Facts on Local Court Records

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   Ohio can boast centralization of many research sources and clear jurisdiction on land and vital records. Probate records finding the correct jurisdiction for a particular time period is more complicated. For the 169 towns, there are about 130 probate districts. Jurisdictional lines have changed considerably over the three centuries, but their function has been consistent in probating wills, distributing estates, and appointing guardians.

Before 1698, probates were handled by the general court or the secretary of the colony and the particular courts. When the four counties were created, the probate jurisdiction paralleled that of the county, but by 1719 the four original districts started to divide. Each present probate district has a genealogy of its own. A Checklist of Probate Records in the Ohio State Library delineates the lines of descent for each present district.

As with all probate records, not only the court record books themselves (clerk's transcripts of probate proceedings), but the estate papers or files (original wills, receipts, affidavits, etc.) contain essential genealogical information. The record books remain in the probate clerk's office with microfilm copies to about 1915 in the Ohio State Library and the FHL. The exception is New Haven, whose original record books are at the Ohio State Library instead of the probate clerk's office. Many of the district estate papers or files to 1900 (some later) have been deposited in the Ohio State Library. Packets of these original documents have been microfilmed to 1880 and are available on microfilm at both the Ohio State Library and the FHL. Photocopies of original files are no longer permitted because of their fragile condition. There is a state-wide index of these probate packets at the Ohio State Library.

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Facts on Local Probate Records

   From the time of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787 until 1802, three judges held courts in Ohio Territory, but the records are scarce. In 1804, a year after statehood, the territory was organized as one district court at Chillicothe. Considerable reorganization, divisions, and transfers later occurred in the system.

Many Ohio records are found in county court records not intended for that particular purpose. Vital records, naturalizations (in probate court after 1851), and military pension applications are examples of items possibly found in the county court of common pleas located at the county seat until 1851 and later in the state supreme court files. Land records, deeds, and miscellaneous volumes can at times include records of court proceedings.

Some court records may be deposited at the Ohio Network of American History Research Centers.

The court of common pleas was responsible for probate and estate records beginning in 1797. Since 1851 probate functions have been under the jurisdiction of the probate court. Indexes are available in each probate office. Some probate records are on microfilm at the Ohio Historical Society and the FHL. The county probate court holds guardianship, name changes, insanity proceedings, naturalization, marriage records from the beginning of the county, and birth and death records 1867-1908.

Adoptions in Ohio are processed through the probate court. Access to adoption records is restricted. For those prior to 1939, the probate court must be petitioned. From 1 January 1939 to 1 January 1964, adopted persons or their lineal descendants can obtain information from the Supervisor of Special Records in the State Department of Health in Columbus.

Indexes are available in each probate office, while some records are accessible on microfilm at the Ohio Historical Society and the FHL.. An index is in progress for 1851-1900 Ohio wills. A county records manager, or similar office, has been created in some Ohio counties. This office may hold records generated by chancery courts, petition to partition land to settle an estate, probate journals, and probate case files.

The term "probate" comes from the Latin word probatio, meaning, "to prove," wherein matters in early English religious courts were proven before an ecclesiastical judge. Early American probate courts may be traced back to English courts of chancery and ecclesiastical, or religious, courts, which had jurisdiction over the probate of wills, administration of estates and guardianships.

             The first probate court in the United States was established in Massachusetts in 1784.  Similar courts were subsequently established in other states under the name of surrogate, orphan courts, or courts of the ordinary. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 provided for the first probate judge and court in the Ohio territory. Under the first Ohio Constitution written in 1802, the court of common pleas had exclusive jurisdiction of probate matters.  The constitution of 1851 removed probate matters from the jurisdiction of common pleas courts and created in each county a separate probate court. Subsequent amendments to the constitution in 1912, 1951, 1968, 1973 and changes in the codified law in 1932 and 1976 have made the probate court what it is today: a special division of the court of common pleas. Each of Ohio’s 88 counties has a probate division of its court of common pleas.

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Tips for General Court Records

Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"

   Even today, few people escape mention in court records at some time during their lives as witnesses, litigants, jurors, appointees to office, or as petition signatories. However, Americans of a few generations ago also expected to attend local court proceedings when they were in session.
Arlene H. Eakle, Ph.D. “Research in Court Records”
In The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy

   American court files mirror U.S. history. Buried away in courthouses and archives everywhere are the dreams and frustrations of millions of citizens. The chances are great that your ancestors have left a detailed record of at least some aspects of their lives in court records.

   Most of us don’t think of court records as the rich source of personal history that they are. But America’s English heritage established a tradition of court processes in which the people have a right to participate actively—and we always have. With relative freedom from royal supervision and with court enforcement of religious as well as civil laws, American courts tried many matters that were not subject to court action in other parts of the British empire and that are now considered too minor to warrant criminal action.

   When a person dies, every state has laws that provide for public supervision over the estate that is left, whether or not there is a will. The term “probate records” broadly covers all the records produced by these laws, although, strictly speaking, “probate” applies only when there is a will.

   Family historians use probate case files far more than any other kind of court record. Probate case files are logical sources because they tend to include so much personal data, and because Americans have depended on the courts to settle their estates since North America was colonized. According to Val Greenwood in his Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, “All records which relate to the disposition of an estate after its owner’s death are referred to as probate records. These are many and varied in both content and value, but basically, they fall into two main classes: testate and intestate” (page 255). Probate case files generally provide names, addresses, and biographical data for the deceased, but frequently provide the same information for other relatives named in the papers. Relationships, maiden names of wives, married names of daughters, past residences, and place of origin in a native country are just a few of the details that can be discovered in probate files. And probate files can be found in courthouses and archives across the United States.

   When requesting probate information from the county clerk, it is important not to limit yourself by asking for a person’s “will.” The clerk will usually take you at your word and not copy other papers in the probate file that may have equally important information if there is no will.

   Even if your ancestor is not mentioned in a probate case, consider all of the other procedures which might have resulted in him or her appearing in court records:

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