Bradford County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

Guide to Bradford County, Pennsylvania ancestry, family history and genealogy 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.

Bradford County Pennsylvania Historical Facts
Parent Counties: Formed from Luzerne and Lycoming Counties 21 February 1810.

County Seat: Towanda

Neighboring Counties:
 * Chemung County, New York
 * Tioga County, New York
 * Susquehanna
 * Tioga
 * Sullivan
 * Wyoming
 * Lycoming

Description
It is named for William Bradford, who had been a chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and United States Attorney General. It's county seat is Towanda. It was organized February 21, 1810. It is located in the Northeast section of the state.

==== Boundary Changes ====

Note: Connecticut claimed the area which included what is now Bradford County before 1808 or 1827, depending on the source.


 * Before 1772: Most of today's Bradford County was included in Northampton County, the rest was not included in any county until 1785.
 * 1772: Northumberland County, including the part containing future Bradford County was carved from Northampton County.
 * 1785: The remainder of future Bradford County was annexed to Northumberland County.
 * 1786: Luzerne County, which then included future Bradford County, was formed from Northumberland County.
 * 21 February 1810: Ontario County (now defunct), which included future Bradford County, was carved from Luzerne County.
 * 6 March 1812: Ontario County was renamed Bradford County.

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.

The Bradford County Historical Society maintains indexes to the burials that have taken place in the Bradford County Cemeteries. Cemetery information is also listed on the Tri-Counties Genealogy &amp; Historywebsite. Over time, not all burials have been recorded.

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 church records of:
 * Athens: First Presbyterian Church; Trinity Episcopal Church
 * Burlington: Broad Street United Methodist Church; Union Street Methodist Episcopal Church
 * Canton: First Presbyterian Church; First United Methodist Church
 * Evergreen: Evergreen Baptist Church
 * New Albany: New Albany Baptist Church
 * Sayre: First Presbyterian Church; St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church
 * Stevensville: St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Francisville
 * Towanda: First United Methodist Church
 * Ulster: Presbyterian Church
 * Wilmot: St. John's Lutheran Church
 * Wyalusing: Trinity Episcopal Church


 * The Bradford County Historical Society genealogical library and research center has a collection of church records that can be used onsite. They are creating a list of those and it will be added to the site when it is complete.


 * The Tri-Counties Genealogy and History website has a number of Bradford, Chemung, and Tioga county church links connecting users to histories and records of those churches.

Baptists
Baptists were among the earliest settlers in Bradford County. Several Baptist missionaries toured the region at the start of the 19th century, and a large group of Baptist migrants from Pittsford, Vermont, founded the Burlington (now Troy) Baptist Church in 1808. They were organized under the Chemung (County, New York) Baptist Association.

Catholic
The Catholic church took hold in the early 1820s when there was a large influx into the area.

Lutheran
The Lutheran congregations were established by Germans in the mid-1800s.

Methodist
The Methodist Episcopal church, though not a large group, had an early presence in the county.

Presbyterian
Many of the Presbyterians began as Congregationalist in the late 1700s.

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. Bradford has its own judicial district. A president judge and a court administrator serve in each judicial district.

History
The History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches, by H. C. Bradsby, 1891 is available at the Tri-Counties Genealogy and History website.

Land and Property
Land records in Bradford County began in 1812. These records are filed with the Recorder/Register/Clerk of the Orphan's Court office in Towanda, 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.

Be aware that (particularly in the early 1800s) deeds were not always recorded. Sometimes the early tax assessments will make mention of these early land transfers--giving the name of the grantor and grantee.

Note that the "Maps" section below 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 Bradford County Pennsylvania Land in online catalogs such as:


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

Maps

 * Maps of Pennsylvania (1673-1878)
 * Ancestor Tracks has posted free, downloadable images from the Map of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, From Actual Surveys by Lake Ames Davidson (Philadelphia: Wm. J. Barker, 1858). This wall map located in 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 comercially. We hereby give permission to use them strictly for personal use; please attribute to Ancestor Tracks.
 * 1858 Map of Bradford County, PA has been posted online at chanur.com

Migration
Early migration routes for European settlers to and from Bradford County, Pennsylvania 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

Naturalization and Citizenship
Naturalization records available for Bradford 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

Newspapers
Newspapers of Bradford County


 * Pennsylvania Newspapers
 * Chronicling America US Newspaper Directory

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.


 * The earliest newspaper coverage for Bradford County predates the organization of the County. These early newspapers are available online through the Wyoming County Historical Society. Newspapers postdating the organization of the county are available through the Bradford County Historical Society. The Society has indexed the vital record information from these newspapers. This index is available at the Bradford County Historical Society's research center.

Online Newspaper Abstracts


 * PA-Roots Newspaper Articles for Bradford County.

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


 * PA-Roots Obituaries for Bradford County.

