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 & Biographical Volumes

The History and Topography of Dauphin, Cumberland, Franklin, Bedford, Adams, Perry,
Somerset, Cambria, and Indiana Counties (I. Daniel Rupp, 1848, 711 pages)
The full title of the publication is:
"The History and Topography of Dauphin, Cumberland, Franklin, Bedford, Adams, and Perry Counties: Containing a brief history of the first settlers, notices of the leading events, incidents and interesting facts, both general and local, in the history of these counties, general & statistical descriptions of all the principal boroughs, towns, villages, &c." This is a 2nd Edition of the publication originally published in 1846, which in addition to the original covers the counties of Somerset, Cambria and Indiana. This edition begins with an early history of the state. It discusses the German and Scotch-Irish immigrants who settled in these counties, and the follows with a discussion of the troubles the early settlers had with the Indians. After the general history of the area, it changes focus to the individual counties. Indiana County is covered from pages 591 to 616. The information covers the formation of the county, its early settlers, and the development of the area following settlement. A brief description of the towns of Indiana, Blairsville, Saltsburg, Armagh, and Gerogeville. The end of the coverage on this county is an account of Conrad Weiser's visit to the area, and some notations from his journal. The Appendix offers some additions and corrections to the original publication. This is followed by a list of subscribers who lived in the area covered by the volume.

Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong Counties, Pennsylvania
(John M. Gresham & Samuel T. Wiley, 1891, 613 pages)
This publication is a historical and biographical account of the counties of Indiana and Armstrong in central PA. The information begins with an early history of the area including its settlement, encounters with natives, growth and development and so forth. Following this is the biographical sections with details the lives of many influential citizens and families of these counties.

Surnames Indexed:
Indiana County
Indiana -- Adler, Alexander, Altman, Barnes, Barr, Bell, Birkman, Blair, Braughler, Carpenter, Clark, Collins, Cunningham, Daugherty, Douglass, Drum, Earhart, Elkin, Empfield, Hall, Hasinger, Hastings, Hildebrand, Hill, Hood, Jack, Johnston, Keener, Kelly, Langham, Lemmon, Logan, Lowry, Luckhart, Mack, McCracken, McGaughey, McGregor, Mitchell, Moorhead, Nesbit, Nixon, Orr, Owens, Paul, Pennington, Pierce, Row, Sansom, Scott, Simpson, Sloan, Smith, Snyder, Stanard, St. Clair, Stewart, Stuchul, Sutton, Swigart, Taylor, Telford, Thompson, Todd, Tomb, Toner, Torrence, Vogel, Watson, Watt, White, Wilson, -- Blairsville -- Ballard, Baughman, Berlin, Black, Carson, Conner, Crede, Devers, Duncan, Graff, Harvey, Hicks, Hill, Innes, Kennedy, Kinkaid, Kinter, Klingensmith, Knott, Lowry, McCabe, Moorhead, Shepley, Snyder, Stiffey, Stillinger, Stitt, Turner, Wehrle, Wiley, Wilkinson, Wilson, Wynn -- Saltsburg -- Ansley, Carson, Clark, Cooper, Davis, McCauley, Miller, Moore, Patterson, Paul, Ralston, Stewart, Watson, Wilson -- Homer City -- Allison, Campbell, Coy, Evans, Moore, Reed, St. Clair -- Marion -- Allison, Park, Thompson, Work -- Conemaugh, Black Lick, Burrell, and East and West Wheatfield Townships -- Burrell, Campbell, Davis, Kelly, Mildren, Pound, Robinson, Rogers, Stoneback -- Rayne, White, Centre, Cherry Hill, Brush Valley, Green, Pine and Buffington Townships -- Burns, Campbell, Creps, Hamil, Learn, McElhoes, Mikesell, Pilson, Shields, Simpson, Stuchell, Williams -- Banks, Montgomery, Canoe, Grant and Mahoning Townships -- Crawford, McEwen, Morrow, Neal, Seanor, Smitten, Stitler -- Washington, Armstrong, and Young Townships -- Carnahan, Elder, Kennedy, Telford, Young

