PACLARIO-L Archives

From: "CCHS Webmanager" <>
Subject: Re: [PACLARIO-L] Justice of Peace
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1999 12:42:37 +0000

Virginia Banerjee <>
> Generally speaking, I have had good luckin various counties by "just asking",
> offering to do my own thing and not bother the staff. It also seems to help
> if one is knowlegeable about the different types of indexing systems, what
> kinds of records there are, what they are called and what sort information
> can be expected. In other words, some background research helps.
>
> Maybe the folks at the Historical Society could offer some suggestions
> regarding how and who to approach at the Court House.

Hi,

I've never been able to locate the first Quartersessions docket (J.P.
appointments, etc.), so I can't tell you where it's located, but all the
others were located in one of the cells in the basement of the old
jail building as of a few months ago. (It's possible that they've
moved since then, but I doubt it, since I don't think any of the
current courthouse staff is very familiar with these old dockets. <g>)

To get to these dockets, you'll have to explain to a courthouse
official (commissioners' office) what you want to look at, and get
somebody to authorize your entry into the basement of the old jail.
(The county's 911 system is also run out of the jail, so there's
always someone there, but you'll need authorization before that
person will permit you in the basement of the old jail.)

Unfortunately, as Virginia Banerjee pointed out, these are not
indexed, so you need to either have a pretty good idea of the date
of commission or be prepared to do a lot of reading.

If anybody has specific questions about other documents at the
courthouse, I'll try to answer them.

In regards to helpfulness to genealogical researchers, my personal
experience with the Register and Recorder's Office has been very
good. In Clarion Co., the Register and Recorder are one
person/office, although in larger counties, you'll find two different
elected officials and offices. For those of you unfamiliar with PA
local government, the Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds
handle deeds (1839 onward with some prior deeds that had been
recorded in the parent counties of Armstrong and Venango Co.),
leases & agreements (1839 onward), marriage licenses (1852-54,
1885 onward), wills/estate preceedings (1839 onward), births (1893-
1906) and deaths (1852-54, 1893-1906), delayed birth registrations
(registrations start in the 1940's, but the births are usually much
earlier.) I've heard from various researchers that this office is
prompt with responses to mail requests for information.

The Prothonotary's office seems to be busier and somewhat less
inclined to be as helpful. A prothonotary (from the latin
protonotarius -- chief scribe) is fairly peculiar to PA, but she is
basically the record keeper for the various county courts. The
Prothonotary's office has naturalizations, divorces, and lawsuits.
Last year when I checked with the Prothonotary's office, they were
several months behind on responding to mail requests for
naturalization papers, and stated that they do them 'when we have
the time.' I'm not sure what their current status is. Perhaps others
can share any recent experiences they've had.

Tax records are in the Tax Office, while the Veteran Affairs office
has records on the veterans of Clarion Co. Most useful of these
are the Veteran Burial dockets which are supposed to record the
burial locations of all Clarion Co. Veterans. I haven't had too much
experience with the staff in these offices, but my limited experience
has been good in both offices.

Sincerely,
CCHS Webmanager <>
- --------------------------------------------------------------
Clarion County Historical Society Homepage:
http://www.csonline.net/cchs/
Clarion County Historical Society GenConnect Query Board:
http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/GenSoc/Pa/CCH

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• Re: [PACLARIO-L] Justice of Peace by "CCHS Webmanager" <>