Adams County, Indiana Genealogy

United States Indiana Adams County

Guide to Adams County Indiana genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Adams County, Indiana
Map
Location of Indiana in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	February 7, 1835
County Seat	Decatur
Courthouse
Address	Adams County Courthouse 112 S 2nd Street Decatur, IN 46733 Phone: 219.724.2600 Adams County Website
Template:Adoption Indiana Genealogical Society

Historical Facts

• Parent Counties: Formed from Adams New Purchase (Allen/Delaware/Randolph) in 1835
  
• County Seat: Decatur
  
• Neighboring Counties: Adams County, Indiana Genealogy residents may also have records in
  Allen (north) · Jay (south) · Van Wert (northeast) · Mercer (southeast) · Wells (west)
  

Resources

Cemeteries

• The Allen County Public Library's Genealogy Center has numerous transcriptions of Adams County cemeteries on its website.
• The Indiana Genealogical Society has many transcriptions of Adams County cemeteries available for free on its website.

• Adams County Cemeteries by Township - usgenweb
  

• Adams County, Indiana: Cemeteries - Linkpendium

Census Records

• Index of 1840 Census for Adams County, Indiana (Free, Indiana Genealogical Society)
  
• Index of 1850 Census for Adams County, Indiana (Free, Indiana Genealogical Society)
  
• Index to Mortality Schedule for Adams County, Indiana (1860) (members only database, Indiana Genealogical Society)
• Index to Defective, Dependent & Delinquent Census for Adams County, Indiana (1880) (members only database, Indiana Genealogical Society)

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

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. For more information about these major repositories, see Indiana Church Records.

===== Finding More Church Records =====

Additional church records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Adams County, Indiana Genealogy Church Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

Court Records

• Old Courthouse Records - INGenWeb

Histories

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Adams County, Indiana Genealogy. County histories may include biographies; church, school and government histories; and military information.

• History for Adams County Linkpendium
  

• Tyndall, John W., and O. E. Lesh. 1975. Standard history of Adams and Wells counties, Indiana: an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country. (Evansville, Ind: Unigraphic, Inc.) FHL book 977.27 H2t Other libraries (WorldCat) FamilySearch Digital Library

• Snow, J. F. 1907. Snow's history of Adams County, Indiana. (Indianapolis, Ind: B.F. Bowen.) Internet Archive FHL Film 1000528 Item 5 Other libraries (WorldCat)

For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Indiana Local Histories.

Land and Property

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.

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

 See Indiana Land and Property for additional information about early Indiana land grants and patents. 

Finding More Land Records

Additional land records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Adams County, Indiana Genealogy Probate Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

Maps

• Family Maps of Adams County, Indiana Genealogy (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
• Maps and Gazetteers   Linkpendium

Military Records

Civil War

• Indiana State Digital Achives for Civil War can be searched by soldier's name (accessed 1 May 2011)
  

• List of Pensioners on the Roll January 1, 1883 Adams County, Indiana (Source: Internet Archive)
  

• Adams Co IN Ancestral Heroes (Military War Heroes) (Source: A:AncestralHeroes.com)
  

-Civil War service men from Adams 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 Adams County.

• 6th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company B
• 8th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company C;   INGenWeb
  
• 11th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company C
• 13th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company G
• 30th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company D
• 47th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company C
• 57th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company D
• 89th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies H, I, and K
• 139th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company I
• 147th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company F
• 153rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company E
  

World War I (The Great War), 1914-1918

• World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 Adams County - Ancestry.com ($) INGenWeb
  

World War II, 1941-1945

• Adams County, Indiana World War II Casualties, Army and Army Air Corps  -  AccessGenealogy
  

Newspapers

Adams County, Indiana Genealogy newspapers may contain genealogical value including obituaries, births, marriages, deaths, anniversaries, family gatherings, family travel, achievements, business notices, engagement information, and probate court proceedings. The Indiana Division of the Indiana State Library has the state’s largest newspaper collection. Their newspaper microfilms are available through inter-library loan. For a county-by-county inventory of their 16,500 reels of Indiana newspaper microfilms, see their Indiana Collection.

Other places to access newspapers are Newspaper Archive ($)(may be free at your local library), public libraries, college or university libraries, the Library of Congress, or Google News.

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

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 Adams County courthouse. For more information, see Indiana Probate Records.

Finding More Probate Records

Additional probate records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Adams County, Indiana Genealogy Probate Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).
• South Bend Area Genealogical Society: Wills Index 1830-1971 for St. Joseph County

Public Records

School Records  

• Graduates of Common Schools in Adams County, Indiana (1912) (Free, Indiana Genealogical Society)
   
• School Enumeration of Union Township, Adams County, Indiana (1853) (Members only database, Indiana Genealogical Society) 
• Eighth Grade Commencement, 1938
  
• School Records and Histories  Linkpendium

Repositories

Courthouse

County Clerk has marriage, divorce, probate and court records.

Family History Centers

• Decatur Indiana Family History Center

For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the [Family History Center directory]. ====Public Records

Taxation

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.

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.

Birth Records

• 1882-1920 Index to Birth Records Adams County usgenweb
  

Marriage Records

• 1802-1892 Indiana Marriages Ancestry.com $
  
• 1780-1992 Indiana Marriages FamilySearch
  
• 1811-1959 Indiana Marriages FamilySearch
  

Death Records

• 1870-2000 Index to Death Record Adams County INGenWeb
  
• 1882-1920 Indiana Death Index Transcription of WPA Death Index, 1882-1920
  
• 1882-1920 Indiana, Death Index FamilySearch
  

Web Sites

• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• Family History Library Catalog
• Adams County, Indiana Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
• Adams County, Indiana History, Records, Facts and Genealogy - N2genealogy
  

This website requires a paid subscription for full access. Some subscription websites are available for free at your local FamilySearch Center or Affiliate Library.