SEARCH Other States
| AL | AZ | AR | CA | CO | CT |
| DE | FL | GA | ID | IL | IN |
| IA | KS | KY | LA | MA | MD |
| ME | MI | MN | MO | MS | MT |
| NE | NV | NH | NJ | NM | NY |
| NC | ND | OH | OK | OR | PA |
| RI | SC | SD | TN | TX | UT |
| VA | VT | WA | WV | WI | WY |
Clark County History and Information |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
County History |
Court Records |
Vital Records |
CENSUS Records |
TAX Records |
Military Records |
Church & Cemetery | Maps & Atlases | Genealogy Addresses | Genealogy Related Sites | |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Clark County was created on December 26, 1817 and was formed from Champaign, Greene and Madison Counties. The County was named for General George Rogers Clark, who served in the Northwest Indian War, but is mainly famous for the conquest of the Illinois Territory in 1778 and 1779.. The County Seat is Springfield. See also County History for more historical details. The Health Department has Birth & Death Records from 1908-Present, see the Vital Records section for more details. Counties adjacent to Clark County are Champaign County (north), Madison County (east), Greene County (south), Montgomery County (southwest), Miami County (west). Clark County Municipalities Include New Carlisle, Springfield, Catawba, Clifton, Donnelsville, Enon, North Hampton, South Charleston, South Vienna, Tremont City. Townships Include Bethel, German, Green, Harmony, Mad River, Madison, Moorefield, Pike, Pleasant, Springfield. Other localities Include Medway, Plattsburgh
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
All Departments below are in the Clark County Courthouse 50 East Columbia Street, PO Box 1008, Springfield 45501-0000, (937) 328-2458 , unless otherwise noted below. The Official County website is located at http://www.clarkcountyohio.gov/ . NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time. Clark County Clerk of Probate Court has Marriage Records from 1818 and Probate Records from 1818 and is located at 529 E. Home Road,
Springfield, OH 45503;
(937) 390-5609 Clark County Recorder has Land Records from 1818 and is located at 31 N Limestone Street Springfield, OH 45502. Phone Number: 937-521-1705; Map to Recorder's Office Clark County Clerk of Court of Common Pleas has Court Records from 1818. Phone Number: (937) 328-2435
Below is a list of online resources for Clark County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Clark County Court Records by clicking the link below:
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Ohio did not make it a law to keep birth records until 1867. Ohio made it a law to record births in 1867. County probate courts kept birth records between 1867 and December 19, 1908. There is no statewide index to birth records from 1867 through December 19, 1908. Go to the list of county probate court birth records held at the Ohio Historical Society. If the Ohio Historical Society does not hold a county's birth records, please contact the county's probate court. Ohio Department of Health, Vital Statistics, 225 Neilston Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215; (614) 466-2531. Same-day service available to walk-in customers (for Ohio birth and death records only)., P.O. Box 570, Jefferson City, MO 65102, Please allow up to approximately 3 weeks to 6 months for processing of all type of certificates when ordered through the mail. They have the following records:
Order In Person: Same day service is available to walk-in customers. This is the fastest way to obtain a birth certificate. When you arrive, you will complete an application and pay the $16.50 required fee. Walk-in address is Ohio Department of Health,
Vital Statistics,
225 Neilston Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215
Below is a list of online resources for Clark County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Clark County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Clark County, Ohio are 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850 ,1860 ,1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your Family Tree in Clark County, Ohio are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms. See Also Statewide Records that exist for Ohio Below is a list of online resources for Clark County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Clark County Census Records by clicking the link below:
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Ohio and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Ohio showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps Below is a list of online resources for Clark County Maps. Email us with websites containing Clark County Maps by clicking the link below: |
||||||||
|
||||||||
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design. Below is a list of online resources for Clark County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Clark County Military Records by clicking the link below:
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Tax records for Ohio began as early as 1800. The archives section of the Ohio Historical Society has a collection of original Ohio tax lists from the state auditor's office. They include lists from the county's organization to 1838, usually arranged by county and township. They are not indexed. County courthouses hold various tax records that have not been inventoried. They are in the office of the county auditor or the county records manager. The FHL has microfilm copies of all known extant tax records 1800-38 for Ohio. The National Archives-Great Lakes Region retains numerous federal tax records for Ohio. These include assessment books for 1867-73 and corporate and personal records for District 10, Toledo, and District 11, Columbus. Below is a list of online resources for Clark County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Clark County Tax Records by clicking the link below: |
||||||||
|
||||||||
The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over. Below is a list of online resources for Clark County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Clark County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
There are many churches and cemeteries in Clark County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Clark County Tombstone Transcription Project. Religion in Ohio was an early and important factor in settlement. The first Moravian mission was established in 1772. Presbyterians and Quakers were in the state at an early date, the latter having established forty-three monthly meetings and settlements between 1801 and 1883. The Presbyterians founded seventeen towns between 1784 and 1799. Baptists, Congregationalists, several reformed groups, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ, United Brethren, Methodists, and Catholics arrived prior to 1850. By 1890 the latter two denominations were the largest in the state. The Methodist circuit in Ohio was organized in 1798, with circuit riders traveling from log cabins to camp meetings across the territory. In 1831 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints migrated from New York to Kirtland in Lake County. No thorough survey exists of any of the holdings of individual churches in Ohio, although many are on microfilm through the FHL. The Ohio Genealogical Society is presently undertaking a church records survey. According to the Ohio Genealogical Society, the majority of Ohio counties have published cemetery records in one form or another. They suggest contacting local societies or one of the major genealogical libraries in the state. Below is a list of online resources for Clark County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Clark County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Clark County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Clark County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
