Benton County, Indiana Genealogy

United States

Indiana

Benton County

Guide to Benton County, Indiana ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

County Facts County seat: Fowler Organized: February 18, 1840 Parent County(s): Jasper Neighboring Counties Newton • Jasper • White • Tippecanoe • Warren • Iroquois (IL) • Vermilion (IL) See County Maps Courthouse Location Map

County Information

Description

Benton County was named in honor of Thomas H. Benton, a Missouri senator. It is located in the northwestern area of the state.

County Courthouse

Benton County Courthouse
706 E. 5th Ste 12
Fowler, Indiana 47944-1556
Phone: 765-884-0320
County Website

Benton County Health Department
706 East 5th Street, Suite 16
Fowler, IN, 47944
Health Officer: Joseph Moody, MD
Phone Number: 765-884-1728
Fax: 765-884-2072
Health Department

Clerk Circuit Court has marriage records from 1841, divorce and court records from the 1800s, probate records from 1852 and naturalization records.
County Recorder has land and military records.
County Health Department has birth and death records from 1882. Health Department has birth records filed and death records filed.
Copies may be obtained from the county health department or the Indiana State Division of Vital Records.

Benton County, Indiana Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Government County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1882	1841	1882	1800s	1840	1852	1807
*Statewide registration for births in 1907 and deaths in Oct 1899. General compliance by 1917.

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes

Parent Counties: Formed February 18, 1840 from Jasper County Seat: Fowler Indiana Individual County Chronologies - Newberry Library list of all boundary changes by county Indiana Historical Borders - Map at Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; Also at: mapofus.org - animated maps illustrating Indiana county boundary changes

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Towns
Ambia Boswell	Earl Park Fowler	Otterbein Oxford
Unincorporated communities
Atkinson Chase Dunnington Freelan Park	Lochiel Raub Swanington	Talbot Templeton Wadena
Townships
Bolivar Center Gilboa Grant	Hickory Grove Oak Grove Parish Grove Pine	Richland Union York
Ghost towns
Dunn	Handy

Resources

Biographies

• Indiana Biography Index at Indiana State Library

• Biographical History of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton... . 2 Vols. 1899. Chicago [Ill.] : The Lewis Publishing Company. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library-Vol.1; FamilySearch Digital Library - Vol 2.

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Benton County, Indiana online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	BillionGraves Find a Grave Interment.net RecordAGrave Index USGW Tombstone Transcription Project
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	FamilySearch Catalog WorldCat.org
List of Cemeteries in the County	BillionGraves FamilySearch Places Find a Grave
See Indiana Cemeteries for more information

Census Records

For tips on accessing Benton County census records online, see: Indiana Census.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1850	1,144	—
1860	2,809	145.5%
1870	5,615	99.9%
1880	11,108	97.8%
1890	11,903	7.2%
1900	13,123	10.2%
1910	12,688	−3.3%
1920	12,206	−3.8%
1930	11,886	−2.6%
1940	11,117	−6.5%
1950	11,462	3.1%
1960	11,912	3.9%
1970	11,262	−5.5%
1980	10,218	−9.3%
1990	9,441	−7.6%
2000	9,421	−0.2%
2010	8,854	−6.0%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

• Index to Mortality Schedule for Benton County (1860) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Index to Defective, Dependent & Delinquent Census for Benton County, Indiana (1880) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Church Records

Most church records are held by individual churches. For contact information, check a phone directory, such as SearchBug or Dex Knows. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository. For more information about these major repositories, see Indiana Church Records.
List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places
  

Court Records

• 1818-1954 Indiana Court Cases at MyHeritage — index ($)
• 1839-1921 Benton County Circuit Court Civil Order Book, 1839-1921(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1840-1922 Circuit Court Complete (Final) Record, 1840-1922(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1853-1872 Complete Record, v. A, 1853-1872(*); Court of Common Pleas at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1853-1873 Civil Order Books, 1853-1873(*); Court of Common Pleas at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images

Directories

• 1970-2024 United States, Residence Database, 1970-2024 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index, coverage may vary

• Members of Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Oxford (1857-1900) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Funeral Homes

• Gerts, Windler and Keller Funeral Home in Fowler.
• Hahn-Groeber Funeral and Cremation Services Inc. in Oxford.
• Shoemaker Funeral Home in Otterbein.

Land and Property Records

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents. See Indiana Land and Property for additional information about early Indiana land grants and patents.

After land was transferred from the government to private ownership, subsequent transactions were recorded at the Benton County courthouse, where records are currently housed.

Online Land Indexes and Records

• Full-Text Search - Land Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Benton County. County histories may include biographies; church, school and government histories; and military information. For more information about local histories, see Indiana Local Histories.

• Counties of Warren, Benton, Jasper, and Newton, Indiana. 1883. Chicago : F.A. Battey. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Internet Archive, Ancestry ($).

