Our Ohio genealogists are available to research on location. They will find and analyze the best records available to further your family history research. They can search the archives and libraries in Ohio, as well as help you with other special requests.
Our researchers are available to visit local archives and libraries to access unique record collections to help with your research. Below is a list of a few of the archives our Ohio researchers have access to.
The Ohio Genealogical Society’s archive holds one of the best collections of family folders. They also contain over 4,000 records of family bibles, county and city directories, indexed censuses from 1840 to 1920, and over 300 manuscript collections. They hold information about the earliest families that settled in Ohio, with over 10,000 records that date back to pre-1821. The society’s archive contains resources on African American and German ancestors as well.
The Ohio History Connection serves as the state archives and focuses mainly on collecting historical manuscripts. These manuscripts include government, land, and military records. They also have archival objects that document the history of each of Ohio’s 88 counties, as well as the pre-colonization history of Ohio and its earliest Native American inhabitants.
The State Library of Ohio contains not only records of Ohio, but also Pennsylvania, New York, and other states in the New England region, where many settlers in Ohio came from. Their records include government documents, censuses, wills, military records, church records, and local histories. They also hold a rare book collection of over 8,000 items.
The Dayton Metro Library’s “Dayton Room” has an expansive genealogical collection that contains newspapers, books, genealogies, and biographies. In their collection, they also have an “African-Americans in Ohio” section. The Wilbur H. Siebert Collection holds materials that focus on the Underground Railroad, including manuscripts, notes, maps, and photographs. The collection also contains transcripts of interviews with escaped slaves who used the Underground Railroad and the agents who operated it.
The Ohio University Alden Library has been referred to as a “second state archives”. Their collection holds church records, business records, county histories, and newspapers. They have records from specific counties including Athens County marriages from 1805 to 1913 and Morgan County marriages from 1819 to 1867. Their archives contain military records. The library contains records of soldiers from the American Revolution buried in Ohio. They also hold rosters of Ohio soldiers who served in 1812, the American Civil War, and the Spanish-American War.
The Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County is an excellent genealogical source for early Ohio history. It includes the Inland Rivers Library, which focuses on the historical records of those who traveled through the Ohio River. The library contains 200 years worth of archival material. Books, pamphlets, navigation charts, crew registers, and passenger lists are found in this collection.
Ohio is also home to the Western Reserve Historical Society, which offers an extensive collection of resources for those searching for genealogical records of immigrants and religious groups in Ohio. The society holds archives of several Ohio newspapers, including ones which were published for certain ethnic groups such as African Americans, Czechs, Germans, Greeks, Hungarians, Italians, Jews, and Romanians. The archive also contains records from other states. The society’s collection includes passenger lists for the ports of New York from 1820 to 1841 and records of Irish immigrants arriving in New York during the Irish Famine from 1846 to 1851. They also have records of Dutch passenger arrivals in the United States from 1820 to 1880.
Also known as the chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, this society is located in the Evergreen Public Library. The collections include 1,300 books and hundreds of rolls of microfilm. Members may also access newspapers for towns in the county through 1910, birth and date records beginning in 1867, marriage records from 1864, family and county histories, and obituaries and tombstone inscription books.
Our Ohio genealogists can search local establishments in Wood county for specific records in the area, including the Wood County Probate Court, Recorder, Court of Common Pleas, and Health Department for the following records:
– Wood County Birth and Death records from 1867 to present
– County Marriage records from 1820 to preset
– County Probate Records from 1820
– County Land Records from 1820, including deeds, leases, liens, military – – discharges, and plates
– County Court records from 1823
The Wood County Historical Center and Museum contains photographs, scrapbooks, expense ledgers, infirmary accident books, family history books & records, and certificates of admission.
The Wood County Genealogical Society can provide its members with genealogy research. Somer records it hold includes cemetery inscription books, births, marriages, and deaths, public census records, published wills and abstracts, manuscripts, family histories.
Researchers can access major collections at the Wood County District Public Library, including the African American Heritage and in-library ancestry library edition. These include census records, church records, vital records, military records, marriage records, freemen records and so much more. See here for more information about this archive.
