[needs update] There is an unincorporated community named Bernadotte that is located in the northern part of the township.

Bernadotte Township was organized in 1869, and named for Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, a French Jacobines leader, later French marshal, later King Charles XIV John of Sweden and Charles III of Norway and founder of the House of Bernadotte.

[3] According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 35.9 square miles (93 km2), all land.

There were 114 housing units at an average density of 3.2 per square mile (1.2/km2).

16.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.