This is a collection of various historical and genealogical reference works on Pennsylvania. These references cover 1000's of individuals, and are an excellent way to start or continue research focused on PA.

This material was scanned from original publications and will be provided as text searchable PDFs (unless noted in description). These files can be read using many PDF reader programs (Windows / Mac / Linux), however Adobe Reader or Acrobat are recommended.

County Histories and Biographicals

Pioneer Outline History of Northwestern Pennsylvania (W. J. McKnight, 1905, 755 pages)
The Full title is: "A Pioneer Outline History of Northwestern Pennsylvania, Embracing the Counties of Tioga, Potter, McKean, Warren, Crawford, Venango, Forest, Clarion, Elk, Jefferson, Cameron, Butler, Lawrence, and Mercer, Also A Pioneer Sketch of the Cities of Allegheny, Beaver, Du Bois, and Towanda"  This publication is a historical account of the early beginnings of several counties in Northwestern PA.  The information is more focused on historical details than biographical, but it still contains a great deal of information useful for historical or genealogical research.

Genealogical and Personal History of Northern Pennsylvania (John W. Jordan, 1913, 1556 pages)
This is an extensive 3 volume historical and biographical reference which covers the northern Pennsylvania counties of Bradford, Cameron, Elk, McKean, Potter and Tioga.   This provides a wealth of information on the history and growth of these counties but more importantly, a great deal of information on the people of these counties.  Hundreds of individual and family histories are sketched, making this an excellent reference for historical or biographical research.  Along with many of the sketches, there are also portraits of the sketch subjects.

