Ohio Genealogical Archives - It is wise to acquaint yourself with any repository which you might visit by writing to the appropriate archive or library in advance. Every repository has published materials that introduce its collections and research policy. State archives and historical agencies also have Internet sites that provide the same information. Some even have downloadable databases for some or parts of their collections.
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.
Center for Archival Collections, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403-0175 Serves Region 2-northwest Ohio.
Archives and Special Collections Alden Library, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701-2978 Serves Region 5-southeast Ohio.
Bierce Library, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-1750 Serves Region 1-east central Ohio
Ohio Network of American History Research Centers Established in 1970 to aid in the collection, preservation, and accessibility of research materials related to Ohio history, the network is composed of seven institutions -Ohio's two largest historical societies and five state universities. A central feature of the network is the division of the entire state into seven distinct geographical areas for research. Each center collects county records for its area.
Blegen Library, University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 45221-0113 Serves Region 3-southwest Ohio.
"Genealogists are generally positive and energetic, and most are ready to share their findings or research experience with anyone they can help. There are hundreds of genealogical societies at the grass-roots level. Knowledge of the genealogical community will place you in the midst of much activity, increase your productivity, and alert you to the importance of research standards and etiquette." Sandra Hargreaves Luebking,
Editor of FGS Forum, Co-editor of The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy
Ohio Historical & Genealogical Societies - Because family history research relies greatly upon records found at the county level, many local societies represent counties. Organizations also form around shared interests. Ethnic or religious origins account for many groups, such as the Polish Genealogical Society of America and P.O.I.N.T. (Pursuing Our Italian Names Together). Societies also form around common locales of origin for members’ ancestors; hence, the Palatines to America and Germans from Russia societies. To locate these and other societies, consult Juliana Szucs Smith’s The Ancestry Family Historian’s Address Book. It lists addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and Internet addresses of thousands of organizations throughout the United States.
For almost every state there is a state genealogical society, a state genealogical council, or both. In addition to their own work, state-level groups sometimes help coordinate the efforts of local societies within the state. Their publications, newsletters and quarterlies, supplement those produced by the local societies.
Ohio Genealogical Society, 713 South Main Street, Mansfield OH 44907-1644 Membership
includes a quarterly, The Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly, and the bimonthly OGS Genealogy News.
The society has annual meetings, one hundred county chapters,
the Families of Ohio lineage society, and publishes various items
of genealogical and historical interest. This library contains
over 26,000 volumes, family vertical files, Bible records, ancestors
cards, manuscript files, census microfilm, and a broad variety
of other valuable resources for research in Ohio. A response to
a written request for general and specific information is answered
promptly, cordially, and very thoroughly.
Ohio Historical Society, Archives-Library Division
1982 Velma Avenue, Columbus, OH 43211;
Telephone: 614-297-2300 The society's library collections document the history of Ohio and its people, including 125,000 books and pamphlets and 40,000 reels of newspaper microfilm and 20,000 volumes of original newspapers. The newspaper collection is one of the nation's largest. Their audiovisual collections are outstanding, including nearly 7,500 photographs of locomotives and railroad subjects in the G. Hayes Coleman series. Major works on the settlement and government of Northwest Territory are in the rare books division. The society houses (at the above address) the State Archives of Ohio, with more than 30,000 cubic feet of state and local government records. The society also serves the central Ohio counties as part of the Ohio Network of American History Research Centers.
Western Reserve Historical Society
10825 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44106. Telephone: (216) 721-5722 Its extensive manuscript collection (published guide available by mail) is supplemented by an equally extensive microfilm collection of federal census returns and the National Archives Revolutionary War Pension records. The society serves as the network center for its area and charges a per-day fee for nonmembers.
