Montour County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania Montour County

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Columbia County 3 May 1850.
 * County Seat: Danville
 * Neighboring Counties: residents may also have records in Lycoming (north) • Northumberland (south) • Columbia (east)


 * Named for Elizabeth Catherine Montour, better known as Madame Montour, a prominent Indian leader during the colonial era.

Note of Interest
Smallest county in the state of Pennsylvania.

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.

Land and Property
Land records in Montour County began in 1850. These records are filed with the &gt;Register and Recorder office in Danville, 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


 * 1850-1958 Deeds, 1850-1866; Deed Index, 1850-1958.

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 Montour 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 free downloadable images fromthe atlas of Columbia and Montour Counties of Pennsylvania from Recent &amp; Actual Surveys &amp; Records Under the Superintendence of G.H. Walker &amp; C.F. Jewett published by F.W. Beers &amp; Co in 1876. This atlas 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.

Courthouse
Montour County Courthouse 29 Mill Street Danville, PA 17821 Phone: 570-271-3010

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Societies
Montour County Genealogical Society, MCGS 205 Ferry Street Danville PA 17821 570-275-6177 Genealogy Room: Thomas Beaver Free Library, 2nd Floor Hours: Saturdays 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; Mondays 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Fee: $2.00 an hour for non-members, no charge for members  The collection includes records for Columbia, Montour and Northumberland Counties. Research requests may be submitted in writing using a printable form which includes the fee schedule.

Montour County Historical Society, MCHS PO Box 8 1 Mill Street Danville PA 17821 Located in the Montgomery House Museum, corner of Bloom and Mill Streets Hours: Sundays 2:00–4:00 Sundays, Memorial day thru September Or by appointment 275-7875 or 275-0383 A small library contains local and county histories, industrial record books, business and law ledgers, military references, photographs, tax records, and maps.

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

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

Marriage

 * Marriage records of Columbia and Montour Counties at Ancestry.com - ($); book transcription.

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 Montour County Court House 29 Mill Street Danville, PA 17821 Phone: 570-271-3010

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.