Clark County, Indiana Genealogy
Guide to Clark County, Indiana ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.
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County Information[edit | edit source]
Description[edit | edit source]
Clark County was named for General George Rogers Clark. It is located along the southern border of the state.[1]
County Courthouse[edit | edit source]
Clark County Courthouse
City Court Bldg 501 E Ct Avenue
Jeffersonville, IN 47130
Phone: 812-285-6244
County Website
Clark County Health Department
1201 Wall St.
Jeffersonville, IN, 47130
Health Officer: Eric Yazel MS, MD
Phone Number: 812-282-7521
Fax: 812-288-2711
Health Department
County Clerk has marriage and probate records from 1850 and court records.
County Recorder has land records.
County Health Department has birth and death records.[2]
Health Department has birth records and death records.
Copies may be obtained from the county health department or the Indiana State Division of Vital Records.
Clark County, Indiana Record Dates[edit | edit source]
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.
| Birth* | Marriage | Death* | Court | Land | Probate | Census |
| 1882 | 1850 | 1882 | 1801 | 1801 | 1801 | 1807 |
Record Loss[edit | edit source]
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There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county. |
Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]
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Populated Places[edit | edit source]
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:[6]
| Cities | ||
| Towns | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
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| Census-designated places | ||
| Townships | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
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History Timeline[edit | edit source]
Resources[edit | edit source]
Bible Records[edit | edit source]
- Bible records of Clark County Families. By Boyer, Clyde, Mrs. and Daughters of the American Revolution, Green Tree Tavern Chapter (Charlestown, Indiana). Charleston, Indiana : Green Tree Tavern Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1956. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; Also at: FamilySearch Catalog
- Harlan Family Bible Records at Indiana State Library Digital Collections
Biographies[edit | edit source]
Business, Commerce, and Occupations[edit | edit source]
Occupations
- Roster of Civilian Conservation Corps, Henryville (1938) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
Cemeteries[edit | edit source]
Census Records[edit | edit source]
For tips on accessing Clark County census records online, see: Indiana Census.
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± |
| 1810 | 5,670 | — |
| 1820 | 8,709 | 53.6% |
| 1830 | 10,686 | 22.7% |
| 1840 | 14,595 | 36.6% |
| 1850 | 15,828 | 8.4% |
| 1860 | 20,502 | 29.5% |
| 1870 | 24,770 | 20.8% |
| 1880 | 28,610 | 15.5% |
| 1890 | 30,259 | 5.8% |
| 1900 | 31,835 | 5.2% |
| 1910 | 30,260 | −4.9% |
| 1920 | 29,381 | −2.9% |
| 1930 | 30,764 | 4.7% |
| 1940 | 31,020 | 0.8% |
| 1950 | 48,330 | 55.8% |
| 1960 | 62,795 | 29.9% |
| 1970 | 75,876 | 20.8% |
| 1980 | 88,838 | 17.1% |
| 1990 | 87,774 | −1.2% |
| 2000 | 96,472 | 9.9% |
| 2010 | 110,232 | 14.3% |
| Source: "Wikipedia.org". | ||
- Selected Residents of Clark County, Indiana Territory (1809) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
- Index to Defective, Dependent & Delinquent Census for Clark County (1880) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
Church Records[edit | edit source]
Most church records are held by individual churches. For contact information, check a phone directory, such as SearchBug or Dex Knows. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository.
For more information about these major repositories, see Indiana Church Records.
List of Churches and Church Parishes
- Early Members of Silver Creek Baptist Church at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
Court Records[edit | edit source]
- 1801-1813 Minute Book, 1801-1808; Court Order Book, 1807-1813(*); Court of Quarter Session at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
- 1801-1814 Minute Book, 1801-1814(*); Court of Common Pleas at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
- 1801-1817 Order Books, 1801-1817(*); Court of Common Pleas at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
- 1802-1813 Record of Courts Held by Federal Judges, 1802-1813(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
- 1815-1816 Minute Book, 1815-1816(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images
- 1818-1954 Indiana Court Cases at MyHeritage — index ($)
- 1824-1831 Order Book, 1824-1831(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
- 1853-1869 Partition Record, Oct. 1853-May 1869(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
- 1853-1921 Civil Order Books 1853-1921 and General Index Books, Clark County, Indiana(*); Circuit and Court of Common Pleas at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
- Clark County, Indiana, Historical and Genealogical Records. 1929. By Mrs. Julia D. Waugh and Mrs. Nathan B. Sparks. Clark County, Indiana: Clark County, Indiana. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
- Clark County, Indiana Marriage Records, 1820-1824 : [Marriage licenses], The Genealogist (R. Bakehorn) - v. 1, no. 5 (Sep 1971). 1971. By Ray Bakehorn. Logan, Utah : The Everton Publishers. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
- Clark County Marriage Records, 1815-1820 (Indiana), The Genealogist (R. Bakehorn) - v. 1, no. 4 (Aug 1971). 1971. By Ray Bakehorn. Logan, Utah : The Everton Publishers. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
Directories[edit | edit source]
- 1970-2024 United States, Residence Database, 1970-2024 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index, coverage may vary
Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]
Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups[edit | edit source]
African Americans
- African American Veterans in Clark County (1890) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
Funeral Homes[edit | edit source]
- Adams Family Funeral Homes and Crematory in Henryville.