On December 26, 1817, the Ohio government authorized the creation of Clark County. The county was named in honor of George Rogers Clark, a hero of the American Revolution. It was originally parts of Greene, Champaign, and Madison Counties. The county began to flourish during the 1830s, with the completion of the National Road through Ohio. Clark County is located in west central Ohio. It is predominantly rural, with less than one percent of the county's four hundred square miles consisting of urban areas. The county seat is Springfield. With a population of 65,358 people, Springfield was the county's largest community in 2000. The next largest urban area, New Carlisle, had only 5,735 residents that same year. Like most of Ohio's predominantly rural counties, Clark County experienced a drop in population -- roughly two percent -- between 1990 and 2000, reducing the total number of residents to 144,742 people. Many residents of Ohio's rural communities are seeking better lives and more opportunities in the state's cities. Clark County averages almost 362 people per square mile. The largest employer in Clark County is sales positions, followed closely by service industries, such as health care and communications. Manufacturing jobs are a close third, with government positions a distant fourth. Many residents found employment in the printing industry during the 1930s and 1940s, with the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company publishing several national magazines in Springfield. During this same time period, Springfield was the largest grower of rosebushes for sale in the nation. In 1999, the per capita income in the county was almost twenty-five thousand dollars, with 12.5 percent of the people living in poverty. James Demint constructed the first cabin in what would become Springfield in 1799. In 1801, James Dougherty officially plotted the town. Many of the town’s earliest settlers came from Kentucky. One of its most famous early residents was Simon Kenton. Springfield became the county seat of Clark County. Because of its proximity to major transportation routes in the mid-nineteenth century, including the National Road and railroads, the community became very prosperous. Most of its early settlers were involved in agriculture. During the Panic of 1819, land speculation caused the people of Springfield to suffer economically, but the expansion of the National Road helped Springfield to regain its economic strength. Because of the town’s close proximity to streams and a fork of the Mad River, more than twenty mills existed within three miles of town by 1846. The town quickly became a center for religious and educational activities in the early nineteenth century. In addition to a coeducational high school run by the Methodist Episcopal Church, the local libraries contained approximately four thousand volumes. The Lutheran Church founded Wittenberg College in 1845 as both a seminary and college. By the mid-nineteenth century, a number of religious groups had established churches in Springfield, including the Presbyterians, the Methodists, the Episcopalians, the Baptists, the Lutherans, and the Universalists. By the 1880s, more than forty churches called Springfield home. The strong religious influence in the town made Springfield the site of a growing temperance movement as well. By 1880, Springfield’s population had grown to more than twenty thousand people, primarily because of the advent of industrialization. The next several years saw continued growth. Because of the community’s connection to nearby farmers, many of Springfield’s earliest industries were in some way related to agriculture. Factories produced threshers, reapers, mowers, and other agricultural implements. Both woolen and cotton textile mills also employed numerous local residents. Among Springfield’s largest manufacturing interests in the 1800s were the Standard Manufacturing Company, the Champion Machine Company, and the Lagonda Agricultural Works. Springfield benefited from the inventions of Obed Hussey and Cyrus McCormick, who both developed versions of the reaper. Springfield, along with other Ohio cities including Akron, Canton, and Dayton, became a major producer of the Buckeye mower and reaper by the time of the Civil War. The community’s strong industrial growth led to the creation of a mechanic’s association in the 1830s, as well as other labor organizations as the century continued. During the 1800s, Springfield was one of the largest producers of farm machinery in the United States, but by the end of the century, that dominance began to disappear. Cities further west, such as Chicago, began to compete with Springfield. Ultimately, Buckeye Reaper and Mower sold out to the McCormick Company, which was based in Chicago. An economic depression that hit the nation in the 1890s was particularly hard on industrial cities in Ohio, leading to widespread unemployment. Economic conditions improved during World War I, as factories began to produce goods that were necessary for the war effort, but after the war ended, much of the economic growth did not continue. In the twentieth century, Springfield worked to diversify its industries and create more opportunities for economic growth. Building upon one of its strengths after the Civil War, Springfield had one of the largest publishing firms in the United States by the early 1900s. At the start of the twenty-first century publishing is no longer a major employer. During the early 1900s, local factories produced ten different types of automobiles. These included the Bramwell, Brenning, Foos, Frayer-Miller, Kelly Steam, Russell-Springfield and Westcott. Remaining true to this automotive tradition, the city’s largest employer today is Navistar International, a producer of buses and trucks. In addition, Springfield benefited from its close location to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. In 2000, Springfield’s more than sixty-five thousand residents could find employment in more than 3,500 different businesses. Similar to other Ohio industrial cities, Springfield has experienced a declining population over the past fifty years. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
