Jay County, Indiana Genealogy

United States

Indiana

Jay County

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

Indiana Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Portland Organized: January 30, 1837 Parent County(s): Adams New Purchase (Delaware/Randolph) Neighboring Counties Adams • Wells • Blackford • Delaware • Randolph • Darke (OH) • Mercer (OH) See County Maps Courthouse Location Map

County Information

Description

Jay County was named for John Jay, co-author of the Federalist Papers, Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation, and first Chief Justice of the United States. It is located in the east-central area of the state.

County Courthouse

Jay County Courthouse
Main and Walnut
Portland, IN 47371
Phone 219-726-4951
County Website

Jay County Health Center
504 West Arch Street
Portland, IN, 47371
Health Officer: Jerry Whetzel, MD
Phone Number: 260-726-8080
Fax: 260-726-2220
Health Department

County Health Department has birth and death records from 1882;
County Clerk has marriage records from 1843, divorce records from 1882, probate records from 1836 and court records from 1837;
County Auditor has land records from 1836.
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.

Jay 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	1843	1882	1837	1836	1836	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 from Adams New Purchase (Delaware/Randolph) in 1835 County Seat: Portland 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:

Cities
Dunkirk	Portland
Towns
Bryant Pennville	Redkey	Salamonia
Unincorporated communities
Antioch Antiville Balbec Blaine Bloomfield Boundary City Brice Center	College Corner Collett Como Fiat Greene Kitt Liber New Corydon	New Mount Pleasant Poling Pony Powers Ridertown Salem Trinity Westchester
Townships
Bearcreek Greene Jackson Jefferson	Knox Madison Noble Penn	Pike Richland Wabash Wayne

Resources

Bible Records

• Bible Records of Jay County, Indiana(*); at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images

Biographies

• Indiana Biography Index at Indiana State Library

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Jay County, Indiana online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	BillionGraves Find a Grave Indiana Interment INGenWeb RecordAGrave Index USINGenWeb Archives USGW Tombstone Project
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	FamilySearch Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	FamilySearch Places Find a Grave
See Indiana Cemeteries for more information.

• Readings of all of the cemeteries in Jay County can be found on the ACPL Genealogy Center's website.

Census Records

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

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1840	3,863	—
1850	7,047	82.4%
1860	11,399	61.8%
1870	15,000	31.6%
1880	19,282	28.5%
1890	23,478	21.8%
1900	26,818	14.2%
1910	24,961	−6.9%
1920	23,318	−6.6%
1930	20,846	−10.6%
1940	22,601	8.4%
1950	23,157	2.5%
1960	22,572	−2.5%
1970	23,575	4.4%
1980	23,239	−1.4%
1990	21,512	−7.4%
2000	21,806	1.4%
2010	21,253	−2.5%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

• Early Settlers of Jay County at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Index to Defective, Dependent & Delinquent Census for Jay County (1880) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Indexes to Mortality Schedules for Jay County (1860 and 1870) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Pioneer Settlers of Jay County at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

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 ($)
• 1837-1925 Jay County Circuit Court Civil Order Books, 1837-1925(*); County Clerk at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images

Directories

• 1897 Portland, Indiana, U.S., Directory, 1897 at Ancestry - index ($)
• 1970-2024 United States, Residence Database, 1970-2024 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index, coverage may vary

• Directory of Businesses in Jay County, Indiana (1868) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Funeral Homes

• Baird-Freeman Funeral Home in Portland.
• MJS Mortuaries in Dunkirk and Redkey.
• Williamson Spencer and Penrod Funeral Home in Pennville and Portland.

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

• Biographical and Historical Record of Jay and Blackford Counties, Indiana. 1887. Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Internet Archive; At various libraries (WorldCat). May be a reprint of the Jay County section only from the original combined 1887 Jay and Blackford Counties.
• History of Jay County, Indiana. 1864. By M. W. Montgomery. Chicago, Illinois Church, Goodman & Cushing. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive, Ancestry ($); At various libraries (WorldCat).