- Chapman Funeral Home in Clarksville.
- E.M. Coots' Sons Funeral Home in Jeffersonville.
- Garr Funeral Home in Sellersburg.
- Grayson Funeral Home in Charlestown.
- Hughes-Taylor Funeral Home, Inc in Borden.
- Legacy Funeral Center in Jeffersonville.
- Scott Funeral Home in Jeffersonville.
Genealogies[edit | edit source]
Guardianship[edit | edit source]
Land and Property Records[edit | edit source]
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 Clark 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[edit | edit source]
Local histories are available for Clark County. County histories may include biographies; church, school and government histories; and military information. For more information about local histories, see Indiana Local Histories.
- Baird's History of Clark County, Indiana. 1972. By Lewis C. Baird, et al. Evansville, Indiana : Unigraphic. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Internet Archive; At various libraries (WorldCat). Reprint. Originally published: Indianapolis : B. F. Bowen, 1909.
- Biographical and Historical Souvenir for the Counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott and Washington, Indiana. 1969, 1972. Compiled and published by John M. Gresham & Company. Evansville, Indiana : Unigraphic. Online at FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Internet Archive; At various libraries (WorldCat). Reprint. Originally published: Chicago [Illinois] : Chicago Printing Company, 1889.
- History of the Ohio Falls Cities and Their Counties. 2 volumes. 1882. By L. A. Williams & Company. Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co. Online at FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive; At various libraries (WorldCat). Volume 2 contains Clark County history.
Maps and Gazetteers[edit | edit source]
for more resources
- Historic Indiana Maps at IUPUI University Library
- Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Indiana
- Clark County, Indiana: Maps and Gazetteers - Linkpendium
- FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places
Migration[edit | edit source]
Military Records[edit | edit source]
- Military Record Series Index at Indiana Digital Archives
- Selected Members of Militia in Clark County, Indiana Territory (1812) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
- African American Veterans in Clark County (1890) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
Civil War
Civil War service men from Clark 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 Clark County.
- 4th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company D
- 5th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry (90th Regiment, Indiana Volunteers), Company M
- 5th Regiment, Kentucky Infantry, Companies A, B, C, D, E, F, G, I, K, and H
- 6th Regiment, Kentucky Infantry, Companies A and C
- 10th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company E
- 11th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company G, and I
- 12th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
- 13th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company M
- 22nd Regiment, Indiana InfantryCompany D
- 23rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies B, and I
- 30th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company A
- 38th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies F, and H
- 49th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies B, C, and D
- 53rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company D
- 81st Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies B, C, and
- 133rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company I
- 137th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Companies
- 144th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies B, C, and G
- 28th US Colored Troops, Company E, and Addition Recruits for Colored Troops
Civil War Books:
- "The Military History of Clark County" chapter 18-19 in Baird, Lewis C. 1972. Baird's history of Clark County, Indiana. (Evansville, Ind: Unigraphic) (page 178-205, Regiment, Compaies) at: FamilySearch Digital Book; other libraries
World War I
Naturalization and Citizenship[edit | edit source]
- Naturalization Record Series (for this county) at Indiana Digital Archives. Search by names.
Newspapers[edit | edit source]
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
Obituaries[edit | edit source]
Other Records[edit | edit source]
Voting Records
[edit | edit source]
- Voters of Clark County, Indiana Territory (1802) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
Periodicals[edit | edit source]
Probate Records[edit | edit source]
In most counties in Indiana, probate records have been kept by the county clerk of the circuit court. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate ticklers, and dockets. The records are available at the Clark County courthouse. For more information, see Indiana Probate Records.
