Formation of Townships in Bradford County

Bradford County Townships Bradford County Place Name/Township Index Locations and Addresses of some cemeteries

The following list of the evolution of Bradford County townships is derived from Craft. Unfortunately, it is flawed in many respects, and while attempts have been made to highlight some of the problematic areas, and in some cases supply probable alternatives (shown in parentheses), this account should not be viewed as definitive.
 

  Craft states that upon the creation of Ulster in 1797, along the old line dividing the Connecticut towns of Ulster and Athens, the remaining portion of Tioga Twp. was renamed Athens. However, both the 1798 federal tax and the 1800 census retain the name Tioga, so the renaming must have been later. 

1. The portion of the county which fell within Tunkhannock Twp. (Luzerne County) is only mentioned briefly by Craft, and dismissed because it was unsettled. He never describes the events surrounding the absorption of this land into the surviving townships of the county. Thus it is unclear whether it was joined with Wyalusing before the latter was split, or perhaps was not transferred until the creation of the county, in which case portions would have gone to Canton and perhaps Towanda as well (see note 5). 

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2. When the northwest corner of (then) Luzerne County was gerrymandered onto Lycoming County, no care was taken to follow the existing township boundaries, resulting in the transfer of various pieces of land which had found themselves split from the rest of their townships by the new county line. Some of these transfers (Athens and Ulster) were later reversed. The account provided by Craft for these events is inadequate, particularly when describing the southeast corner of the new piece of Lycoming County. There his textual description of the borders (around the Connecticut town of Claverack) does not match his map of the townships at the time that Bradford County was formed. 

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3. Removal of Rome from Wysox and Sheshequin probably led to a readjustment of the remaining border between these townships. However, Craft does not document this, and it may have happened later (see note 9). Similarly, the transfer of a portion of what had been Troy to Columbia (and perhaps the other readjustments seen in the northern boundary of Troy) probably accompanied the creation of Armenia. 

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4. Craft states that Canton was formed in 1804 from the southern sliver of Burlington Twp. which has been pared off by the new county line (see note 3). He later describes the creation of Towanda from Wyalusing. This leaves unaccounted for the western third of Wyalusing that ended up in Canton. It is unlikely that the narrow remaining strip of Burlington became a township by itself, but more likely was combined with the adjacent portion of Wyalusing to erect Canton. It remains unclear whether this was done in 1804, when the county line was changed, (in which case Towanda was probably created from a larger Canton) or whether it was not done until 1808, when both Canton and Towanda would have been created from a Wyalusing that had been enriched by the Burlington sliver. 

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5. Craft describes the split of Towanda to form South Towanda, but it was the northern portion that was renamed North Towanda. 

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6. The location of the borders of Herrick with respect to the preexisting township lines does not appear to match Craft's description. It likely was formed primarily from Pike. 

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7. The description of the evolution of the townships in the southeast corner of the township is very confused. The final placement of Asylum based on the text corresponds to the actual location of Terry, the creation of which is not described. Where Asylum is located, Craft's analysis would place the township of Durrell. It is likely that there are significant errors in Craft's account of the townships of Asylum, Durrell, Wilmot, and Terry. 

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A look at the 1890 map; of the townships in Bradford County reveals numerous boundaries which differ those derived from Crafts description of township formation and evolution. In some cases (see note 4) educated guesses can be made regarding when portions of one township may have been transferred to a neighbor, but in most cases, this cannot be done. 

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