In a message dated 7/16/00 1:01:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time, PABRADFO-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: << I need to know how to research a divorce which probably occurred between 1865 and 1878. The wife was a resident of Pike Twp. Bradford County. Would the divorce have to be recorded in Bradford County, or could the ex-husband have filed in his place of residence (Iowa) ? Assuming the divorce decree was issued in Bradford County, where would those records be? >> I'll share my brief experience with divorce with you, as I've found divorce during those years much more prevalent than we'd have thought, especially as families moved West. I'm told by historians out West that many women had too hard a time handling no medical care, no family, constant danger (Indians, etc.), lack of even the most modest items, such as blankets and clothing, the harsh weather and the loss of crops by inexperienced farmer husbands, plus economic depression in the late 1800s. Others wives were physically abused. At any rate, be sure to contact each individual county and find out which court there would have granted divorces, then search that particular court's records. (I found a record when someone had searched the clerk's office and told me it didn't exist. Lucky me!) The divorce would have probably been filed in the county where the wife was residing at the time. If you're not sure where she lived, you might check out any deeds with that person's name, because deeds often mention where people are living. Also, property sales often happened right after a divorce, just as they do now. Happy hunting. Laura in NC