I am seeking the marriage date and place of Oliver Wait (1818-1889) who married Mrs. Elinor Courtright Warner in 1843-1844 in probably Bradford Co., PA. And I am also seeking the parents of Elinor Courtright who was born in 1814 in probably Tioga Co., NY. (Possible father for Elinor could be a Daniel Courtright who is on the 1820 Tioga Co. NY census.) Elinor Courtright/Cortright born c. 1814 married Nathaniel C. WARNER c. 1835. I do not know where. It could have been in Tioga Co. NY or in Bradford Co., PA, as there are Warners in both Tioga Co. NY and Bradford Co., PA and Cortrights are in Tioga Co. This couple and their son James R. Warner had ties to families in East Nichols and to Waits Settlement. Nathaniel C. Warner and Elinor Cortright had 3 sons: William about 1836 and James R. in 1839 in East Windham, Bradford Co., PA. A third son Lorenzo was born shortly after 1840. The 1840 census for Warren, Bradford Co., PA, lists the household of Nathaniel C. Warner with a wife and 2 males under age 10. I assume these to be their sons William born 1836 and James R. born in 1839. At some time after Lorenzo was born (late 1840 or in 1841), between the years 1842-1843 Nathaniel Warner and Elinor Cortright divorced as both remarried and had a second family with their second spouses. According to a page of notes at the Tioga Co. NY Historical Society, Oliver Wait and Elinor (Courtright) Warner had these children: 1. a daughter Eliza P. Wait born ca 1844 who died in Jan 1868 age 22 yrs; wife of Ransom Darling. 2. a son Jeremiah Wait born in 1850; married Minnie M. Doane; died in 1920. 3. a daughter Mary Jane Wait born in 1852 Oliver and Elinor Wait lived in Windham, Bradford Co., PA, until they died. Oliver Wait died in 1889; Elinor died in 1894. Both are buried in Waits Cemetery, in old Waits Settlement/Waits Corners on map of Tioga Co., NY, which is just a few miles across the NY-PA state line. I do not know who Oliver Waits' parents were, but my guess is he probably belongs to a Waits family of Waits Settlement. Do any of these names and dates sound familiar to anyone? Nathaniel C. Warner left Warren, Bradford Co., PA, after the 1842-1843 divorce; he went to live near Syracuse, Onondaga Co., NY. His parents are unknown. However, if he was also born in Tioga Co., NY, he may be the son of Christopher Warner who appears on the 1820 and 1830 census. Unfortunately, William and Lorenzo Warner died while serving during the Civil War. They died single men. Payments were paid to their mother Elinor Warner Wait in 1874. The only child of the Warner-Courtright marriage who is traceable is their son James Riley Warner born in 1839 in East Windham. According to his Civil War pension, before and after the Civil War he lived in East Windham, Bradford Co., PA, where his mother and step-father lived, and he also lived at Waits Settlement and E. Nichols, Tioga Co., NY, which seems to reinforce my hunch that he had Warner and Courtright relatives living there. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? Is anyone on the list researching WAIT, WARNER, or COURTRIGHT/Cortright c. 1800-1870 in northern Bradford Co., PA, and the southern area of Tioga Co., NY, who could help sort out the various Warner, Wait, and Cortright families? -- Helen Graves

Can anyone tell me if marriage records are available for 1868, divorce records for 1869-1873, and death records for 1873 in Bradford Cty? If so, how do I go about accessing them? Audrey A. Franklin