other histories are listed in the FHL Catalog under Pennsylvania, Susquehanna. (See website below)

It is important to remember too that this area of Pennsylvania was once Connecticut. The information on this website will lead you to other historical/genealogical records of Wyoming Valley:

http://www.cslib.org/susqsettlers.htm

Land and Property
Due to the lack of vital records for Pennsylvania, land records are an important tool in early Pennsylvania research. Land records will list the seller and purchaser of the property and may hide clues to family connections. Land records for Susquehanna County are available from the recorder's office for 1810 to the present.


 * Images are available on-line from 1974 to the present using the Landex system. There is a fee to view the images.
 * Deeds, 1812-1922; Index 1812-1923

Maps
Ancestor Tracks has posted free downloadable images from theMap of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania from Actual Survey by G.M. Hopkins, C.E. (Philadelphia: Lee &amp; Marsh Publishers, 1858). This 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 to attribute to Ancestor Tracks.

There is a clickable map of Susquehanna County which gives information concerning each township, but their online site is not working.

Newspapers
The Susquehanna County Independent/Weekender 24 S. Main St. Montrose PA 18801 Phone: (570) 278-6397 E-mail: indyweek@epix.net http://www.independentweekender.com

This newspaper was preceded by the following weekly newspapers:


 * The Montrose Independent (1927-1985)
 * Independent Republican (1855-1926)
 * The Montrose Democrat (1879-1926)

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Societies
Susquehanna has an historical society that is in connection with their county public library:

Email Us: info@susqcohistsoc.org Susquehanna County Historical Society  2 Monument Square

Montrose, PA 18801 Their journal information is available at: Email Us: suspulib@epix.net

The Luzerne County Historical Society, formerly known as the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society.

49 South Franklin Street

Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701

Telephone: 570-823-6244

Fax: 570-823-9011

Their Bishop's Memorial Library has records of their Connecticut/Pennsylvania connections.

Taxation
The Family History Library has microfilmed the following tax records:

Tax Assessment Records from 1813-1865. The record gives the record of each township, and each is on a separate roll of film. Some of the townships may also include Military Lists for the years ca 1855-1863. See the Family History Library Catalog listed under the websites for film numbers.

Unseated Land Records 1820-1904. These are additional tax records in the Family History Library Catalog (1927752, Items 2-9, and 1927823, Item 1)

Web Sites

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