Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Genealogy


Guide to Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

This article is about a county in Pennsylvania. For the city, see Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

County Facts
County seat: Philadelphia
Organized: March 10, 1682
Parent County(s): Original County
Neighboring Counties
BucksCamden (NJ)MontgomeryGloucester (NJ)Burlington (NJ)Delaware
See County Maps
Courthouse
Philadelphia City Hall, Pennsylvania.jpg
Location Map
Philadelphia County PA Map.png

County Information

Description

The county is located in the southeastern tip of the state.[1]

County Courthouse

Philadelphia County Courthouse
1 Broad and Market Streets 284
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone: 215-686-6653 or 215-686-7000
Philadelphia City Hall Phone: 215-686-7000
Clerk of Orphans' Court Phone: 215-686-2230
Recorder of Deeds Phone: 215-686-2260
Office of the Prothonotary Phone: 215-686-6652
Register of Wills Phone: 215-686-6250
Philadelphia County Courthouse

Clerk of Orphan Court has marriage records
Prothonotary Office has divorce and court records from 1874
Register of Wills has probate records
Department Records has land records[2]

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Government County Records[3]
Birth* Marriage Death* Court Land Probate Census
bef 1906 1682 bef 1906 1874 1684 1682 1790
*Statewide registration for births and deaths began in 1906. General compliance by 1915.

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:[6]

Cities
Boroughs
Townships
Historic communities


History Timeline

1633-1643: (-1647?) Dutch build a blockhouse (single log cabin fort) "at the Schuylkill" River (now Philadelphia). It was abandoned about 1643.[7] [8] See the New Sweden and the New Netherland Wiki article for details.

1641: Swedes and Finns spreading north from Fort Christina (present-day Wilmington, Delaware) first settle in Finland (Chamassungh), now Trainer, Pennsylvania[9] [10] [11] and Upland (Meckopenacka), now Chester, Pennsylvania. [12] [13] [14] The New Sweden Colony continues to expand northward with new settlements as far as Philadelphia in the following years.

1642: The English build a blockhouse on Province Island (now Philadelphia airport) but are soon removed by the Dutch, probably with help from the Swedish.[15] [16] [17]

1648-1651: The Dutch built Fort Beaversrede (now Philadelphia) inland from the Delaware River to be the first contact for Indian fur traders coming down the Schuylkill River.[18] [19] [20] [21] The Swedes respond by building a blockhouse between the Schuylkill and the Dutch fort in order to obscure the view of the fort from the river.[22] [23]

1651-1655: The New Netherland Colony builds Fort Casimir[24] [25] [26] (now New Castle, Delaware), settle Sandhook,[27] [28] [29] and abandon Fort Beversrede in 1651. In 1654 New Sweden captures Fort Casimir from the Dutch without a fight and rename it Fort Trinty (Trefaldighets).[30] In 1655 New Netherland returns with a large army and all of New Sweden in presend-day Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey submits to Dutch rule.[31]

1664: As part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War New Netherland including southeast Pennsylvania is surrendered to the English.[32]

1673-1674: A new war breaks out and the Dutch send a large armada to retake New Netherland for a few months. But as the war ends the colony is ceded to England for the last time.[33]

1680s: William Penn founded the English colony of Pennsylvania after receiving a grant in 1681 from the king of England. His colony offered religious freedom, liberal government, and inexpensive land. Quakers established the city of Philadelphia.

November 1682: William Penn selected the name Philadelphia which means Brotherly Love.

1700-1754: Welsh, German, and Scotch-Irish groups arrived.

Much of Philadelphia County's functions to exist with Act of Consolidation, 1854. Further consolidations took place in 1867, 1895, 1937, 1951, 1963 and finally 1965.

Resources

Bible Records

Biographies

Business, Commerce, and Occupations

Indentured Servants

  • Immigrant Servants Database hosted by Price Genealogy - Includes indentured/imported servants and transported convicts who served labor terms in Colonial York County, Pennsylvania.

