Potter County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

Guide to Potter 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.

Potter County Pennsylvania Historical Facts


Parent Counties: Formed from Lycoming County 26 March 1804.

County Seat: Coudersport

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


 * Allegany County, New York
 * Clinton
 * Steuben County, New York
 * Cameron
 * Lycoming
 * McKean
 * Tioga

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

Description
The county was named for James Potter. It's county seat is Coudersport and was founded September 1, 1826. It is located in the Northcentral tip of the state.

Boundary Changes
29 March 1860: Cameron County set off.

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.

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.

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. Potter 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.

Gazetteers
PA HomeTown Locator

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 FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search.)

Maps
Click the image to view an enlarged version
 * Maps of Pennsylvania (1673-1878)

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

Naturalization and Citizenship
Naturalization records available for Potter 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 Potter 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.

Online Newspaper Abstracts


 * PA-Roots Newspaper Articles for Potter County, Pennsylvania.

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 Potter 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

Potter County Only:


 * 1836-1908 Potter County Probate Records

Original Probate Records on Microfilm


 * 1836-1908 Register's Dockets (index 1836–1972)

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
Potter County Courthouse 1 East 2nd St., Room 23 Coudersport, PA 16915 Phone: 814-274-9740 Email: [mailto:kschroeder@pottercountypa.net kschroeder@pottercountypa.net]
 * Prothonotary, Clerk of Courts and Orphans' Court for Potter County are all handled by the same office. 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.

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:


 * http://www.ulysseslibrary.com/ Ulysses Public Library] Willis I. Lewis Memorial Library P.O. Box 316 401 N. Main Street Ulysses, PA 16948 Phone: 814-848-7226 Email: [mailto:ulylib@verizon.net ulylib@verizon.net]
 * County histories
 * Some census records
 * Tri-Counties Genealogy
 * Genealogy books and CDs


 * Coudersport Public Library 502 Park Avenue Coudersport, PA 16915 Phone: 814-274-9382 Email: [mailto:coudy502@hotmail.com coudy502@hotmail.com]
 * Census records on microfilm
 * Potter Enterprise newspaper from 1880-2008

Societies

 * Painted Hills Genealogy Society Mary E. Bryant: Founder and President Email: [mailto:paint@paintedhills.org paint@paintedhills.org]
 * 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. Visit Facebook page for hours.

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 free online access, see WeRelate.

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.
 * 1893-1906 Coudersport, Potter County, Birth Index 1893-1906 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.

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.
 * 1852-1854 Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry.com – ($) Index with images.
 * 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.
 * 1892-1906 Coudersport, Potter County, Death Index 1892-1906 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.

Potter County Pennsylvania Genealogy Websites

 * Unicoi County, PA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * USGenWeb
 * Potter County PA Genealogy