The Center for Archival Collections contains hundreds of resources for Ohio genealogists. The archive contains public information including census records, Ohio obituary index, original infirmary records, Wood Country Cemetery inscriptions, Local Government records from 19 Northwest Ohio counties and the National Student Affairs Archives.
As for special collections, the center specializes in Bowling Green News Index from 1920 to present, Civil War Newspaper Correspondence Index, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Manuscript Bibliographies by subject, Newspaper Holdings from Northwest Ohio, World War I Newspaper, and a Correspondence Index.
Our Ohio genealogists can research at the offices of the Lucas County Probate Court, Recorder, Court of Common Pleas, and Health Department for Lucas County Birth and Death records from 1867 to present, County Marriage records from 1835 to present, Estates up to present, Will records from 1835 to 1890, Birth Registration/Corrections Dockets from 1941 to 1968, Lucas County Land records from 1808, including deeds, leases, liens, military discharges, and mortgages. Researchers can also find Lucas County Court records from 1835.
The collections at the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library include county histories and published genealogies, Indexes for Federal Censuses, and Federal Census for Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and New York.
Researchers can also access the 1890 Special Schedule of Union Veterans and Widows, family histories, Genealogical and historical periodicals, Name Indexes with 100,000+ names, Ohio Historical Society surname index, Daughters of the American Revolution, Lineage Books, Domesday Book, Barbour Collection, Connecticut Vital Records, U.S. Revolutionary War bounty land warrants, Military District of Ohio, American State Papers, Public lands and claims. You can also find military rosters, ship passenger lists, obituaries, government records, and Toledo directories, histories, maps, and much more.
The Ohio Historical Society is a statewide history organization chartered in 1885. The society includes a historic preservation office, official state archives, local history office, and manages more than 50 sites and museums across Ohio. The society runs a calendar of genealogy events and exhibits. Some exhibits include a World War I display commemorating the centennial of the U.S. entering the war, African American exhibits from the national Afro-American museum & cultural center, and a black heritage exhibit.
Our researches can search Ottawa county records by searching on location at the Ottawa County Municipal court, recorder’s office, and the Ottowa public library.
The Archbold Community Library began as a women’s reading club in 1916. Now the Library houses many special collections and family histories concerning Fulton county.
If The Columbus Metropolitan Library doesn’t have the Columbus city archives you’re looking for, it can point you in the right direction. The library holds many resources concerning local family histories.
The Harris-Elmore Public Library contains a large colleciton of local history and genealogy, including obituaries, photographs, genealogy databases, and even genealogy one-on-one guides.
The Lakeside Heritage Society started in 1990 and contains archives that provide historical materials of Lakeside, the Marblehead Peninsula, Danbury Township, and the national Chautauqua Movement History.
Here are archives in Ohio specifically dedicated to providing genealogical information for particular ethnic and religious groups.
Ohio is also home to the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center which opened in 1988 and contains one of the nation’s largest collections of Afro-American materials. The museum has 9,000 artifacts and artworks, 350 manuscript collections, and thousands of photographs.
The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives focuses on Jewish communities and congregational records from the beginning of the American colonial period to the modern day. Their archives hold over 1,000 Jewish family files and over 800 major manuscript collections.
The Palatines to America German Genealogy Society Resource Center contains information about German immigrants in their archives. It is a national archive that works to find German-speaking ancestors and their place of origin. They have over 700 published family histories, thousands of surname files, and an in-depth collection of pedigrees and immigrant ancestor charts belonging to members of the society.
The Bluffton University Musselman Library is home to the Mennonite Historical Collections. In their own words, the collection “reflects the Mennonite affiliation of Bluffton University and the Swiss tradition of many constituents”. The collection contains 3,000 Mennonite family histories, periodicals focusing on Mennonites and related religious groups, and secondary sources regarding Mennonite culture and daily life.
Our Ohio genealogists specialize in researching several types of documentation and are not limited to the list above. For more information or specific inquiries about our genealogists, please feel free to contact us.