Tioga County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

Guide to Tioga County, Pennsylvania ancestry, family history and genealogy in courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, wills, deeds and land records, Civil War records, Revolutionary War records, family histories, cemeteries, churches, tax records, newspapers, and obituaries.

Tioga County Pennsylvania Historical Facts
Parent Counties: Formed from Lycoming County 26 March 1804.

County Seat: Wellsboro

Neighboring Counties: Tioga County residents may also have records in:


 * Steuben County, New York
 * Lycoming
 * Chemung County, New York
 * Potter
 * Bradford

Its name derives from an American Indian word meaning "at the forks," describing a meeting place.

Description
The county was named for the Tioga River. It's county seat is Wellsboro and was founded October 13, 1812. It is located in the North central tip of the state.

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Pennsylvania county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Pennsylvania County Boundary Maps" (1673-1878) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

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

Cemeteries
Cemetery records often reveal birth, marriage, death, relationship, military, and religious information.

Church Records



 * Linkpendium

County-wide Database - Multi-denominational

 * 1708-1985 Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 at Historical Society of Pennsylvania – $, free to members of the society; Also available at Ancestry.com – $; 7,542,774 entries. This database is incomplete for all counties.
 * Contains records of:
 * Arnot: Arnot Presbyterian Church
 * Ash Brook: Ash Brook/Pine Creek Baptist Missionary Society
 * Mansfield: First Baptist Church; First United Methodist Church; St. James Episcopal Church
 * Millerton: United Methodist Church
 * Wellsboro: First Presbyterian Church; United Methodist Church
 * Whitneyville: United Methodist Church

Lutheran
Salem Lutheran Church, Hartsfield


 * 1831-1858 Salem Lutheran Church, Hartsfield, Baptism Index 1831-1858 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batch.
 * 1840-1850 Salem Lutheran Church, Hartsfield, Baptism Index 1840-1850 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batch.

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sebring


 * 1837-1871 Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sebring, Baptism Index 1837-1871 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batch.
 * 1838-1846, 1871 Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sebring, Marriage Index 1838-1846, 1871 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batch.

Presbyterian
First Presbyterian Church, Elkland


 * 1834-1842, 1852-1870 First Presbyterian Church, Elkland, Baptism Index 1834-1842 and 1852-1870 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batch.

First Presbyterian Church, Fallbrook


 * 1861-1875 First Presbyterian Church, Fallbrook, Baptism Index 1861-1875 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batch.
 * 1861-1874 First Presbyterian Church, Fallbrook, Marriage Index 1861-1875 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batch.

Presbyterian Church of Farmington


 * 1847-1885 Presbyterian Church of Farmington, Baptism Index 1847-1885 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batch.

Presbyterian Church, Lawrenceville


 * 1885 Presbyterian Church, Lawrenceville, Baptism Index 1885 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batch.

Court of Common Pleas
The Courts of Common Pleas are the trial courts of Pennsylvania. Major civil and criminal cases are heard in these courts. Judges also decide cases involving adoption, divorce, child custody, abuse, juvenile delinquency, estates, guardianships, charitable organizations and many other matters.

The Common Pleas courts are organized into 60 judicial districts. Tioga County has its own judicial district. Judges of the Common Pleas courts are elected to 10-year terms. A president judge and a court administrator serve in each judicial district.

Orphan's Court
All the records for the Orphan's court are handled by the Prothonotary, who is also the clerk of the courts. All the Orphan's Court records are open except adoptions.

Land and Property
Land records in Tioga County began in 1806. These records are filed with the Register and Recorder office in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania.

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts, indexes, mortgages, leases, grants, sheriff sales, land patents, and maps. Property records include liens as well as livestock brands and estray records.

The following are examples of available resources:

Online Land Records


 * 1806 - present Images are available on-line from 1806 to the present using the Landex system. There is a fee to view the images.

Additional Resources

Note that the "Maps" section below also includes maps related to land ownership.

See Pennsylvania Land and Property for more information about using land records, especially about original land warrants, surveys, and patents filed at the state land office.

Additional resources can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Tioga County Pennsylvania Land in online catalogs such as:


 * Historical Society of Pennsylvania
 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog.)
 * (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search.)

Maps

 * Maps of Pennsylvania (1673-1878)
 * Ancestor Tracks has posted free downloadable images from the County Atlas of Tioga, Pennsylvania from Recent and Actual Surveys and Records under the Superintendence of G.H. Walker and C.F. Jewett (published by F.W. Beers and Company, 1875). This atlas found in the files of the Library of Congress shows major landowners and geographic sites at the date of publishing.  While the physical maps are in the public domain, the images we have taken of the maps belong to us and are not to be used commercially. We hereby give permission to use them strictly for personal use; please attribute to Ancestor Tracks.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Naturalization records available for Tioga County, Pennsylvania include the following:

Online Naturalization Indexes and Records


 * 1901-1930 Naturalization Petitions of the U.S. Circuit and District Courts for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 1906-1930; and 1901-1906 on Fold3.com - ($), indexed, National Archives publication M1622, Middle District court was created in 1901, for earlier dates try the Eastern and Western District court records


 * 1901-1930 Middle District, US Circuit and District Courts: Naturalization petitions, 1906-1930 located in U.S. Naturalization Records - Original Documents, 1795-1972 (World Archives Project) database on Ancestry.com - ($), indexed, National Archives publication M1622, Middle District court was created in 1901, for earlier dates try the Eastern and Western District court records.


 * 1795-1990 Tioga County: Abstracts of Naturalization Records on Tri-Counties genealogy &amp; History website - free, index and abstracts.