Obituary Excerpts and Abstracts


 * Fray, Robert G., Bradford County, Pa., Area Deaths (Allentown, Pennsylvania:R.G. Fray Publishing, c2000) Includes deaths as reported in the Evening Times, orginally published at Syre, Bradford, Pennsylvania. Includes index.

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

Bradford County Only:


 * 1812 - 1882 Bradford County Probate Records

Online Probate Indexes


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


 * 1683 - 1994 at FamilySearch — images

Original Probate Records of Microfilm


 * 1812 - 1882 Registers Docket

Probate records are located at the Bradford County Courthouse and at the Bradford County Historical Society.

Archives

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

Courthouse
Bradford County Courthouse Recorders Office 301 Main St. Towanda, PA 18848 Phone: (570) 265-1702 Fax: (570) 265-1721

Orphans' Court Phone: (570) 265-1702

Clerk of Courts/Prothonotary Phone: (570) 265-1705 Fax: (570) 265-1788

Family History Centers

 * Towanda Pennsylvania Family History Center

Libraries

 * Bradford County Library 16093 Route 6 Troy, PA 16947 Phone: (570) 297-2436 The Bradford County Library is the headquarters for a nine member Bradford County Library System.

Museums

 * LeRoy Heritage Museum 257 Mill Street LeRoy, PA Phone: (570) 364-5003 Mailing Address: 8051 Southside Road, Canton, PA 17724 The Museum's research library includes materials about historic residents of LeRoy Townhip, former Barclay Township (Barclay Mountain) and Granville Township.


 * The Home Textile Tool Museum PO Box 153 Rome, PA 18837 Phone: (570) 247-7175 Learn how your ancestors made their clothing.

Societies

 * Bradford County Historical Society 109 Pine Street Towanda, PA 18848 Phone: (570) 265-2240 The BCHS maintains a research center/library.  The library's holdings include early probate records, early tax records (including poor children records), an index to vital information in early Bradford County newspapers, an index to cemeteries, local history books, family name files, and many other valuable genealogical records. The library does not participate in inter-library loan. Research requests are $50.00 per surname.

Taxation
The original early tax records are housed at the Bradford County Historical Society in Towanda, Pennsylvania. As of May 2011, these records have not been microfilmed. Because these records are in such a fragile condition, the Historical Society has been attempting to make photocopies of the records. The records that have been photocopied have also been indexed--but because of the scope of this endeavor, the indexes may contain errors.

These tax records are contained in individual books for each individual township for each year. There are some years which are missing. The names are listed roughly in alphabetical order.

Early tax records for Bradford County are particularly valuable because they contain the "Poor Children" records. If the head of household was considered "poor", the tax collector would list the head of household and all children in the household between the ages of 5 and 12. The government was then required to pay for the schooling of these children. Typically ages were also listed with the children's names. In many cases, these are the only existing records containing the names of these children.

Vital Records
See also How to order Pennsylvania Vital Records

Births

 * 1893 - 1901 Bradford County Births

Marriages

 * 1677 – 1950  at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1700 - 1821 Pennsylvania Marriage Records Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties.
 * 1725 - 1976  - free index. Not complete for all years. This index is not necessarily intended to index any specific set of records. This index is not complete for any particular place or region. This collection may include information previously published in the International Genealogical Index or Vital Records Index collections.
 * Pre-1810 Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties. Includes 35,000 marriage records from vol. VIII of of the second series of the Pennsylvania Archives.
 * 1852 - 1854 Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry.com – ($) Index with images.
 * 1885 - 1950  Extracted marriage records – free. This database is incomplete for all counties. May also contain marriage records earlier than 1885.
 * Bradford County Marriages–extracted from newspapers.

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

Deaths

 * 1840 - 1869 Bradford County Deaths–Extracted from newspapers.
 * 1893 - 1901 Bradford County Deaths

Genealogy Societies and Libraries

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

Bradford County Pennsylvania Genealogy Websites

 * Bradford County, PA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Linkpendium - Bradford County
 * Tri-Counties Genealogy and History Site - Bradford andTioga County (PA) and Cemung (NY) For family and local history information
 * Sullivan-Rutland Genealogy Project This database focuses on the ancestors and descendants of the early nineteenth century pioneers who migrated to Tioga and Bradford County, Pennsylvania, primarily from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. It also includes Chemung County. New York.
 * USGenWeb project.
 * Bradford County Historical Society
 * Bradford County PA Genealogy

Bradford County Pennsylvania Places
The following townships are located within Bradford County: Albany, Armenia, Asylum, Athens, Barclay, Burlington, Canton, Columbia, Franklin, Granville, Herrick, Leroy, Litchfield, Monroe, North Towanda, Orwell, Overton, Pike, Ridgebury, Rome, Sayre, Sheshequin, Smithfield, South Creek, Springfield, Standing Stone, Stevens, Terry, Towanda, Troy, Tuscarora, Ulster, Warren, Wells, West Burlington, Wilmot, Windham, Wyalusing, Wysox.

Populated Places
Towanda (Bradford County Seat)

Wysox