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)
List of Cemeteries in the County
See Pennsylvania Cemeteries for more information


Additional Cemetery Resources

Census Records

Federal Census

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1790 54,391
1800 81,009 48.9%
1810 111,210 37.3%
1820 137,097 23.3%
1830 188,797 37.7%
1840 258,037 36.7%
1850 408,762 58.4%
1860 565,529 38.4%
1870 674,022 19.2%
1880 847,170 25.7%
1890 1,046,964 23.6%
1900 1,293,697 23.6%
1910 1,549,008 19.7%
1920 1,823,779 17.7%
1930 1,950,961 7.0%
1940 1,931,334 −1.0%
1950 2,071,605 7.3%
1960 2,002,512 −3.3%
1970 1,948,609 −2.7%
1980 1,688,609 −13.3%
1990 1,585,577 −6.1%
2000 1,517,550 −4.3%
2010 1,526,006 0.6%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Church Records

Court Records

For information about records kept in the Orphan's court, Prothonotary Court, Court of Common Pleas, and other courts in counties of Pennsylvania, visit the Pennsylvania Court Records Wiki page.

Directories

Emigration and Immigration

For online resources, passenger lists, and specific groups coming to Pennsylvania, see Pennsylvania Emigration and Immigration.

Indentured Servants

  • Immigrant Servants Database hosted by Price Genealogy - Includes indentured/imported servants and transported convicts who served labor terms in Colonial York County, Pennsylvania.

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

For groups that came, see People section of the Pennsylvania Emigration page.

Funeral Homes

Funeral records issued by a funeral home include financial records (cost of casket, dressings, etc.), funeral cards given out at the time of the funeral, etc. These records usually give the name of the deceased, when and where buried, if shipped out to another funeral home, purchaser of cemetery plot, etc. Funeral home records from Philadelphia include:

Genealogies

Guardianship

The Orphan's Court ensures the best interests of those not capable of handling their own affairs: minors, incapacitated persons, decedents' estates, and more.[34] Orphans Court

Land and Property Records

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a specific location and reveal family relationships. Records include: deeds, abstracts, indexes, mortgages, leases, grants, sheriff sales, land patents, maps and more. For more information, see Pennsylvania Land and Property.

Land records in Philadelphia County began in 1682. These records are filed with the Philadelphia City Archives office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Online Land Indexes and Records

Media:Philadelphia county pennsylvania townships.pngPhiladelphia county pennsylvania townships.png
About this image

Local Histories

Maps and Gazetteers

Delaware CountyMontgomery CountyBucks CountyBurlington CountyCamden CountyGloucester CountyPA PHILADELPHIA.PNG
Click a neighboring county
for more resources

Maps

Migration

The migration routes used by early European settlers to and from Philadelphia County included:[35]

Military Records

See more databases at Pennsylvania Military Records and US Military Records.


Revolutionary War
Local men served in the Philadelphia County Militia. A guide at the Pennsylvania State Archives website identifies townships where specific companies recruited soldiers, see Revolutionary War Militia Battalions and Companies, Arranged by County.

Philadelphia County men also served in the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment,[36] and the 9th Pennsylvania Regiment.[37]

Civil War

Regiments. Men in Philadelphia County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (part of a large regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Philadelphia County:

- 1st Regiment, New York Veteran Cavalry, Company C
- 71st Regiment, New York Infantry, Company G

World War I

World War II

Naturalization and Citizenship

Naturalization records can contain information about immigration and nativity. Prior to 1906, it is rare to find the town of origin in naturalization records. For more information, see Pennsylvania Naturalization

Online Naturalization indexes and Records

Newspapers

Newspapers may contain obituaries, births, marriages, deaths, anniversaries, family gatherings, family travel, achievements, business notices, engagement information, and probate court proceedings. Newspapers are often found in local or university libraries, historical or genealogical societies, or state archives in the area where the newspaper was published. See Pennsylvania Newspapers for more information.

Newspapers of Philadelphia County


Online Newspapers

Online Newspaper Abstracts

Newspaper Excerpts and Abstracts

  • Edward W. Hocker and I. Pearson Willits, Genealogical Notes from the Incomplete Files of "The Germantown Telegraph" (SLC, Utah, 1973) FS Library film 941584 item 2

Obituaries

Obituaries are generally found in local newspapers where the person died or where family members lived. Local libraries or societies may have indexes or other sources.

