Lawrence County, Ohio Genealogical Records Information

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Lawrence County History and Information

Lawrence County Facts

Lawrence County was created on December 21, 1815 and was formed from Gallia and Scioto counties. The County was named for Captain James Lawrence, a Naval officer in the War of 1812 famous for his remark "Don't give up the ship!". Ironton is the county seat of Lawrence County, Ohio. The Ohio Iron and Coal Company established the town for its workers in 1848. An abundance of coal and iron ore exist in the region, with the first iron being smelted in 1815. Before Ironton became the county seat in 1852, Burlington served as Lawrence County’s seat of government.

Lawrence County, Ohio's southernmost county is situated on the Ohio River. It was named in honor of a naval hero, Captain James Lawrence, who commanded the U.S. Frigate Chesapeake during the War of 1812.
The early settlers were Dutch, Irish, German and Scotch from Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennesee. They were farmers, furnace workers and miners. Ironton, the county seat, at one time contained an important iron industry. Coal is currently mined in the county with other industries including; chemicals, metals, refractories, iron castings, coke, cement, oil, tar, acid, athletic equipment, plastics, methanol, formaldehyde, dairy products and apples. Probate Court has birth records from 1864 to 1908, marriage records from 1900, death records from 1868 to 1933, probate records from 1817; Health Department has birth & death records form 1908; Clerk of Courts has divorce records from 1819 & civil court records from 1817; County Recorder has land records from 1817. 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 Lawrence County are Jackson County (north), Gallia County (northeast), Cabell County, West Virginia (southeast), Wayne County, West Virginia (south), Boyd County, Kentucky & Greenup County, Kentucky (southwest), Scioto County (northwest).

Lawrence County Municipalities Include Ironton, Athalia, Chesapeake, Coal Grove, Hanging Rock, Proctorville, South Point. Townships Include Aid, Decatur, Elizabeth, Fayette, Hamilton, Lawrence, Mason, Perry, Rome, Symmes, Union, Upper, Washington, Windsor. Other localities Include Kitts Hill, Pedro, Rock Camp, Scottown, Waterloo, Willow Wood

The Lawrence County Official Government Website
Search the Ohio USGenWeb Archives
Lawrence 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 Lawrence 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 Lawrence County Courthouse Veteran Square, PO Box 208, Ironton, OH 45638; Phone: +1-614-533-4314, unless otherwise noted below. The Official County website is located at ? . NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.

Lawrence County Clerk of Probate Court has Marriage Records from 1817, Birth / Death Records from 1867-1908 and Probate Records from 1846 and is located at the courthouse. Phone Number: 740-533-4343
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.).

Lawrence County Recorder has Land Records from 1818 and is located at 111 South 4th Street, PO Box 77, Ironton, OH 45638; Phone: 740-533-4314 or 740-533-4312, Fax: 740-533-4411; Email: recorder@cloh.com
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.

Lawrence County Clerk of Court of Common Pleas has Court Records from 1817 and is located at the courthouse. Phone Number: (740) 533-4300; 1-800-734-2470
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 Lawrence County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Lawrence 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.
Lawrence 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.

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

Lawrence County, Ohio Tax Books at Amazon.com

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

Lawrence County Chapter, OGS, PO Box 1035, Proctorville, OH 45669-1035; Lawrence County Chapter, OGS meets at the Chesapeake Branch of Briggs Library, 11054 County Rd 1 (old Rt. 52), Chesapeake on the first Tuesday of the month at 6:30pm. Occasionally meetings are rescheduled to correspond with the schedule of program presenters. [NOTE: the Chapter will move its meetings back to Ironton when renovations at the Briggs Library are complete. Contact the Chapter for further details and updates.], Email: lawcoloreman@aol.com
Lawrence County Health Dept, 2122 S 8th S, Ironton, OH 45638; 740-532-3962
Ironton City Health Dept, 2120 S 8th S, Ironton, OH 45638; 740-532-2172
Briggs Lawrence County Public Library, Hamner Room, 321 South 4th Street, Ironton, OH 45638; 740-532-1124 or 740-867-3080, Fax: 740-532-4948, [EMAIL]
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

Lawrence 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 Lawrence County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Lawrence 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 Lawrence County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Lawrence County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Ohio Cemetery Records: Extracted from the Old Northwest Genealogical Quarterly
Lawrence County Death, Obituary & Probate Indexes
Lawrence County, Ohio Cemetery Books at Amazon.com
Lawrence 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 Lawrence County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Lawrence County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ Lawrence 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
Lawrence County, Ohio Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

On December 21, 1815, the Ohio government authorized the creation of Lawrence County. Residents named the county in honor of James Lawrence, a hero of the War of 1812.

Lawrence County is located in southeastern Ohio. The county’s southern border lies along the Ohio River, and Lawrence County is Ohio’s southernmost county. It is predominantly rural, with three percent of the county’s 455 square miles consisting of urban areas. The county is also in the heart of Appalachia. The county seat is Ironton. With a population of 11,211 people, Ironton was the county’s largest community in 2000. Like many of Ohio’s more rural counties, Lawrence County experienced a decline in population—roughly one percent—between 1990 and 2000, reducing the total number of residents to 62,319 people. The county averages 137 people per square mile.

The largest employers in Lawrence County are government positions and retail businesses. Farming ranks third, with service industries a distant fourth. During the nineteenth century, county residents earned money especially through coal and iron mining. Former slave owner and eventual abolitionist John Means built the first iron blast furnace north of the Ohio River during the early 1820s. It was known as the Union Furnace and was located near Ironton. In 1999, the per capita income in the county was 17,691 dollars, with 20.1 percent of the people living in poverty. This is one of the highest poverty rates in Ohio.

Ironton is the county seat of Lawrence County, Ohio. The Ohio Iron and Coal Company established the town for its workers in 1848. An abundance of coal and iron ore exist in the region, with the first iron being smelted in 1815. Before Ironton became the county seat in 1852, Burlington served as Lawrence County’s seat of government.

Ironton grew quickly as coal and iron ore miners flocked to the region. Located along the Ohio River and two railroad lines, the town also became a trade center. In 1880, 8,857 resided in Ironton, and ten years later, 10,939 people inhabited the town. In 1886, Ironton contained four newspaper offices, sixteen churches, and at least three banks. Numerous businesses existed in the town, most of which were affiliated with the iron and coal industries. Ironton’s largest employer was the Kelly Nail and Iron Company with 375 employees in 1886. The Lawrence Iron and Steel Company was the town’s second largest firm, with three hundred employees.

During the twentieth century, the iron and coal industry in southern Ohio stagnated, as miners had excavated much of the area’s natural resources. In 2000, Ironton’s population was just 11,211 people, virtually the same as it was in 1890. Ironton was Lawrence County’s largest community in 2000. In recent years, Ironton leaders have actively sought new businesses to move to their community.

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