Maps and Gazetteers

• Historic Indiana Maps at IUPUI University Library

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Indiana
• Maps and Gazetteers - Linkpendium
  
• Map of Benton County Townships - INGenWeb
• FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records

• Military Record Series Index at Indiana Digital Archives

Civil War
Civil War service men from Benton County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment)that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Benton County.

• 10th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company D
• 15th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company D
• 40th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company E
• 99th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company C
• 128th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company A
• 147th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company K
• 150th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Comang G
• 155th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company G, H, and K
• 28th US Colored Troops, Addition Recruits for Colored Troops
  

Civil War Books:

• "Military History of Benton County" in F.A. Battey & Co. Counties of Warren, Benton, Jasper and Newton, Indiana: Historical and Biographical. Chicago: F.A. Battey & Co, 2008. Also digital images of original published: Mt. Vernon, IN : Windmill Publications, 1994. viii, 810 p. : ill., ports.; 28 cm. Originally published: Chicago : F.A. Battey, 1883. Pages 252-271. Online at: FS Library Collection; FamilySearch Digital Library; Internet Archive

World War I

• 1919 Indiana, World War I, Enrollment Cards, 1919 at FamilySearch -How to Use this Collection

Naturalization and Citizenship

• Naturalization Record Series (for this county) at Indiana Digital Archives. Search by names.

Newspapers

Indiana newspapers may contain genealogical value including obituaries, births, marriages, deaths, anniversaries, family gatherings, family travel, achievements, business notices, engagement information, and probate court proceedings.

For more Indiana newspaper information see the wiki page Indiana Newspapers.

• 1800s-Current Indiana, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-Current at Ancestry — index & images ($)
• 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry - index ($)
• Hoosier State Chronicles

Probate Records

In most counties in Indiana, probate records have been kept by the county clerk of the circuit court. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate ticklers, and dockets. The records are available at the Benton County courthouse. For more information, see Indiana Probate Records.

Online Probate Indexes and Records

• 1798-1999 Indiana Wills and Probate Records 1798-1999 at Ancestry ($)
• 1840-1920 Probate Records, 1840-1920(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index and images
• 1857-1924 Will Records, 1857-1924(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index and images
• 1860-1889 Partition Records, 1860-1889(*); Circuit Court and Court of Common Pleas at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• Full-Text Search - Wills and Probate Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

School Records

• School Enumeration of Parish Grove Township (1853) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Directory of Teachers (1936) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Tax Records

Indiana tax records complement land records and can be used in place of censuses or to supplement the years between censuses. Because only persons who owned taxable property were listed, many residents were not included in tax lists. There may also be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties. For more information see the wiki page Indiana Taxation.

Vital Records

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Indiana law in 1882 required registration of births and deaths in counties. The Indiana Department of Health has birth records filed after October 1907 and death records filed after January 1900 for deaths. Copies may be obtained from the county health department or the Indiana State Division of Vital Records.

Marriage

• 1780-1992 Indiana Marriages, 1780-1992 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; Also at: MyHeritage ($)
• 1800s-2007 Indiana, United States Marriages at Findmypast $
• 1802-1892 Indiana, Compiled Marriages, 1802-1892 at Ancestry ($)
  
• 1811-1959 Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959 at MyHeritage - index & images ($)
• 1811-2007 Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007 at FamilySearch -How to Use this Collection

Death

• Pre-1882 WEB: Indiana, Deaths, Pre-1882 at Ancestry - index, (Free collection)
• 1750-1993 Indiana Deaths and Burials, 1750-1993 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• 1882-1920 Indiana, Death Index, 1882-1920 at FamilySearch -How to Use this Collection
• 1899-2011 Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 at Ancestry ($)

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Benton County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Indiana Archives and Libraries.

FamilySearch Centers

FamilySearch Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local FamilySearch Centers or Affiliate Libraries

• FamilySearch Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
• FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a FamilySearch center.
  

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Crawfordsville Indiana FamilySearch Center
• Danville Illinois FamilySearch Center
• West Lafayette Indiana FamilySearch Center
• Pulaski County Public Library - an affiliate library.
• Sullivan Munce Cultural Center - an affiliate library.

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Benton County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Indiana Archives and Libraries.

Societies

Listed below are societies in Benton County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Indiana Societies.

Benton County Indiana Historical Society, Inc.
404 E 6th Street
PO Box 341
Fowler, IN 47944-0341
Phone: 765-884-8839
Website

Websites

• Indiana Digital Archives Search by name in all records or specific collections
• Indiana Historical Society Digital Collections Search by county or keyword
• Indiana Memory Click the map or select a statewide collection
• List of indexes and databases at Indiana State Library
• Indiana Genealogical Society Databases Free and Members-only. Select a county
• IN/USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• Benton County, Indiana Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
• FamilySearch Catalog – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.