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Indexes of Genealogy and History Sources: Full Search

Winter Notice!

The Wayne County Historical Society is closed for the winter and reopen Saturday, April 20, 2013. Orders for Library Lookups and/or Genealogy Research will not be accepted until the Research Library reopens in April.

Welcome to free, searchable indexes to books and documents in the WCHS Research Library! Photocopies or transcriptions of the individual items are available by purchasing the referred pages after a successful search. Click 'Buy' on all the entries you'd like copied, select your membership level (discount for members), then click 'Checkout'. You'll then need to checkout through our online shop system. Results will be emailed to you, or via USPS on request. One item (line) is $4, or four for $10 for members, $5 and $12 respectively for non-members.

Many other indexed books and databases are available in the Research Library that cannot be made available online for legal reasons. However, they would be included in the Professional Research Package or in a personal visit. See the Library->Info page for a more complete list of resources. Unless you specifically request that your order be sent via U.S. mail, it will be emailed to you. Below are the indexes currently available online, containing approximatly 35,000+ entries.

Search by first, last, or both names.
'Sounds like' will search for similar sounding words.

Results displayed here.

Indexes Currently Available Online:

  • "Beers Atlas of Wayne Co., Pennsylvania, 1872." Individual maps of townships and boroughs with names of occupants, 1872. Index of names prepared by Ann O’Hara. Reproductions of the individual maps are available in the Museum Shop or you can order a photocopy of the portion of the map on which your names occur.
  • "Centennial and Illustrated Wayne County"Benj. F. Haines, Publisher, Honesdale, PA, 1902. Profiles of businesses and individuals, including biography and history. Index of names compiled by Don & Anice Jengo, 1993. You will receive a copy of the title page along with the pages you order.
  • " Rafting on the Delaware River, " by Leslie C. Wood. History of one of the major industries in areas adjoining the Delaware, including Wayne County. Index of names compiled by Rae Ann Bishop and Gene Tagle, 1998. You will receive a copy of the title page along with the pages you order.
  • "Life & History of Christopher Palmer Tallman and History of Wayne County, Pa.," by C. P. Tallman, 1881. Story of the settlers of Northern Wayne. Index compiled by JoAnn Seiler and Ann O’Hara, 2005. You will receive a copy of the title page along with the pages you order.
  • "Your Heritage in Beach Lake: The Story of Beach Lake, Pennsylvania,"by Isabel N. Baldwin, 1957. Indexed by Gene Tagle and Rae Ann Bishop. A generally reliable early history of the Beach Lake area, with emphasis on its Cornish immigrants. You will receive a copy of the title page along with the pages you order.
  • Wayne County Teachers , a database maintained by Margaret Steffen. Contains information on known teachers in the one-room schools of rural Wayne County up to 1945. You will receive a transcript of the entry for each teacher you order. Some entries are fuller than others.
  • ", a database maintained by Margaret Steffen. Contains information on known teachers in the one-room schools of rural Wayne County up to 1945. You will receive a transcript of the entry for each teacher you order. Some entries are fuller than others."by Alsup Vail Tyler, 1986. Index compiled by Harold F. Truchsess and revised by Gene Tagle in 1996. You will receive a copy of the title page along with the pages you order.
  • "The Nomenclature of Wayne: A History of Wayne County, PA by Thomas J. Ham." Originally published in the Honesdale Citizen 1905-1907, these newspaper columns were compiled and reprinted by George J. Fluhr in 1995. The index was compiled by Gene Tagle and Rae Ann Bishop in 2003. You will receive a copy of the title page along with the pages you order.
  • Wayne County Obituaries. Index to obituaries in Wayne County newspapers 1835 through 1899. Prepared by Wayne County Historian Richard O. Eldred. It should be noted that there were few obituaries in the early years and they were very brief. You will receive a copy of the obituary along with a note giving the name and date of the paper.
  • "History of Wayne, Pike and Monroe Counties, Pennsylvania," by Alfred Mathews, 1886. The index is to Wayne County only. This is the most thorough history up to the mid-1880s. Family relationships are sometimes confusing but the book is generally reliable. You will receive a copy of the title page along with the pages you order.
  • Naturalizations at the Wayne County Courthouse. Copies of surviving naturalization papers up to 1906. Most do NOT include the Declaration of Intention, which was often filed elsewhere. You will receive a copy of the entire document.

Online Index Search was made possible through the Wayne County Commissioners and a Tourism Promotion Committee’s Tourism Grant.