Online Obituary Abstracts

Obituary Extracts and Abstracts

Other Records

Periodicals

Probate Records

Probate matters in Philadelphia County are handled by the Orphans' Court and start when the county was created.

In addition to wills and administrations, the Orphans' Court also handles: audits of accounts of executors, administrators, trustees, and guardians; distribution of estates; appointments of guardians; adoptions; appeals from the Register of Wills; inheritance tax appeals, and various petitions and motions.

Online Probate Indexes and Records

School Records

Includes records of:
Central High School, 1895
Central Manuel Training School, 1905
Episcopal Hospital School of Nursing, 1890-1912
Frankford High School, 1942
Geo Clymer School, graduates, 1948, 1949, 1952
Jefferson Medical College
Kensington High School, Class of 1924
Philadelphia High School for Girls, 1962
West Philadelphia High School, Class of 1929

Social Security Records

Tax Records

  • 1693 Rawle, William Brooke. "The First Tax List for Philadelphia County. A.D. 1693," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 8 (1884):82-105. For online access, see WeRelate.
  • 1769, 1774, 1779 -Proprietary, Supply, and State Tax Lists of the City and County of Philadelphia: For the Years 1769, 1774 and 1779 (Pennsylvania Archives, Series 3, Vol. 14). Digital versions at Ancestry ($); Google Books
  • 1779-1781 Proprietary, Supply, and State Tax Lists of the City and County of Philadelphia: For the Years 1779, 1780 and 1781 (Pennsylvania Archives, Series 3, Vol. 15). Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  • 1781-1783 Supply, and State Tax Lists of the City and County of Philadelphia: For the Years 1781, 1782 and 1783 (Pennsylvania Archives, Series 3, Vol. 16). Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  • 1798 Pennsylvania, U.S. Direct Tax Lists, 1798 at Ancestry ($).
  • Philadelphia County Tax Lists courtesy USGenWeb Archives

Vital Records

Vital records are handled by the County Orphans' Court. Between the years 1852-1855 Pennsylvania made a failed attempt to record birth, marriage and death events at the county level. County marriage records were kept in earnest in 1885. Births and deaths, at the county level, were begun in 1893 and kept through 1905. For the most complete set of records, contact the County Orphans' Court.

Birth

Early births 1893–1905 are located at the County Orphans' Court. For more information, see Pennsylvania Vital Records.

Marriage

Pennsylvania marriages were created by county officials. Contact Philadelphia County Courthouse

Information on how to obtain a copy of the actual marriage record can be found this Phila.gov link.

Death

Early deaths 1893–1905 are located at the County Orphans' Court. For indexes and records, 1906 and later, see Pennsylvania Vital Records.

Divorce

Divorce records are available through the office of the Prothonotary.

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Philadelphia County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Pennsylvania Archives and Libraries.

National Archives at Philadelphia
14700 Townsend Rd
Philadelphia, PA 19154-1096
Phone: 215-305-2044
Fax: 215-305-2052
Email: philadelphia.archives@nara.gov
Website
Facebook

Philadelphia City Archives
548 Spring Garden St
Philadelphia, PA 19123
Phone:215-685-9401
Email: archives.info@phila.gov
Website
Facebook

Philadelphia City Archives collections include records of births, marriages, deaths, deeds, naturalizations, city directories, tax records and more.

FamilySearch Centers and Affiliate Libraries

FamilySearch Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local FamilySearch Centers or Affiliate Libraries

  • FamilySearch Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
  • FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a FamilySearch center.

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Philadelphia County. For state-wide library facilities, see Pennsylvania Archives and Libraries.

Free Library of Philadelphia
1901 Vine St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: 1-833-825-5357
Website
Facebook

Over 50 branches within the city.

