Genealogy is an activity that involves the study of one’s family pedigree or lineage back in time through preceding generations.  Genealogical research encompasses looking through birth, baptismal, and death certificates, burial registries, marriage licenses, passport records, ship’s manifests, and census records, and the like.  Before you begin such a major project, it is recommended you read books on the basics of genealogy.
     Do you have ancestors from Clarion County, Pennsylvania? Thinking of tracing your family tree?  Where and how will you begin this challenging and time consuming work?  This guide is for anyone looking for information regarding genealogy and family tree research for Clarion County, which was erected by an Act of Assembly in 1839 from parts of Armstrong and Venango Counties, at the Clarion Free Library.

Print Sources

General How-to Books

     There are several excellent books that offer advice on how to begin a genealogy project.  These titles, and many more like them, can be found in the library catalog, a bookstore or at Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com.
     To search the library’s OPAC, enter a keyword search “genealogy”, “Clarion County” or enter a family name if appropriate.  For more information, and for assistance in locating more materials, please visit the Circulation desk.

Keyword and Subject Headings in Clarion Free Library’s OPAC :

* Genealogy
* Genealogy--Clarion County
* Clarion County--Genealogy or any subdivision you wish to add
* browse the Clarion County Shelf or Pennsylvania Collection 929 and 974 Dewey Call Number Area

Baxter, Angus.  In Search of Your German Roots.  Baltimore, MD :  Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1994.
[C.C.Shelf 929.1 B]

Croom, Emily Ann.  Unpuzzling Your Past : A Basic Guide to Genealogy.  Cincinnati, Ohio : Betterway Books, 1995. [C.C.Shelf 929 C]

Greenwood, Val D.  The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 2d ed.  Baltimore, MD : Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1990. [C.C.Shelf 929.16 G]

The Handybook for Genealogists, 9th ed.  Logan, UT : The Everton Publishers, Inc., 1999. [C.C.Shelf 929 E]

Helm, Matthew, and April Leigh Helm.  Genealogy Online for Dummies, 2d ed.  Foster City, CA : IDG Books, 1999.
[C.C. Shelf 929 H]

Howells, Cyndi.  Netting Your Ancestors : Genealogical Research on the Internet.  Baltimore, MD : Delacorte Press, 1997.  [C.C. Shelf 929 H]

Kemp, Thomas Jay.  International Vital Records Handbook.  Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1994.
[C.C. Shelf 929 K]

Poling, Kirk.  Writing Family Histories and Memoirs.  Cincinnati, OH : Betterway Books, 1995.  [C.C. Shelf 929.1 P]
 

Kerry's Hints to Help Genealogists Where to Start

Clarion County Sources

A,B,C’s of Clarion County, PA : Will Book Indexes (Volumes A-C) 1839- 1884--The First 45 years.  Clarion : Clarence Shirey, 1999.  [C.C.Shelf 974.8 S]

Caldwell, J. A.  Caldwell’s Illsutrated Combination Atlas of Clarion County.  Condit, Ohio : J. A. Caldwell, c1877, 1982. [C.C.Shelf 974 C]

Clarion County Bon Data Book.  Hummelstown, PA : BonData, 1991.   [C.C.Shelf 317.48 C]

Commemorative Biographical Records of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion. 2 volumes.  Chicago : J.H. Beers, 1898.  [C.C.Shelf 920 C]

Davis, Aaron J.  History of Clarion County, Pennsylvania : With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some Its Prominent Men and Pioneers.  Reprint.  Apollo, PA :  Closson Press, 1997. [C.C.Shelf 974.8 D]

Directory of Clarion County, Pennsylvania, 1909.  Clarion, PA :  Clarion Democrat Print, 1909.  [C.C. Shelf 974.8025 D]

Jordan, John W.  Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania.  3 vols.  Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913.  [C.C. Shelf 920 J]

Obituary Index, 1950-1985.  Clarion, PA : Clarion Free Library, 1985.  [C.C.Shelf Obits--in 3 pink binders]

Obituary Index, 1985-1995.  Clarion, PA :  Clarion Free Library, 1995.  [C.C.Shelf Obits--in red binder]

Obituaries from the Clarion Democrat, 1868-1889.  Shippenville, PA : Kerry Ann Kline, 1999. [C.C.Shelf Obits--in White binder]

Obituaries from the Clarion Democrat, 1901-1905.  Shippenville, PA : Sally Jordan Reed, 1999. [C.C.Shelf 974.8 R]

Obituaries from the Clarion Democrat, 1906-1910.  Shippenville, PA : Sally Jordan Reed, 2000.  [C.C.Shelf 974.8 R]
 

Also, Clarion Free Library has information on Armstrong, Forest, Jefferson, and Venango Counties; some township histories; a few family histories; church histories; and information on Cook Forest.
 