Newspapers
Newspapers of Tioga County


 * Pennsylvania Newspapers
 * Chronicling America US Newspaper Directory
 * Newspapers of the Area

Online Newspapers

To learn if there are newspapers online for a specific town or city in Pennsylvania, see news.google.com/newspapers and search for the town or the name of a newspaper.


 * Tioga County, PA newspapers at the State Library of Pennsylvania: Historic Newspapers Collection.
 * Newspaper Archives of the Green Free Library containing a number of newspapers covering Tioga, Bradford and Wellsboro.

Online Newspaper Abstracts


 * Tioga county Newspaper Abstracts A very large collection of abstracts from newspapers of the early, mid and late nineteenth century.
 * PA-Roots Newspaper Articles for Tioga County, Pennsylvania.

Newspaper and Obituary Excerpts and Abstracts


 * Collected and compiled by Rhoda E. Ladd, Tioga County Pennsylvania Records, Newspaper File (Wellsboro, Pennsylvania:R.E. Ladd, 1981)

Obituaries
Obituaries are generally found in local newspapers where the person died. However, sometimes an obituary is found in the location from which he or she originated. To find an obituary, see the information under the Newspaper heading

Online Obituary Abstracts


 * Tioga County Obituary Abstracts including many thousands of transcribed newspaper clippings.
 * PA-roots Obituaries for Tioga County, Pennsylvania.

Probate Records
Online Probate Records Original probate records for some Pennsylvania counties are available free online as digital images at FamilySearch.org. The dates vary significantly for each county and not all counties are listed. Some counties may only have probate indexes. This Pennsylvania collection of images may be browsed through the links listed below: Complete Collection:


 * 1683-1993 Pennsylvania Wills and Probate Records 1683-1993 at Ancestry.com — index and images $


 * 1683-1994  at FamilySearch.org

Tiogo County Only:


 * 1832-1886 Tioga County Probate Records

Original Probate Records on Microfilm


 * 1832-1886 Probate Docket with Index (1806–1934)

Repositories

 * List of Pennsylvania Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Archives

 * National Archives at Philadelphia 14700 Townsend Road Philadelphia, PA 19154-1096 Phone: (215) 305-2044 Fax (215) 305-2052
 * National Archives at Philadelphia 14700 Townsend Road Philadelphia, PA 19154-1096 Phone: (215) 305-2044 Fax (215) 305-2052

Courthouse

 * Tioga County Courthouse Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts Clerk of Orphans Court 116 Main Street Wellsboro, PA 16901 Phone: 570-724-9281 Fax: 570-724-2986 Hours: Monday–Friday 9:00am – 4:30pm
 * This office handles all of the court records. The Prothonotary is the Clerk for all the courts.

Libraries

 * The Green Free Library 134 Main St. Wellsboro, PA 16901 Phone: 570-724-4876 Fax: 570-724-7605 Email: [mailto:greenlib@epix.net greenlib@epix.net]
 * Visit Website for hours and services.
 * Resources include history books, cemetery inscriptions, vital record abstracts, and historical newspapers.
 * With a library card or in person you will have access to Heritage Quest. Also, through the library's website, Newspaper Archives of local newspapers may be accessed.


 * Knoxville Public Library 112 E. Main St. PO Box 277 Knoxville, PA 16928 Phone: 814-326-4448 Email: [mailto:kplibrary@verizon.net kplibrary@verizon.net]
 * Visit Website for hours and services.
 * This library maintains an extensive genealogical section.

Societies

 * Tioga County Historical Society 120 Main St Box 724 Wellsboro, PA 16901 Phone: 570-724-6116 E-mail: [mailto:tiogachs@gmail.com tiogachs@gmail.com] Hours: Monday through Friday: 12:00 PM–4:00 PM (phone for current available hours)
 * The society runs the Rhoda Ladd Genealogical Library. There are several books of newspaper clippings, cemetery burials, bibles records, census data, and more.

Vital Records
See also How to order Pennsylvania Vital Records

Birth

 * 1726-1930  - free index. Not complete for all years. This index is an electronic index for the years 1726 to 1930. It is not necessarily intended to index any specific set of records. This index is not complete for any particular place or region. This collection may include information previously published in the International Genealogical Index or Vital Records Index collections.
 * 1852-1854 Pennsylvania Births Ancestry.com – $ Index with images.

Marriage

 * 1677-1950   at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1700-1821  Pennsylvania Marriage Records Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties.
 * 1725-1976   - free index. Not complete for all years. This index is an electronic database of information. The entries are primarily from the International Genealogical Index (IGI) along with some entries derived from compiled and original records such as: Family Records, Church Records, Civil Registration. It may also include indexes generated by the internet indexing project sponsored by the LDS Church.
 * Pre-1810  Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties. Includes 35,000 marriage records from vol. VIII of of the second series of the Pennsylvania Archives.
 * 1838-1976   - free index. Not complete for all years.
 * 1852-1854  Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry.com – ($) Index with images.
 * 1885-1926  Wellsboro, Tioga County, Marriage Index 1885-1926 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1885-1950   Extracted marriage records – free. Most of the records consist of marriage licenses, certificates, applications, docket books, and affidavits. This database is incomplete for all counties. May also contain marriage records earlier than 1885.

Divorce
Divorce records are available through the office of the Prothonotary. The office of the Prothonotary is located in the courthouse building.

Death

 * 1852-1854 Pennsylvania Deaths Ancestry.com – $ Index with images.
 * 1890-1906 Tioga County Death Index 1890-1906 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.

Tioga County Pennsylvania Genealogy Websites

 * Tioga County, PA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Tioga County PA Genealogy
 * Tri-Counties Genealogy and History