Museums

Mennonite Heritage Center
565 Yoder Rd
Harleysville, PA 19438-1020
Phone: 215-256-3020
Email: library@mhep.org
Website
Facebook

The Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania support the John L. Ruth Historical Library and Museum at the Mennonite Heritage Center. Located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania the records and resources also cover the counties of Bucks, Chester, Berks, Lehigh, Northampton, and Philadelphia. Access website for comprehensive overview of library resources, online cemetery database, manuscript collections, photo collections, archival collections, and more.

Societies

Listed below are societies in Philadelphia County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Pennsylvania Societies.

African American Genealogy Group (AAGG)
PO Box 27356
Philadelphia, PA 19118
Phone: 215-574-6063
Email: info@aagg.org
Website
Facebook

Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone: 215-732-6200
Email: enews@hsp.org
Website
Facebook

Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia (JGASGP)
1657 The Fairway, #145
Jenkintown, PA 19046
Website
Facebook

Presbyterian Historical Society
425 Lombard St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Phone: 215-627-1852
Email: refdesk@history.pcusa.org
Website
Facebook

Websites

Research Guides

References

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_County,_Pennsylvania accessed 2/12/2017
  2. The Handybook for Genealogists : United States of America, 10th ed., (Draper, UT: Everton Publishers, 2002) Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, p.592
  3. Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Pennsylvania.At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002.
  4. Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Pennsylvania.At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002.
  5. Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Pennsylvania.At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002.
  6. Wikipedia contributors, "Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_County%2C_Pennsylvania, accessed 31 January 2020.
  7. Amandus Johnson, "Detailed Map of New Sweden 1638-1655" in Amandus Johnson's book The Swedes on the Delaware 1638-1664 (Philadelphia: Swedish Colonial Society, 1915), 392. This blockhouse is mentioned in Johnson's legend, but not displayed on his map, probably because it was replaced by a Swedish fort.
  8. Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan, History of New Netherland, 2nd ed (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1855; digitized by Google, 2006), 2: 79. "The Swedes had already destroyed the trading-house, which the former [Dutch] had built at Schuylkill, and built a fort in its place."
  9. "New Sweden" in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia at New_Sweden (accessed 7 November 2008).
  10. Albert Cook Myers, Narratives of Early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912; reprint Barnes and Noble, 1959; digitized by Google, 2008), 69, note 3. "Chamassung or Finland, where the Finns dwelt, was on the west side of the Delaware River, between the present Marcus Hook in Pennsylvania, and the mouth of Naaman's Creek just over the circular state line in Delaware."
  11. Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, v. 3, (Philadelphia:M'Carty and Davis, 1834; digitized by Google, 2006), 11. "Chamassungh, or Finland. This place was inhabited by Finns, who had strong houses, but no fort. It lies at the distance of two German miles, east of Christina, by water; and, by land, it is distant two long Swedish miles."
  12. Johnson, Detailed Map.
  13. Johnson, Swedish Settlements, 372. "Johann Companius, who was called by the government to go to New Sweden in 1642, was placed on the new budget, with a salary of 10 R.D. a month and seems to have been looked upon as a sort of military preacher. He was stationed at Christina, but shortly after his arrival here he was transferred to Upland, where he settled with his family and conducted the service at New Gothenborg."
  14. Myers, 150. "If now [the land at] Upland, which belongs to the Company, and is large enough for the sowing of twenty or thirty bushels of grain, might be given to the parsonage for Nertunius, together with the small houses there, it would be very well; then he would need no other salary from the Company." and footnote 4, "Now Chester."
  15. Johnson, Detailed Map.
