Parke County, Indiana Genealogy

United States Indiana Parke County

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

Parke County, Indiana
Map
Location of Indiana in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	January 9, 1821
County Seat	Rockville
Courthouse
Address	Parke County Courthouse 116 W High Street #204 Rockville, IN 47872 Phone: 765.569.5132 Website
Template:Adoption Indiana Genealogical Society

Historical Facts

Beginning dates for major county records
Birth	Marriage	Death	Land	Probate
1882*	1829*	1882*	1816	1833
*For earlier dates, try... Church | Obituaries | Cemeteries

• Parent Counties: Formed 9 January 1821 from Vigo County and unorganized territory.
  
• County Seat: Rockville
  

Neighboring Counties

Vermillion • Fountain • Montgomery • Putnam • Clay • Vigo

Template:INParke,Indiana Clickable Neighbors

Boundary Changes

For animated maps illustrating Indiana County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Indiana County Boundary Maps" (1790-1873) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss

October 1833 -- Courthouse burned and many records were damaged. For a list of record loss in Indiana Counties see: Indiana Counties with Burned Courthouses

For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:

• Burned Counties Research in FamilySearch Wiki
• Michael John Neill, Burned Counties in Family History Circle

Resources

Census Records

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

• Index to Defective, Dependent & Delinquent Census for Parke County (1880) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)
• Pioneer Settlers of Parke County ($, 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.

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 Parke 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).

Directories

• Directory of Businesses in Parke County (1858, 1868) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)

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 Parke 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).

History

Local Histories

• Portrait and biographical record of Montgomery, Parke and Fountain Counties, Indiana containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States. (1893. Chicago: Chapman Bros.)other librariesINTERNET ARCHIVE
  

• B.F. Bowen & Co. History of Parke and Vermillion Counties, Indiana: With Historical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families. (Indianapolis: B.F. Bowen, 1913.) 977.2 H2hpv FHL US/CAN Book FHL Collectionother librariesINTERNET ARCHIVE
  

• Beckwith, H. W., J. H. Beadle, and S. B. Gookins. 1880. History of Vigo and Parke Counties together with historic notes on the Wabash Valley gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence and other authentic though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources. (Chicago: H.H. Hill & N. Iddings.) FHL Collectionother libraries Family History Archives
  

Maps

• Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Indiana
• Family Maps of Parke County, Indiana Genealogy (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

Military Records

War of 1812

Civil War

Civil War service men from Pike 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 Pike County.

• 1st Regiment, Indiana Heavy Artillery, Companies E, H, and K
• 4th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company K
• 6th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Companies G, and I
• 11th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company F
• 14th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company A
• 31st Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company A
• 43rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company K
• 58th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company F
• 78th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (60 days, 1862), Companies C, and D
• 80th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company K
• 85th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies A, and B
• 115th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (6 months, 1863-4), Company B
• 123rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company C
• 137th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company I
• 149th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies E, and I
• 28th US Colored Troops, Addition Recruits for Colored Troops

World War I

World War II

Obituaries

• Parke County obituaries (1853-2006) are available by mail from the Rockville Public Library. An index to the obituaries is available online at Parke County Obituaries.

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 Parke 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 Parke 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  

• Directory of Teachers for Parke County (1936) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)

Repositories

See also a List of Indiana Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies

County Courthouse

Parke County Courthouse
116 W High Street #204
Rockville, IN 47872
Phone: 765.569.5132

County Health Department has birth records from 1902 and death records from 1882; County Auditor has marriage, divorce, probate and court records from 1833; County Recorder has land records from 1833

Family History 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

• Terre Haute Indiana Family History Center

For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the Family History Center directory.

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.

Finding More Tax Records

Additional tax records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Parke County, Indiana Genealogy Tax Records in online catalogs like:

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

Vital Records

• Indiana State Digital Archives for Death, E-Publication, Institution, Military, Misc Historical, Naturalization Records can be searched by person name (accessed 26 May 2011)
  

Marriage Records

• Indiana Marriages, 1802-1892-Ancestry.con $
  

• Indiana Marriages, 1780-1992-FamilySearch
  

• Indiana Marriage, 1811-1959-FamilySearch
  

• 1833-1844 - Parke County Marriage Index 1833-1844 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free. Batch M723511 .

Death Records

• Indiana, Death Index, 1882-1920-FamilySearch

Finding Vital Records at Other Repositories

Additional vital records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Parke County, Indiana Genealogy Vital Records in online catalogs like:

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

Web Sites

• Parke County, IN History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
• Indiana Genealogy Network Community on Google+
• Indiana Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• FamilySearch Catalog
• Parke County, Indiana Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)

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

To access available information, first log into FamilySearch.