Surnames Indexed:
Abbott, Acker, Akley, Adams, Adamy, Adsit, Aggers, Allen, Allis, Anderson, Andrews, Armstrong, Arnold, Arters, Arthur, Artley, Ashcraft, Auerhaim, Austin, Bache, Backus, Bacon, Bailey, Baird, Baker, Baldwin, Ball, Ballard, Ballentine, Bantie, Barber, Bard, Barker, Barnaby, Barnes, Barr, Barry, Bartlett, Barton, Bauer, Baxter, Bayer, Bayless, Bayley, Bean, Beatty, Becker, Beckwith, Beeman, Bell, Bellows, Benedict, Benjamin, Bennett, Benninghoff, Benson, Berfield, Berry, Billings, Blair, Blake, Blanchard, Bliss, Blose, Bloss, Boardman, Bodine, Boller, Borland, Bottom, Bouton, Bowen, Boylston, Bradley, Brandon, Bressler, Brock, Brooks, Broughton, Brown, Brownell, Bryner, Bulkley, Bullock, Burden, Burkholder, Burns, Bush, Butler, Butterfuss, Butts, Cady, Caldwell, Calhoun, Calkins, Cameron, Camp, Campbell, Cannon, Carman, Carnahan, Carpenter, Carrier, Carson, Carter, Cass, Cassiday, Caswell, Catlin, Chamberlain, Chance, Chandler, Channel, Chapman, Chase, Chatley, Chesney, Childs, Chrisman, Christ, Chubbuck, Church, Clark, Clarke, Claus, Clemons, Cleveland, Cliffe, Close, Coates, Cobb, Codding, Coffin, Cogswell, Colcord, Cole, Colegrove, Coles, Collins, Conable, Cone, Conneely, Cook, Cornelison, Cornelius, Corson, Corwin, Cott, Couch, Courtice, Cowan, Cox, Coyne, Crabb, Crawford, Crippen, Crissey, Crittenden, Cromwell, Cronk, Crowell, Culver, Cupp, Curran, Curry, Curtis, Cuthbert, Dana, Dardis, Darling, Dartt, Davenport, Davies, Davis, Davison, Dean, Deane, Deans, De Lano, Dempsey, Dennison, Densmore, Depuy, Devine, De Vine, De Witt, Dibble, Dickinson, Dix, Dixon, Doane, Dobie, Dodds, Dolley, Donahue, Dowry, Drake, Dugan, Dulso, dunham, durley, durrin, Duryea, Dyer, Earl, Easton, Eastman, Easton, Eaton, Eberenz, Eby, Eckels, Eckert, Edgcomb, Edson, Edwards, Egbert, Egleston, Ellinger, Elsbree, Emery, Emmert, Engler, English, Ent, Erway, Estabrook Estell, Estes, Evans, Everitt, Eyster, Fahnestock, Fannin, Fanning, Fay, Fenton, Ferris, Ferry, Field, Finch, Fischler, Fish, Fisher, Fisk, Fitzgerald, Fleming, Flower, Foote, Forbes, Ford, Foster, Fox, Frank, Frazer, Frederick, Freeman, French, Frisbie, Fulford, Fuller, Fullerton, Gainor, Gallup, Gantt, Gardner, Garlick, Garman, Garritt, Gayton, Geary, Gee, Geer, Gentry, George, Gerow, Gibson, Gifford, Gillespie, Gillett, Gillette, Gillis, Gleason, Glecker, Glenn, Glennon, Golden, Goodman, Goodsell, Goodspeed, Gordnier, Gore, Gorrie, Gorton, Gould, Gray, Greatsinger, Green, Greene, Gridley, Griffin, Griffis, Griffith, Grow, Guile, Gulnac, Gunn, Habgood, Hackett, Haffey, Hagar, Haggerty, Hale, Hallock, Hamblin, Hamilton, Hamlin, Hammond, hamcok, Hanley, Harrington, Harris, Harrison, Hart, Hastings, Hatfield, Haven, Hawkins, Hayden, Hayes, Hazen, Hazlett, Heasley, Heess, Helmes, Lemsman, Hennage, Henning, Heysham, Heywood, Higgins, Hill, Hilton, Hinds, Hoag, Hoard, Hofer, Hogan, Hogarth, Holbrook, Holcomb, Holly, Holmes, Hosterman, Hotchkiss, Houghton, Houseknecht, Hovey, Howd, Howe, Howells, Hubbard, Hulme, Humez, Hunt, Huntington, Hurd, Hurler, Hurley, Hussey, Husted, Hyde, Inman, Innes, Inscho, Irvine, Irwin, Jackson, Jacob, James, Jaynes, Jefferis, Jennings, Jewett, Johnson, Johnston, Jones, Joseph, June, Kahsnitz, Kaminsky, Kane, Karr, kay, Keck, Keeler, Keeny, Kehrer, Kellogg, Kemp, Kenyon, Kervin, Kibbe, Kiess, Kilbourne, Kimball, Kime, Kincaid, Kimmel, King, Kingley, Kirby, Klapp, Klock, Knapp, Kneeland, Knight, Kock, Korns, Kreiner, Krusen, La Bar, Lain, Landruss, Landon, Lane, Landworthy, Larrabee, Lawrence, Laye, Laymon, Learn, Learned, Leasure, Leavitt, Lechler, Lecky, Lehman, Lent, Leonard, Lesser, Lewis, Leyman, Lillibridge, Lilly, Lindhome, Lindsey, Lindsley, Little, Llewelyn, Logaugh, Lockhart, Loeb, Logan, Logue, Loney, Long, Longwell, Loomis, Lugg, Lunden, Luther, Lynch, Lyon, Mackie, Malin, Mallory, Maltby, Mangold, Markham, Marks, Marsh, Marshall, Martin, Mascho, Mathers, Maxwell, Mayo, MacEwen, McAleer, McAllister, McCandless, McCarthy, McClure, McCoy, McCraney, McCrea, McCulloch, McDowell, McFall, McFarlin, McGloin, McIlvaine, McIntosh, McIntyre, McKee, McKinney, McLaren, McLaughlin, McQuiston, McVay, Meade, Meagher, Meek, Melvin, Merritt, Messenger, Metcalf, Meyer, Miles, Millard, Miller, Mills, Minor, Mitchell, Mohney, Monroe, Moody, Moore, Morgan, Morian, Morley, Morris, Morrison, Moscrip, Mosher, Mourey, Mulhaupt, Mullin, Murphy, Naegley, Neal, Nelson, Newcomer, Newell, Newton, Nichols, Noble, Nobles, Northrop, Oakes, O'Brien, Olds, Olmstead, Orr, Osler, Osterhout, Ostrander, Oviatt, Owen, Owens, Owlett, Packard, Packer, Page, Painter, Palmer, Parker, Parkhurst, Parks, Parsons, Paterson, Patterson, Pattison, Paul, Peake, Pealer, Peeling, Perkings, Persing, Phillips, Phippen, Pitts, Place, Plank, Poley, Pool, Potter, Powell, Pratt, Presho, Preston, Pringle, Pritchard, Probyn, Prosser, Prouty, Prutsman, Putnam, Quimby, Radcliffe, Raesly, Rahm, Randall, Rasey, Rathbun, Rausher, Raymer, Raymond, Reck, Record, Redfield, Reed, Rees, Rendall, Rettenbury, Rice, Richmond, Rieppel, Rietter, Ripley, Ritter, Robarts, Roberts, Robinson, Robison, Roff, Rogers, rohe, Rose, Ross, Roy, Rumsey, Rusling, Russell, Rust, Ryan, Ryon, Salberg, Salisbury, Sanborn, Sanders, Sartwell, Schermerborn, Schirk, Schram, Scott, Scranton, Seamans, Seaward, Secor, Seely, Seldon, Sellard, Seltz, Semmler, Shanley, Sharp, Shattuck, Shaut, Shaw, Shell, Shepard, Sheppard, Sherman, Shoemaker, Shriever, Shumway, Siemens, Signor, Skelton, Sloan, Smiley, Smith, Sommers, Soules, Southworth, Specht, Spencer, Squires, Staats, Stanley, Stanton, Staples, Starr, Steele, Sterling, Stevens, Stewart, Stickman, Stiles, Stoddard, Stokes, Stone, Stover, Streby, Stull, Sullivan, Sutton, Swan, Swanson, Sweazy, Sweeney, Swimley, Swisher, Taylor, Teall, Terwilliger, Thayer, Thomas, Thompson, Thornton, Tice, Tipple, Tobin, Tomlinson, Tracy, Truman, Tubbs, Tucker, Turner, Tuttle, Upton, Van Aken, Vandergrift, Van Dusen, Van Dyke, Van Gasbeck, Van Horn, Van Loon, Van Slyke, Vantine, Vedder, Vera, Viner, Waggoner, Wagner, Waid, Waite, Wakefield, Wakley, Waldron, Walker, Walter, Walters, Ward, Warner, Washburn, Watkins, Watrous, Weaver, Webb, Webster, Weeks, Wells, Westbrook, Wetherbee, Wharton, Wheelock, White, Wilbur, Wilcox, Wilkinson, Williams, Willis, Wilson, Windsor, Winlack, Witherspoon, Wolford, Wood, Woodley, Woods, Woodward, Wright, Wynn, Yonkin, Young, Zillafro