Online Probate Indexes and Records
- 1798-1999 Indiana Wills and Probate Records 1798-1999 at Ancestry ($)
- 1801- 1833 Clark County, Indiana Abstracts of Wills and Executors' Records, 1801- 1833 and Marriage Records, 1807-1824. By Riker, Dorothy Lois. Indianapolis, Indiana : Indiana Historical Society. 1969. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; Also at: FamilySearch Catalog
- 1801-1833 Clark County, Indiana Early Wills and Executor's Records, 1801-1833(*); at FamilySearch Catalog — images
- 1801-1835 Probate Records, 1801-1835(*); County Clerk and Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
- 1811-1875 Will Records, 1811-1875(*); Circuit Court and Court of Common Pleas at FamilySearch Catalog — images
- 1817-1919 Probate Records, 1817-1919(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index and images
- Clark County, Indiana, Historical and Genealogical Records. By Waugh, Julia D. Jeffersonville, Indiana : Daughters of the American Revolution. 1929.Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
- Full-Text Search - Wills and Probate Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search
School Records[edit | edit source]
- Directory of Teachers (1936) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
Social Security Records[edit | edit source]
- 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
- 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — 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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
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.
Birth[edit | edit source]
Marriage[edit | edit source]
- 1780-1992 Indiana Marriages, 1780-1992 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; Also at: MyHeritage ($)
- 1800s-2007 Indiana, United States Marriages at Findmypast $
- 1811-1959 Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959 at MyHeritage - index & images ($)
- 1811-2007 Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
Death[edit | edit source]
- Pre-1882 WEB: Indiana, Deaths, Pre-1882 at Ancestry - index, (Free collection)
- 1750-1993 Indiana Deaths and Burials, 1750-1993 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
- 1882-1920 Indiana, Death Index, 1882-1920 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
- 1899-2011 Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 at Ancestry ($)
Divorce[edit | edit source]
Research Facilities[edit | edit source]
Archives[edit | edit source]
Listed below are archives in Clark County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Indiana Archives and Libraries.
FamilySearch Centers[edit | edit source]
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
- Louisville Kentucky FamilySearch Center
- New Albany Indiana FamilySearch Center
- Shawnee Kentucky FamilySearch Center
- Jeffersonville Township Public Library - an affiliate library.
- Floyd County Public Library - an affiliate library.
Libraries[edit | edit source]
Listed below are libraries in Clark County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Indiana Archives and Libraries.
Jeffersonville Township Public Library
211 East Court Avenue
Jeffersonville, IN 47130
Phone: 812-285-5630
Email: dstepro@jefflibrary.org
Website
Museums[edit | edit source]
Howard Steamboat Museum
1101 East Market Street
Jeffersonville, IN 47130
Phone: 812-283-3728
Email: info@howardsteamboatmuseum.org
Website
Societies[edit | edit source]
Listed below are societies in Clark County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Indiana Societies.
Clark County Historical Society/Howard Steamboat Museum
1101 East Market Street
PO Box 606
Jeffersonville, IN 47130
Phone: 812-283-3728
Email: info@howardsteamboatmuseum.org
Website
Clark County Indiana Museum
725 Michigan Ave
PO Box 749
Jeffersonville, IN 47130
Phone: 502-548-0259
Facebook
Clark's Grant Historical Society
8524 Highway 403
PO Box 423
Charlestown, IN 47111-8748
Email: Tfaith@Unix.Adept.Net
Facebook
Clarksville Historical Society
2000 Broadway Street
PO Box 2303
Clarksville, IN 47129-7762
Phone: 812-288-7155
Email: info@clarksvillehistoricalsociety.com
Facebook
Southern Indiana Genealogical Society
180 West Spring Street
PO Box 665
New Albany, IN 47150
Email: sigsvolunteer@gmail.com
Website
- The Society's collection of genealogical materials is housed in the Indiana History Room of the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library.
Websites[edit | edit source]
- 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
- USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
- IN GenWeb
- Clark 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.
Research Guides[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Genealogy Trails History Group, “Clark County, Ohio Genealogy and History”, http://genealogytrails.com/ohio/clark/ accessed 3/02/2017.
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Indiana.At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002.
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Indiana.At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002.
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Indiana.At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002.
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Clark County, Indiana" in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_County,_Indiana (accessed 10 May 2012).
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Clark County, Indiana," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_County,_Indiana, accessed 01 December 2019.