Potter County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania Potter County

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Lycoming County 26 March 1804.
 * County Seat: Coudersport
 * Neighboring Counties: residents may also have records in Allegany County, New York (north) • Clinton (south) •  Steuben County, New York (northeast)  • [Cameron County, Pennsylvania|Cameron]] (southwest)  •  Lycoming (southeast)  •  McKean (west)  •  Tioga (east)

Named for General James Potter, from Pennsylvania in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Boundary Changes
29 March 1860: Cameron County set off.

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

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.

Baptist
In 1850, the Baptist Church was built.

Lutheran
In 1886, St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized with 71 members.

Protestant Episcopal
Christ Church, English Protestant Episcopal was reorganized in 1881 and their church was built in 1884.

Presbyterian
The Presbyterian society was said to have built the first church building in the county in 1850.

Roman Catholic
The Roman Catholic Church in this county was organized in about 1840.

Land and Property
Land records in Potter County began in 1804. These records are filed with the Register of Wills/Recorder of Deeds office in Coudersport, 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


 * 2003–present Images are available online using the Landex system. There is a fee to view the images.

Land Records on Microfilm


 * 1806-1973 Deeds, 1806-1866; Indexes to Deeds, 1806-1972
 * 1796–1931 General Index to Mortgages.

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 Potter County Pennsylvania Land in online catalogs such as:


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

Maps
Click the image to view an enlarged version

Migration
Early migration routes for European settlers to and from included:


 * Catskill Turnpike, trail 1760s; turnpike 1804, from Catskill to Bath, New York with extensions to Buffalo, New York, or Erie, Pennsylvania
 * Forbidden Path, 1767 from Athens, Pennsylvania to Salamanca, New York

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:
 * 1683-1994 – at FamilySearch.org

Potter County Only:
 * 1836–1908 – Potter County Probate Records

Courthouse
Potter County Courthouse 1 East 2nd St. Coudersport, PA 16915 Phone: (814) 274-9740 Copies of documents including birth, marriages, deaths, divorces, land, and probate records can be obtained by using: Pennsylvania Public Record. Click on the link for the record you wish to request.

Societies
Potter County Historical Society P.O. Box 605 308 N. Main St Coudersport PA 16915 841-274-4410 Hours: Mon and Fri 10:30 am – 4:00 pm, Thurs 6:30 – 8:30 pm, or by appointment 814-848-3942 e-mail: potercohist@zitomedia.net

The PCHS library has over 3000 items in the collection. Browse online listing, access on site, no circulation.

County-wide Database

 * 1700-1821 - Pennsylvania Marriage Records Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties.
 * Pre-1810 – Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties. Includes 35,000 marriage records from vol. VIII of of the second series of the Pennsylvania Archives.

Birth

 * 1726-1930 - - free index. Not complete for all years.
 * 1852-1854 – Pennsylvania Births Ancestry.com – $ Index with images.

Marriage

 * 1725-1976 - - free index. Not complete for all years.

Divorce
Divorce records are handled by the office of the Prothonotary. While no on-line indexes or records are available, records may be obtained by visiting or writing to the Prothonotary at:

Prothonotary/Clerk of Courts 1 East Second Street, Room 23, Coudersport PA 16915 Phone (814) 274-9740 E–mail: [mailto:kschroeder@pottercountypa.net kschroeder@pottercountypa.net]

Death

 * 1852-1854 – Pennsylvania Deaths Ancestry.com – $ Index with images.

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.