Lake County, Ohio Genealogical Records Information

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Lake County History and Information

Lake County Facts

Lake County was created on March 6, 1840 and was formed from Cuyahoga and Geauga Counties. The County was named for its position on Lake Erie. Painesville is the county seat of Lake County, Ohio. Established in 1805, the town was originally known as Champion, named for Henry Champion, the man who surveyed the community. Residents quickly changed the town’s name to Painesville, in honor of General Edward Paine, a hero of the American Revolution.

Lake county is the smallest of Ohio's 88 counties. Bordering Lake Erie, the county has a productive soil for fruit orchards and nurseries. The county was first settled by New Englanders who developed Painesville, the county seat. Kirtland, near the county seat, was the headquarters of Joseph Smith and the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints. The first Morman Church was built here in 1833.
Clerk of Courts has civil court records from 1840. Probate Court has marriage, death & early birth records. Court of Common Pleas has divorce records. 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. For birth and death records prior to Dec. 20, 1908, contact the Probate Court of this county.

Counties adjacent to Lake County are the province of Ontario, Canada (north), Ashtabula County (east), Geauga County (south and east), Cuyahoga County (south and west).

Lake County Municipalities Include Eastlake, Kirtland, Mentor, Mentor-on-the-Lake, Painesville, Wickliffe, Willoughby, Willoughby Hills, Willowick, Fairport Harbor, Grand River, Kirtland Hills, Lakeline, Madison, North Perry, Perry, Timberlake, Waite Hill. Townships Include Concord, LeRoy, Madison, Painesville, Perry.. Other localities Include Include Painesville-on-the-Lake

The Lake County Official Government Website
Search the Ohio USGenWeb Archives
Lake County, Virginia History Books at Amazon.com
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

There are free downloadable and printable forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms, U.K. Census Extraction Forms, Research Calendar, Ancestral Chart, Research Extract, Correspondence Record , Family Group Sheet , Source Summary Form.

Records at the Lake County Courthouse

PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.

All Departments below are in the Lake County Courthouse 47 N. Park Place, Painesville, OH 44077; Phone: +1-216-350-2500, unless otherwise noted below. The Official County website is located at http://www.lakecountyohio.org/ . NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.

Lake County Clerk of Probate Court has Marriage Records from 1840, Birth / Death Records from 1867-1908 and Probate Records from 1853 and is located at the 25 North Park Place, Painesville, OH 44077; Phone: (440) 350-2626
The Probate Court handles the following administrative functions: the probating of wills, estate administrations (full estates and releases from administration), trusts, guardianships of incompetent adults and minors, commitment hearings for the mentally ill and mentally challenged, adoptions, birth corrections, name changes, delayed birth registrations, custodial accounts, lost heir accounts, order disinterments, and issues marriage licenses. In addition, the Court tries litigation issues in all the above matters. A unique aspect of the Probate Court is that the Probate Judge is the ex-officio Clerk of Courts, thus, the Court performs all the duties as its own Clerk of Courts (indexing, filing, docketing, etc.).

Lake County Recorder has Land Records from 1839 and is located at the 105 Main Street, P.O. Box 490, Painesville, OH 44077; Phone: 440-350-2510, Fax: 440-350-5940
In Ohio, the Recorder, as an elected official, is charged by law with the exacting duty of keeping certain specific records which may include: deeds, mortgages, financing statements, easements, leases, federal tax liens, personal tax liens, military discharges, powers of attorney, mechanics liens, plats, recognizance liens, partnerships, living wills, zoning resolutions, etc.

Lake County Clerk of Court of Common Pleas has Court Records from 1840 and is located at the courthouse. Phone Number: (440) 350-2657
The Clerk of Courts of Common Pleas is responsible for various administrative and ministerial duties in conjunction with the Court of Common Pleas. These duties include filing, docketing, indexing, and preserving all court pleadings for civil, felony criminal and domestic relations cases. The Clerk of Courts must also follow procedure required by law and issues writs to carry out Court orders. Some of these writs include summons, subpoenas, warrants to arrest and to convey to penal institutions, and signing the death warrant in capital cases. The Clerk is responsible for the receipt and disbursement of all money paid into the court system. Other services provided by the Clerk of Court of Common Pleas are accepting bonds, recording notary commissions, administering oaths, keeping naturalization records, and recording and retention of coroner records.

There are a few online databases for Court, Land and Probate Records which include:Ohio Land Records and Ohio Early Land Ownership Records.

Click Here to Search Ohio Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Lake County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Lake County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Ohio Marriages: Extracted from the Old Northwest Genealogical Quarterly
Ohio Marriages, 1803-1900: This database contains records of marriages that took place in Ohio between 1803 and 1900.
Lake County, Ohio Court Books at Amazon.com
Ohio Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.

