Henry County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Henry County Ohio genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Henry County, Ohio
Map
Location of Ohio in the U.S.
Courthouse
Address	Henry County Courthouse 660 N. Perry St. Napoleon, Ohio 43545 Henry County Website

United States Ohio Henry County

Historical Facts

Beginning dates for major county records
Birth	Marriage	Death	Tax	Land	Probate
1867	1847	1867		1846	1847
*For earlier dates, try... Church | Obituaries | Cemeteries

• Parent Counties: Formed from Shelby County 12 February 1820.
• County Seat: Napoleon
• Neighboring Counties: Henry County, Ohio Genealogy residents may also have records in Fulton (north) · Putnam (south) · Williams (northwest) · Lucas (northeast) · Defiance (west) · Wood (east) · Hancock (southeast corner)

Boundary Changes

See an interactive map of Henry County boundary changes.

Record Loss

The courthouse burned down in 1847.

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemetery records often reveal birth, marriage, death, relationship, military, and religious information.

Online Grave Transcripts	Published Grave Transcripts	County Cemetery Directories
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
Interment.net	WorldCat	Names in Stone
USGenWeb		Billion Graves
Billion Graves		Epodunk
Ohio Gravestones
Names in Stone

See Ohio Cemeteries for more information.

Church Records

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about Ohio denominations, see Ohio Church Records.

Catholic

• 1796–2004 Ohio, Diocese of Toledo, Catholic Parish Records, 1796-2004 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free. This collection includes images of parish registers recording the events of baptism, first communion, confirmation, marriage, and death in the Diocese of Toledo (Ohio), Roman Catholic Church. These records are accessed by browsing the images by county. In addition to traditional parish registers, this collection includes miscellaneous cemetery records, Books of the Elect, Professions of Faith, Sick Call registers, etc.
  

Finding Church Records at Other Repositories

Additional church records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as HenryCounty, Ohio Church Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).

History

Local histories are available for Henry County, Ohio Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Ohio Local Histories.

Local Histories

• Henry County Historical Society, Henry County, Ohio: A Collection of Historical Sketches and Family Histories, (Napoleon, Ohio: Henry County Historical Society, 1976). FHL fiche 6048030 and 6048031; book 977.115 H2h v. 1-3

• Aldrich, Lewis Cass, History of Henry and Fulton Counties, Ohio: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, (Syracuse, New York: D. Mason and Co., 1888). Digital copy at Internet Archive FamilySearch Digital Library FHL film 1000320 Item 2; book 977.115 H2a

• Ohio Genealogical Society, Henry County Chapter, Towns and Ghost Towns of Henry County, Ohio: 1794-Present, (Ohio Genealogical Society. Henry County Chapter, 2002). FHL book 977.115 H2hc

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.

See Ohio Land and Property for additional information about early Ohio land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

• 1790-1907 - Bureau of Land Management database Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Maps

Military

• Civil War
  Civil War service men from Henry 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 Henry County.

     - 68th Ohio Volunteer Infantry 

- 100th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company B

Newspapers

Henry County, Ohio 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.

To access newspapers, contact public libraries, Ohio Genealogical Society chapters, college or university libraries, the Library of Congress, Google News, or the Ohio Memory. The Ohio Genealogical Society Obituary Database is another source of newspaper information.

For more Ohio newspaper information see the Newspaper Guides on the wiki page Ohio Newspapers.
Online Newspapers
Online Newspaper Abstracts
Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts in Book Form

Probate

From 1797 or the creation of the county, probate records were held by the Court of Common Pleas. After 1852, records are held by the {{{1}}} County Probate Court. See Ohio Probate Records for information about how to use probate records.

• 1790–1967 - Ohio, Probate Records, 1790-1967 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free. This collection consists of probate records and estate files from county courthouses in Ohio. The content and time period varies by county, with more records being added as they become available. This Collection will include records from 1789 to 1996. Currently, (September 2012) the collection is only searchable by browsing the images. A list of Fires that have destroyed records in the courthouses of several counties are listed on the Record Description page.
  
• various years - community contributed wills Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Finding More Probate Records

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

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

Repositories

Courthouse

Henry County Courthouse
660 North Perry Street
Napoleon, OH 43545-0546
Phone: 419.592.4876

Probate Judge has birth and death records 1867-1908,
marriage and probate records from 1847;
Clerk Court has divorce and court records 1880;
County Recorder has land records from 1835

Family History Centers

FamilySearch Centers are branches of the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and are located all over the world. Their goal is to provide resources for family history research.

The main FamilySearch Center for Henry County, Ohio Genealogy is the

• Ashtabula Ohio Family History Center

For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the FHC directory. Put your town name in the top search box.

Societies

Henry County Genealogical Society

Taxation

Finding More Tax Records

Additional tax records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Henry County, Ohio 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

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Marriages were usually recorded from the formation of the county and are held at the office of the County Probate Court. Divorce records are located with the county Clerk of Courts.

Any existing birth and death records from 1867 through December 19, 1908 are located at the County Probate Court. The Ohio Department of Health has birth records filed after December 20, 1908 and death records filed after January 1, 1954, while the Ohio History Connection houses death records from December 20, 1908 through December 31, 1953.

Birth

Online Birth Indexes and Records
Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage

Online Marriage Indexes and Records
Original Marriage Records on Microfilm

Death

Online Death Indexes and Records

• 1908-1953 - Ohio Deaths Free name indexes and images at FamilySearch. Records include such information as birth date of deceased, city, county, and state of death, name of spouse if married, names of parents, maiden name of mother, name of informant, if deceased was single, married, windowed or divorced, occupation of deceased.
• 1913-1937 - Ohio Historical Society death index Courtesy OhioGenWeb

Finding More Vital Records

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

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

Original Death Records on Microfilm

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

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