Ohio Department of Health, [Order Online][ Birth Records from 1908, Death Records From 1908 ]
Vital Statistics, P.O. Box 118 , Columbus, OH 43216-0118 ; Phone: (614) 466-2531, EMAIL For birth and death records prior to Dec. 20, 1908, contact the Probate Court of the county where the birth occurred. For birth and death records from Dec. 20, 1908, through Dec. 31, 1944, contact The Ohio Historical Society at 1-800-653-6446 or 614-297-2510
Southern Ohio Genealogical Society PO Box 414 Hillsboro, OH 45133 meets at the Southern State Community College, Central Campus, Hillsboro, OH at 7:00 pm on the second Thursday each month except January and February
Florida Chapter, OGS, PO Box 466, Melrose, FL 32666-0466 ; Florida Chapter, OGS holds an annual meeting on the third weekend in February in different areas of Florida. Write for information., E-mail: betdaclwho@aol.com
Ohio Genealogical Publications -
Ohio History is published by the Ohio Historical Society. It was previously called Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly and Ohio Historical Quarterly.
The Report and Ohio Records and Pioneer Families are published by the Ohio Genealogical Society with excellent local history, problem solving techniques, and original source material.
Also see:
Bell, Carol Willsey. Ohio Genealogical Periodical Index: A County Guide. Youngstown, Ohio: privately published, 1987. Subject index to publications of genealogical and historical societies..
Statewide or regional publications include the following: [ see specific county page for individual county list ]
The Report and Ohio Records and Pioneer Families are published by the Ohio Genealogical Society with excellent local history, problem solving techniques, and original source material.
Ohio History is published by the Ohio Historical Society. It was previously called Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly and Ohio Historical Quarterly.
Ohio Newspapers - The Centinel of the North-Western Territory was published in Cincinnati ten years before Ohio became a state. Its first issue was dated 9 November 1793. This newspaper, and some issues of the Chillicothe Gazette, the oldest paper in continuous publication west of the Alleghenies, are available at the Ohio Historical Society, along with a limited number of newspaper indexes.
Many local historical societies and public libraries have obituary files. The German Immigrant Society of Cincinnati has a clipping collection of 1,700 obituaries.
There have been several projects for the compilation and indexing of newspapers in Ohio. These are primarily done on an individual newspaper or county basis. Some may be obtained by contacting county historical or genealogical societies. A microfiche catalog of newspapers available at the Ohio Historical Society, published in 1990, may be purchased from the society.
Also consult Karen Mauer Green, Pioneer Ohio Newspapers, 1802–1818 (Galveston, Tex.: Frontier Press, 1988), a compilation of abstracts of genealogical data and “mentions” of people from six Ohio newspapers. It includes articles from newly formed settlements in Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. The book has an every-name, place-name, and subject index. Green has also published Pioneer Ohio Newspapers, 1793–1810 (Galveston, Tex.: Frontier Press, 1986), which covers five early Ohio newspapers. The cities most prevalent in these indexes are Chillicothe, Cincinnati, Marietta, and Steubenville. Further information is in Stephen Gutgesell, Guide to Ohio Newspapers 1793–1973, Union Bibliography of Ohio Newspapers Available in Ohio Libraries (Columbus, Ohio: Ohio Historical Society, 1974). The Ohio Historical Society provides microfilmed newspapers on an interlibrary loan basis. A microfiche catalog of newspapers available may be ordered from the society.
While records of birth, marriage, and death are the most commonly sought and the most consistently helpful records, only the genealogist’s imagination and resourcefulness limit newspapers’ usefulness in supplying clues about historical events, local history, probate court and legal notices, real estate transactions, political biographies, announcements, notices of new and terminated partnerships, business advertisements, and notices for settling debts.
Newspapers can provide at least a partial substitute for nonexistent civil records. For example, a person’s obituary may have appeared in a newspaper even when civil death records for that person do not exist. And newspapers are an important source of marriage records, particularly in those states where civil recording of marriages was essentially nonexistent until the twentieth century.
Unlike official records, newspapers are not limited to a particular geographical area. They often include reports of the weddings of local citizens (even those that occurred in a neighboring county or another state), and they sometimes report visits of geographically distant relatives or the visits of former local residents. They often published death notices of individuals who had left the area long before but who still had local family or friends as well. In each case the newspaper account can identify the date and place of an event, thus opening the possibility of turning up additional documentation in other sources.
The first step in searching a newspaper is to identify those which served the area of interest and which have survived. The three most necessary tools are bibliographies (What was published?), inventories of library and depository holdings (Where is it?), and indexes (How do I find what I want in it?).
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