Bradford County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania Bradford County

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Luzerne and Lycoming Counties 21 February 1810. It first became Ontario County.
 * County Seat: Towanda
 * Neighboring Counties: residents may also have records in Chemung County, New York and Tioga County, New York (north) • Susquehanna (east) • Tioga (west) • Sullivan (south)  •  Wyoming (southeast)  •  Lycoming (southwest)

==== 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.

Cemeteries
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.

Cemetery records often reveal birth, 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.
 * The Bradford County Historical Society genealogical library and research center has a collection of church lecords 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.

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.)
 * Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search.)

Maps

 * Ancestor Tracks has posted free, downloadable images from the Map of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, From Actual Surveys by Lake Ames &amp; 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 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

Newspapers
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.

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

Courthouse
Bradford County Courthouse Recorders Office 301 Main St. Towanda, PA 18848 Phone: (570) 265-1702 Fax: (570) 265-1721 Hours 9:00 - 5:00 Monday - Friday

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Towanda Pennsylvania Family History Center

Societies
The Bradford County Historical Society is located at 109 Pine Street, Towanda, Pennsylvania 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.

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.

Births

 * 1893-1901 Bradford County Births

Marriages

 * 1725-1976 - - free index. Not complete for all years.
 * Bradford County Marriages–extracted from newspapers.

Divorce
Divorce records are available through the office of the Prothonotary. Since there is no on-line index, you can search the index at the Prothonotary's office. The office of the Prothonotary is located at: Office of the Prothonotary 301 Main Street Towanda, PA 18848 Phone: (570) 265-1705 Fax: (570) 265-1788

Deaths

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

Web Sites

 * Linkpendium - Bradford County
 * Tri-Counties Genealogy and History Site - Bradford &amp; Tioga 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

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