Lake County Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

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 Lake County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Lake County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Lake County, Ohio Tax Books at Amazon.com

Lake County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Ohio Genealogical Addresses

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 Lake County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Lake County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Lake County Chapter, OGS, Morley Library, 184 Phelps, Painesville, OH 44077-3927, Lake County Genealogical Society is now meeting at the new Morley Library lower level meeting room. Meetings are the last Thursday of the month at 10:00 am, except January potluck, July family picnic, occasionally early in November, and no meetings in August and December. LakeLines, the quarterly newsletter and our web site home page list unusual meetings at other locations and times., E-mail: LCGSOhio@juno.com,
Morley Library, 184 Phelps St, Painesville, OH 44077; 440-352-3383
Lake County Historical Society, 8610 King Memorial Road, Mentor, OH 44060; 440-255-8979
Western Reserve Historical Society, 10825 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 44106-1788; 440-721-5722
Lake County Vital Records Office, 33 Mill Street, Painesville, OH 44077; (440) 350-2549
Local Ohio Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
Ohio Historical Society, Archives-Library Division,1982 Velma Avenue, Columbus, OH 43211; Telephone: 614-297-2300
The Ohio Historical Society Archives/Library is, by law, the archives for the State of Ohio. As such, we collect, preserve, and make available to the public, documents pertaining to the operation of state and local governments.
Ohio Genealogical Society, 713 S. Main St, Mansfield, OH 44907-1644;(419) 756-7294, [EMAIL]
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Genealogy Division, 96 S. Grant Ave., Columbus, OH 43215. 614-645-2ASK (2275);The Genealogy Division holds microfilm; printed, typescript, and manuscript collections, including family and local histories; atlases; cemetery records; city directories; military records; censuses and census indexes; and transcribed records provided by the Ohio chapters of the DAR.
Ohio Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Ohio Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Lake County Church & Cemeteries

Click Here to Search Ohio Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Lake County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Lake 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 Lake County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Lake County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Ohio Cemetery Records: Extracted from the Old Northwest Genealogical Quarterly
Lake County Probate Death Records 1867-1908
Lake County, Ohio Cemetery Books at Amazon.com
Lake County, Ohio Church Books at Amazon.com

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Click Here to Search Ohio Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

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 Lake County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Lake County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ Lake County ] [ Ohio ] [ Main Page ]
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Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
The OHGenWeb Project Ohio Research Exchange Program
OHIO Family Group Sheets
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Ohio Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
Lake County, Ohio Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

On March 6, 1840, the Ohio government authorized the creation of Lake County. It originally was a portion of Geauga and Cuyahoga Counties. It also was originally part of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The county is named for Lake Erie, which forms Lake County’s northern border. Among the county’s earliest white settlers were the Mormons, who established a temple at Kirtland in 1833. Due to the opposition of their neighbors, many Mormons eventually fled from Ohio, moving further west.

Lake County is located in northeastern Ohio and covers 228 square miles. It is the smallest county territorially in Ohio. The county has grown dramatically in recent years, as residents of nearby Cleveland in Cuyahoga County have moved to Lake and surrounding counties to escape the busyness of the city. Between 1990 and 2000, Lake County’s population increased by 5.6 percent to a total of 227,511 residents in 2000. Mentor is the largest community in the county, with over fifty thousand residents in 2000. The county seat of Painesville ranked a distant fourth in size, with just over 17,500 residents in 2000. The county averages 998 residents per square mile.

Lake County is overwhelmingly rural, but most residents earn their livings by working in manufacturing, sales, or service positions. Farming ranks eighth. Tourism is a major industry for the county. Lake County is well known for its fish, including walleye, steelhead trout, and jumbo perch. The county is also home to the Holden Arboretum, which some people claim is the largest arboretum in the United States. The county’s average income was approximately twenty-nine thousand dollars per person in 1999, with 5.7 percent of the population living in poverty.

Painesville is the county seat of Lake County, Ohio. Established in 1805, the town was originally known as Champion, named for Henry Champion, the man who surveyed the community. Residents quickly changed the town’s name to Painesville, in honor of General Edward Paine, a hero of the American Revolution. The town’s most prominent resident during its first years of existence was Ohio Governor Samuel Huntington, who died in Painesville in 1817.

Painesville grew quickly, having 1,014 residents in 1840. In 1846, the town contained four churches, fourteen stores, one flour mill, one bank, and one newspaper office. It was the largest community between Cleveland, Ohio, and Erie, Pennsylvania. Painesville continued to grow over the next several decades. In 1880, 3,841 people inhabited the town. This growth was partly due to two railroad lines passing through the community, making Painesville a booming economic center. Four newspapers, five churches, and three banks existed in the town in 1886. Several manufacturing businesses operated in the town. The Paige Manufacturing Company, a machine works, was Painesville’s largest employer in 1886, with forty-eight workers.

During the twentieth century, Painesville continued to grow. In 2000, it ranked a distant fourth in size among Lake County towns, with just over 17,500 residents. Many of these new residents had left the busyness of Cleveland, in nearby Cuyahoga County, for a quieter life in Painesville and Lake County. Over the course of the twentieth century, a tourism industry arose, taking advantage of Painesville’s close proximity to Lake Erie. Numerous local residents operate bed and breakfasts, restaurants, or other businesses that cater to summertime tourists.

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