Maps & Atlases (*** Not text searchable ***)

Map of Cameron County Pennsylvania (Edward Vosburg, 1870, Color)

Directories

Greevy & Renner's Directory of Lock Haven, Bellefonte and
Philadelphia & Erie Railroad 1874-5 (Greevy & Renner, 1874, 242 pages)
This is an early resident and business directory of various towns in Centre and Clinton Counties, PA, for the year 1874-75. The information is arranged alphabetically listing the resident's name, occupation and street address. There is also a brief sketch provided for several of the towns. The information provided varies from town to town, most having a resident and business directory, one having a business directory only.

Resident and Business Directories:
Bellefonte, Blanchard, Boalsburg, Emporium, Farandsville, Fillmore, Lamar, Lemont, Glen Union, Lock Haven, Milesburg, Pine Station, Pleasant Gap, Potter's Mills, Ridgeway, Roland, Round Island, St. Marys, Tylersville, Walker, Wistar, Wolf's Store

Business Directory:
Renovo

Boyd's Williamsport City Directory 1885-1886 Including
Dubois and Lock Haven (W. Harry Boyd, 1885, 443 pages)
This is a resident and business directory of the city of Williamsport (Lycoming County), DuBois (Clearfield County) and Lock Haven (Clinton County), PA for the years 1885-1886, and also a business directory for a number of towns in Lycoming and surrounding counties. The city directory information includes the resident's or business' name, occupation and address. Following the main directories there are business directories for the following towns:

Cameron County: Driftwood, Emporium, Sinnamahoning; Centre County: Bellefonte; Clinton County: Beech Creek, Hyner, Renovo, Westport; Jefferson County: Reynoldsville; Lycoming County: Collomsville, English Centre, Hughesville, Jersey Shore, Larry's Creek, Linden, Montgomery Station, Montoursville, Muncy, Nisbet, Roaring Branch, Trout Run, White Pine, Wolf Run; Northumberland County: Watsontown