  16. Arthur H. Buffington, "New England and the Western Fur Trade, 1629-1675" Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts 18 (1917): 168 digitized by Google, 2007. "Regardless of the rights of the Dutch and the Swedes, two large tracts of land were purchased in southern New Jersey, and another tract on the future site of Philadelphia. The colony of New Haven extended its jurisdiction over this territory and lent the Company its full support. A settlement was made the same year [1641] at Varkens Kill (Salem, New Jersey), but as it was below the Dutch and Swedish posts and therefore unfavorably situated for the fur trade, a trading post was erected the next year near the mouth of the Schuylkill and above the rival posts. So seriously did this new post interfere with trade that the Dutch, probably with the aid of the Swedes, destroyed the fort and took away the settlers to Manhattan. The settlement at Varkens Kill was not disturbed, but it amounted to little. Some of the settlers perished of disease, some straggled back to New Haven, and a few stayed on, submitting themselves to Swedish rule."
  17. Myers, 100. "There in 1642, on the present Fisher's or Province Island at the south side of mouth of the Schuylkill River, as Dr. Amandus Johnson makes clear in his Swedish Settlements, page 213, the New Englanders built a blockhouse, the first edifice definitely recorded as erected within the present limits of Philadelphia. Both the Dutch and the Swedes vainly protested against this competition, and finally the Dutch descended upon the place, burned the blockhouse and adjacent buildings, and carried the settlers to New Amsterdam."
  18. Johnson, Detailed Map.
  19. Philip S. Klein, and Ari Hoogenboom, "A History of Pennsylvania, 2nd ed." (University Park, Penn.: Penn State Press, 1980; digitized by Google at http://books.google.com/books?id=AB24rFZOmzcC), 11. "Stuyvesant in the spring of 1648 sent an expedition to build a fort on the Schuylkill further inland than any of the Swedish posts. This he called Fort Beversreede — 'beaver road' — for its purpose was to be the first point of contact with the Minqua traders. But before the summer had passed, Printz built a Swedish fort, 'right in front of our Fort Beversreede,' wrote an indignant Dutchman. This building stood between the water's edge and the Dutch blockhouse, its back wall standing just twelve feet from the palisade gate of Fort Beversreede. The Indians thus found Swedes at the anchoring place, and could not even see the Dutch post from the water."
  20. Peter Stebbins Craig, "Chronology of Colonial Swedes on the Delaware 1638-1712" in The Swedish Colonial Society [Internet site] at http://www.colonialswedes.org/History/Chronology.html (accessed 10 November 2008). Originally published in Swedish Colonial News, vol. 2, number 5 (Fall 2001). "[1648] Dutch build Fort Beversreede on east side of Schuylkill, but Swedes thwart Dutch attempts to build dwellings in area."
  21. John Thomas Scharf, and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: L.H. Everets, 1884; digitized by Google, 2006), 1024. "The Dutch Fort Beversrede was built immediately opposite Minquas, or Mingo, or Eagle's Nest Creek, to command the trade in furs (skins) brought that way by the savages."
  22. Johnson, Detailed Map.
  23. Klein, and Hoogenboom."But before the summer had passed, Printz built a Swedish fort, 'right in front of our Fort Beversreede,' wrote an indignant Dutchman. This building stood between the water's edge and the Dutch blockhouse, its back wall standing just twelve feet from the palisade gate of Fort Beversreede. The Indians thus found Swedes at the anchoring place, and could not even see the Dutch post from the water."
  24. Johnson, Detailed Map.
  25. "Fort Casimir" in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Casimir (accessed 7 November 2008).
  26. Klein and Hoogenboom.
  27. Johnson, Detailed Map.
  28. Craig. "1651 - Dutch build Fort Casimir at Sand Hook (New Castle) and abandon Fort Bevers-reede in Schuylkill."
  29. Johnson, Swedes on the Delaware, 294. "In October, Novermber, and December the new freemen were ordered to clear their lands at various places, for the purpose of planting maize in the coming spring; and several fields at Sandhook, at Fort Christina and up at the [Christina] River were cleared and sewn for the benefit of the company with the grain which Mr. Lord had brought in . . ."
  30. "New Sweden" in Wikipedia.
  31. "New Sweden" in Wikipedia.
  32. "New Netherland" in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_netherland (accessed 13 December 2008).
  33. "New Netherland" in Wikipedia.
  34. The Philadelphia Courts at Common Pleas accessed 10 July 2012
  35. Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Pennsylvania, 847-61.At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002.
  36. John B.B. Trussell and Charles C. Dallas, The Pennsylvania Line; Regimental Organization and Operations, 1776-1783 (Harrisburg, Pa.: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1977). Digital version at Family History Archive.
  37. Wikipedia contributors, "9th Pennsylvania Regiment," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9th_Pennsylvania_Regiment, accessed 31 May 2012.