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Historic Indiana Maps at IUPUI University Library
• Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Indiana
• 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
• List of Pensioners on the Roll January 1, 1883 online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; INTERNET ARCHIVE

Civil War
Civil War service men from Jay County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Jay County.

• 7th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Companies E, and K
• 8th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company C
• 11th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company B
• 20th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
• 34th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company B
• 75th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company F
• 89th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company E
• 91st Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company I
• 100th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company H
• 139th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Companies E, and I
• 140th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company F
• 153rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company E
• 154th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company H
• 28th US Colored Troops, Company F, and Addition Recruits for Colored Troops
• 40th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company F; (page 281, in "Jay County And The War")
  
• Civil War Records, INGenWeb, Indiana Soldiers in the Civil War; Discharges, Pensions, Reunions and Soldiers in the News; Medal of Honor Recipient

Civil War Books:

• "Jay County And The War" Chapter 17 in Montgomery, M.W., History of Jay County, Indiana,(Chicago, Illinois Church, Goodman & Cushing, 1864), (page 220-288, Regiment, Companies, Name's), online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; INTERNET ARCHIVE
  
• "Civil War" Part 2, Chapter 7 in Biographical and historical record of Jay and Blackford Counties, Indiana: containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland, with accompanying biographies of each ; a condensed history of the state of Indiana ; portraits and biographies of some of the prominent men of the state ; engravings of prominent citizens in Jay and Blackford Counties, with personal histories of many of the leading families, and a concise history of Jay and Blackford Counties and their cities and villages. (1978. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co.), (page 227-234, Regiment, some Companies), available online at:FamilySearch Digital Library.

World War I

• 1919 Indiana, World War I, Enrollment Cards, 1919 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• Gold Star Honor Roll, Genealogy Trails
• 1917-1918 World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 at Ancestry ($)
• World War I INGenWeb, Draft Registrations; National Guard; Nurses; Book of Merit and Gold Stars

World War II

• World War II Casualties, Army and Army Air Corps, Access Genealogy
• World War II MIA list, INGenWeb

Korean Conflict

• Casualties, INGenWeb

Vietnam

• Casualties, INGenWeb

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 ($)
• 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry - index ($)
• Jay County newspapers - INGenWeb
• Jay County newspaper clippings - FS Library Collection
• 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 Jay 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 ($)
• 1837-1900 Jay County, Indiana, Probate File, 1837-1900 ; Index, 1837-1900(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1838-1968 Probate Records, 1838-1920, Index, 1850-1968(*); Circuit and Probate Court, and Court of Common Pleas at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1846-1920 Will Records, 1846-1920(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1850-1872 Partition Record, 1850-1872(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• Full-Text Search - Wills and Probate Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

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 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 Jay 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

• Decatur Indiana FamilySearch Center
• Marion Indiana FamilySearch Center
• Muncie Indiana FamilySearch Center
• Allen County Public Library - an affiliate library.
• Marion Public Library - an affiliate library.

Libraries

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

Jay County Public Library
315 N Ship St
Portland, IN 47371
Phone: 260-726-7890
Email: jaylibrary315@gmail.com
Facebook
Website

Many print resources are available, including local histories, directories and family history documents.

Societies

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

Jay County Historical Society
903 E Main St
Portland, IN 47371
Phone: 260-726-7168
Email: research@jaycountyhistory.org
Website

Websites

• Indiana Digital Archives Search by name in all records or specific collections
• Indiana Historical Society Digital Collections Extensive - keyword searches suggested
• 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. Scroll the list.
• 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.

This table contains the dates the local or state government began recording in the county or county equivalent. Use substitute records for earlier dates. If you believe there is an error, email us at wikisupport@familysearch.org.

County boundary maps are currently unavailable. Download information instead.

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