Microfilm

Census

Clarion Free Library has U.S. Federal Census, 1790-1920, for a few Pennsylvania Counties including : Armstrong, Clarion, Forest, Jefferson and Venango Counties.

     1850 is the first census for Clarion County.  For any individual living in this area prior to 1850, you will have to search either Armstrong or Venango County Census Records.

    Other years and localities may be obtained for $3.50 a roll through the Census Rental Program.  Please inquire at the Circulation Desk.

Newspapers

Clarion Free Library has the following newspapers:

* Clarion Democrat 1868-1965
* Clarion Republican 1890-1965
* Clarion News 1965 to present (Clarion Democrat and Clarion Republican merged into the Clarion News in mid 1965)
* Leader Vindicator 1890-1904, 1924 to present

The newspapers can be searched for marriages, deaths, and probate information.  There is an index to obituaries for some of the years.  Check under Clarion County Sources.

Online Database

The Clarion Free Library has available for its patrons, free of charge, the Access PA Power Library.  As part of this program, patrons can access EBSCO Host and the ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA Database.

* To utilize this database, one must first go the library’s home page at:  http://www.clarionfreelibrary.org
* Click on the Power Library Icon
* Enter the fourteen digits of your Clarion Free Library Card
* Hit Submit

Subject headings to get started in EBSCO Host and the ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA Database are:
   Genealogy
   Clarion County
 

For anything that you find in the database that Clarion Free Library does not own, check with Mary to see if she can obtain through Interlibrary Loan.

Other Community Resources

Register Recorder’s Office        Register Recorder has birth and death records from 1893-1906
Clarion County Court House            marriages from 1885
Clarion, PA 16214                          probate and land records from 1840
814-226-4000                            Prothonotary has divorce records from 1880 and Civil Court
                                                                                           records from 1874

Clarion County Historical Society
18 Grant Street
Clarion, PA 16214
814-226-4450
http://www.csonline.net/cchs

Division of Vital Records                    For birth and death records after 1906 to present
State Department of Health
Central Building
101 S. Mercer Street/P.O. Box 1528
New Castle, PA 16103
http://www.health.state.pa.us/hpa/apply_bd.htm

Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
 and Western Pennsylvania Genealogy Society
4338 Bigelow Blvd.
P.O. Box 8530
Pittsburgh, PA 15220
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/hswp/

Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center
1212 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-454-6000
http://www.pghhistory.org
 
Recommended Popular World Wide Web Sites

    The Clarion Free Library offers Free Internet Access.  All the library asks is that you sign up at the Circulation Desk.
    The following represent some of the more popular sites on the Web dealing with various aspects of genealogy.  Many of them provide links to other genealogy sites.  The more you explore, the more information you will be likely to find that is useful to a particular search.

General Sites

Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
 http://www.cyndislist.com

This list is a great source for genealogical links.  It provides a searchable, constantly updated index of the urls for more than 83,000 genealogy-related websites.

Genforum
 http://www.genforum.com

This is a free site run by Genealogy.com which allows people to post queries according to surname.

Family Search
 http://www.familysearch.org

A searchable index of more than 2 million family histories and manuscripts by the Church of Latter-Day Saints.

The United States GenWeb Project
 http://www.usgenweb.org

Here, one can find information on surnames that are grouped first by state, then by county, then town.  The web pages are run by volunteers.

Rootsweb
 http://www.rootsweb.com

This site is not just links, but factual information.

National Archives
 http://www.nara.gov/genealogy

This site shows how to use the National Archives and includes links to many useful sites.
 

Pennsylvania and Clarion County Sites

Brenda’s Site on Online Pennsylvania Genealogy
 http://www.key-net.net/users/oron/palinks.htm

Clarion County Genealogy
 http://www.pa-roots.com/%7Eclarion

Pennsylvania Clues
 http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/6464/

Clarion County Historical Society
 http://www.csonline.net/cchs

Pennsylvania GenWeb
 http://www.pagenweb.org

Here, you will have access to all the counties in Pennsylvania.  For Clarion County research, you might want to consult the Clarion County, Armstrong County, and Venango County pages.

Pennsylvania Vital Records
 http://vitalrec.com/pa.html

Subscription Services

There are organizations that offers genealogy resources for a subscription fee.

Everton’s Genealogical Helper
 http://www.everton.com

The Family TreeMaker Online
 http://www.familytreemaker.com

Ancestry HomeTown
 http://www.ancestry.com

Mailing Lists

Also, a good tool are Mailing Lists and Listservs.

Roots-L Resources Page
 http://www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/

Online Magazine

A free online magazine whose focus is on the use of online resources in family history and genealogy is:
  Journal of Online Genealogy - http://www.onlinegenealogy.co