Armstrong County
Kittanning -- Armstrong, Arnold, Aye, Bailey, Buffington, Clark, Cochrane, Crawford, Daugherty, Doverspike, Fiscus, Fox, Goerman, Hays, Heilman, Henderson, Henry, Hill, Johnston, Kettl, Kline, Leason, Lenz, Mayers, McCain, McCullough, McNees, McVay, Mercer, Meredith, Moesta, Oswald, Otto, Owen, Potter, Rayburn, Reed, Reichert, Reynolds, Robinson, Rohrer, Schreckengost, Shadle, Simpson, Slaymaker, Smith, Sturgeon -- Apollo -- Alexander, Benjamin, Chambers, Cochran, Cochrane, Elwood, Fiscus, Fullerton, Guthrie, Hammitt, Hunter, Jack, Jackson, Kepple, Kirkwood, Laufman, McBryar, McMullen, McCauley, McQuilkin, Rudolph, Smeltzer, Steele, Uncafer, Whitlinger, Whitworth, Wolfe, Wray -- Leechburg -- Armstrong, Artman, Bole, Bowers, Bredin, Duff, Elwood, Enwer, Goodsell, Gosser, Hicks, Hill, Hunter, Irwin, Leech, McKallip, Montgomery, Orr, Parks, Schwalm, Steele, Taylor, Thompson, Townsend, Van Giesen, Wanamaker -- Freeport -- Alter, Craig, Edghill, Gallaher, Guckenheimer, Iseman, Long, Maxler, Miller, McCullough, Schwietering, Turner, Watt -- Dayton and Parker City -- Adams, Barr, Beck, Brewer, Calhoun, Cooper, Eggert, Ervin, Fullerton, Henry, Hoover, Lias, Marshall, Miller, Milliron, Morrow, Ottinger, Parker, Pontius, Randolph, Russell, Sharp, Smith, Tinsman, Winsheimer -- East Franklin, Pine, Boggs, Valley, Manor and Kittanning Townships -- Adams, Boltz, Bovard, Cunningham, Everhart, Fair, Frick, Graham, Guthrie, Heilman, Hood, Logan, Luke, Marshall, Mateer, McAfoos, McClarren, McCollum, McGregor, Mergenthaler, Milliken, Nelson, Pepper, Ralston, Reese, Ross, Rupp, Schall, Schreckengost, Smith, Starr, Stewart, Warner, Wayman, Wible -- Red Bank, Wayne, Cowanshannock, Plum Creek, and South Bend Townships -- Blaney, Bleakney, Blose, Borland, Calhoun, Cuddy, Duff, Findley, Gibson, Good, Gourley, Haines, Heckman, Herron, Jones, Kirkpatrick, Marshall, McAdoo, McCullough, McLean, Montgomery, Neal, Pettigrew, Pontius, Ralston, Schrecengost, Sloan, Smith, Stockdill -- Hovey, Perry, Brady's Bend, Washington, Madison, and Mahoning Townships -- Brady, Brodhead, Brown, Cathcart, Fowler, Hamilton, Hetrick, James, Jennings, Keener, Nolf, Park, Robinson, Schott, Shoemaker, Stockdill, Taylor, Tibbles, Truitt, Wallace -- Sugar Creek, West Franklin, North and South Buffalo Townships -- Boggs, Boney, Bowser, Brown, Claypole, Claypool, Claypoole, Cowan, Easley, Gaiser, Graff, Hall, Hawk, Jack, King, Lardin, Leard, Maxwell, Obey, Williams -- Parks, Bethel, Gilpin, Burrell and Kiskiminetas Townships -- Alms, Altman, Blyholder, Bowman, Carothers, Chambers, Dunmire, Free, Guthrie, Heckman, Hill, Jackson, Jones, Keppel, Kirkland, Klingensmith, Kuhns, Lessig, McAdoo, McAwley, McGrann, Meyers, Novinger, Parks, Townsend, Wilson, Wray -- Miscellaneous -- Crawford, McElhoes, Morrow

Souvenir Program Indiana County Sesquicentennial 1803-1853
(Indiana County Sesquicentennial Association, 1953, 86 pages)
This booklet was produced to commemorate the sesquicentennial of Indiana County, Pennsylvania. It covers the program of the events associated with the celebration and also a brief history of the county. The historical narrative discusses the early settlers to the area and the development of its primary towns, businesses and institutions. Included with these sections are photographs from the area's history; historic buildings, scenes from long ago, portraits of prominent citizens, etc, as well as ads for local businesses.

