Potter County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

Guide to Potter County, Pennsylvania ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
The county was named for General James Potter, from Pennsylvania in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. It is located in the north-central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Potter County Courthouse 1 East 2nd St. Coudersport, PA 16915 Phone: 814-274-9740 Fax: 814-274-3361 Register of Wills/Recorder of Deeds Phone: 814-274-8370 Potter County Website

Prothonotary has birth, death and burial records 1893-1905, marriage and divorce records from 1885 Register of Wills has probate records Recorder of Deeds has land records


 * Copies of documents including birth, marriages, deaths, divorces, land, and probate records can be obtained by using: Pennsylvania Public Record.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cemeteries

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

Additional Cemetery Resources
 * ca.1700-ca.1950 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * PA-Roots
 * Names in Stone
 * Ancestry($)
 * Painted Hills Genealogical Society Painted Hills

Church Records


1708-1985 Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 at Historical Society of Pennsylvania – $, free to members of the society; Also available at Ancestry.com$

Baptist In 1850, the Baptist Church was built.

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

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

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

Roman Catholic The Roman Catholic Church in this county was organized in about 1840. List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

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

Online Land Indexes and Records
 * 1806-1973 Deeds, 1806-1866; Indexes to Deeds, 1806-1972 - images only; click on the camera icon to view images
 * 1796 -1931 General Index to Mortgages. - images only; click on the camera icon to view images
 * 2003–present Images are available online using the Landex system.$

Local Histories

 * History of the Counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Selections. 1890. Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Internet Archive, Google Books, Ancestry ($);.

Maps and Gazetteers
Gazetteers Maps
 * PA HomeTown Locator
 * Maps of Pennsylvania (1673-1878)
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Migration
Early migration routes for European settlers to and from Potter County 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

Military Records

 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship
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 $

Newspapers
Newspapers of Potter County

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.


 * Chronicling America US Newspaper Directory.
 * Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive
 * Pennsylvania Newspapers

Online Newspaper Abstracts


 * PA-Roots Newspaper Articles for Potter County, Pennsylvania.
 * 1947-2010  at FamilySearch

Obituaries
Online Obituary Abstracts


 * PA-Roots Obituaries for Potter County, Pennsylvania.

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1683-1993 Pennsylvania Wills and Probate Records 1683-1993 at Ancestry $
 * 1836-1908 Potter County Probate Records at FamilySearch
 * 1836-1908 Register's Dockets (index 1836 -1972) - images only; click on the camera icon to view images

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Birth

 * 1726-1930  index. Not complete for all years. This collection is an 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 $
 * 1893-1906 Coudersport, Potter County, Birth Index 1893-1906 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch

Marriage

 * 1626-2016 Pennsylvania, United States Marriages at FindMyPast
 * 1677-1950  at FamilySearch
 * 1700-1821 Pennsylvania Marriage Records Ancestry $
 * 1725-1976  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 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
 * Pre-1810 Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry $
 * 1852-1854 Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry $
 * 1885-1950  Extracted marriage records. 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.

Death

 * 1720-1999  at FamilySearch — index, some images
 * 1850-1880  at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1852-1854 Pennsylvania Deaths Ancestry $
 * 1892-1906 Coudersport, Potter County, Death Index 1892-1906 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch

Divorce
Divorce records are available through the office of the Prothonotary.

Archives

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

Libraries

 * Potter County belongs to the Potter-Tioga Library System, a two county library system that is the largest in Pennsylvania. There are two libraries that have some genealogical records:
 * Ulysses Public Library Willis I. Lewis Memorial Library P.O. Box 316 401 N. Main Street Ulysses, PA 16948 Phone: 814-848-7226 The Library collection includes:Histories, Some census records, Tri-Counties Genealogy, Genealogy books and CDs Website
 * Coudersport Public Library 502 Park Avenue Coudersport, PA 16915 Phone: 814-274-9382 Email: [mailto:coudy502@hotmail.com coudy502@hotmail.com] The Library collection includes:Census records on microfilm, Potter Enterprise newspaper from 1880-2008 Website

Societies

 * Painted Hills Genealogy Society Mary E. Bryant: Founder and President Email: [mailto:paint@paintedhills.org paint@paintedhills.org] Website This Society covers the Painted Hills Area of Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania, particularly the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Steuben in New York and the Pennsylvania counties of McKean and Potter.
 * Potter County Historical Society P.O. Box 605 308 N. Main St Coudersport PA 16915 841-274-4410 Email: [mailto:potercohist@zitomedia.net potercohist@zitomedia.net] Facebook The PCHS library has over 3000 items in the collection.

Websites

 * USGenWeb
 * Potter County PA Genealogy
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.

Research Guides
Woodroofe's guide to Potter County "hidden sources" at The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania is available online:


 * Woodroofe, Helen Hutchison. "A Genealogist's Guide to Pennsylvania Records," The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 34, No. 3 (1986):240. For online access, see WeRelate.