Town, Township & Regional Histories

The Valley of the Conemaugh (Thomas J. Chapman, 1865, 201 pages)
"The scope of this little work is to give an historical and descriptive account of the Valley of the Conemaugh, which embraces the county of Cambria, and a portion of the counties of Somerset, Indiana and Westmoreland.
...so many older men still live, natives of this valley, and better acquainted with its early history... meanwhile, the time is passing away, and the scanty materials out of which to form a local history of the Conemaugh valley are yearly growing less and less. The author has gathered up such of the incidents in the early history of this section of the country as have been thought worthy of preservation, and he takes pleasure in thus submitting the results of his labors to the judgment of his readers."

Blairsville Souvenir and Industrial Prospects
(Blairsville Board of Trade, Samuel Griffin, 1898, 99 pages)
This publication was produced to highlight the favorable aspects of the city of Blairsville, Indiana County, PA. It provides a description of various aspects of the town, its government, eduction, churches, infrastructure, and industry. Also included are a number of sketches of leading men and business operations of the area, many accompanied by portraits of the subject.

Biographical & Business Sketches:
John Graff, Paul Graff, Jacob Graff, Rev. James Davis, Rev. George Hill, Robert Johnston, George Wilkinson, Hon. John Hill, Joseph Moorhead, William Duncan, John I. Chapman, Roy Gerard, Coulter Wiggins, J. A. Srp, W. H. Jackson, D. E. Thompson, Dr. L. S. Clagett, W. H. Stitt, J. M. Harvey, Charles Rugg, F. M. Graff, S. D. Stiffey, Milt. C. Kerr, H. W. Latimer, Milton G. Miller, R. S. Zimmers, Abe Buchman, J. G. Long & Son, Wilbur P. Graff, Boyd R. Ewing, R. H. Frey & Son, Dr. Klingensmith, J. O. Alter, W. M. Hosack, George W. Davis, Thos. G. Murray, J. M. Turner, W. L. Turner, Antes Snyder, J. C. Short & Son, D. M. Kier, Robert Smith, William Earhart, George W. Crede Jr., E. J. Graff, E. M. Evans, E. H. Berlin, Ruben Einstein

The Pageant of Blairsville 1748-1925 and Souvenir Program of Old Home Week
(Anonymous, 1925, 60 pages)
This is a program of the events of the Centennial and Old Home Week of Blairsville, Indiana County, PA held in 1925. It begins with a program of the events of the celebration, followed by various articles on the history of the county and town.

Homer City, Penn'a and Center Township; Indiana County, Penn'a Commission for the
Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of George Washington (1932, 126 pages)
This booklet is a historic and descriptive souvenir of Homer City and vicinity, Indiana Co., PA It provides a brief history of the area's beginnings and growth and a description of many of its businesses and other organizations. Along with this information, there are also many photographs of the town's people and buildings and numerous ads for local businesses. Another nice feature of this publication is the inclusion of biographies of a number of the area's residents. This is an excellent resource for historical or genealogical research in this area.

Biographies:
Brilhart, Buchanan, Byers, Cooper, Drenning, Flickinger, George, Griffith, Grumbling, Hutchinson, Johnston, Kaufman, Kerr, Kunkle, Lockard, Lydick, Marshall, Miller, Moore, Myers, Nix, Palmer, Peelor, Rankin, Reed, Risinger, Rowan, Schall, Sheffler, St. Clair, Stephens, Strong, Tuck, Wakeflield, Weamer, White, Will

Indiana Echoes - Indiana, PA Sesquicentennial 1816-1966 Program,
History and Picture Album (Anonymous, 1966, 52 pages)
This booklet is a sesqui-centennial history of the town of Indiana, Indiana County, PA from its founding in 1816 to 1966. It provides a brief history of the town's beginnings and growth and a description of many of its businesses and organizations. Along with this information, there are also many photographs of the town's people and buildings and numerous ads for local businesses.