Franklin County, Ohio Genealogy

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

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Ross and Wayne Counties and unorganized land in 30 March 1803.
 * County Seat: Columbus

Description
The county was named after Benjamin Franklin. It's county seat is Columbus and was founded April 30, 1803. It is located in the Mid-central area of the state.

Neighboring Counties
Delaware County •  Licking County  •  Fairfield County  •  Pickaway County  •  Madison County  •  Union County

Boundary Changes

 * Parts set off in a series of divisions:
 * 20 February 1805: Champaign
 * 10 February 1808: Delaware
 * 12 January 1810: Pickaway
 * 16 Febrary 1810: Madison
 * 10 January 1820: Union

For animated maps illustrating Ohio county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Ohio County Boundary Maps" (1788-1888) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
The 1820 US Federal Census is missing for Franklin County.

1879  A courthouse fire may have damaged or destroyed some records.

Bible Records
For an extensive list of resources for Bible Records see Ohio Bible Records.

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

Lutheran
Christ Lutheran Church, Columbus


 * Records of Christ Lutheran Church, Columbus, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Gehanna


 * Records of the American Lutheran Church, Gehanna, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Finding Church Records at Other Repositories


 * various years - St. Mary's Church contact information for look ups at St. Mary's. Courtesy OhioGenWeb

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


 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).

Emigration and Immigration
Archives, Libraries, and Museums Biographies Church Records Cemetery Records Court Records Histories Immigration/emigration/migration Maps Newspapers Societies

History

 * Named for Benjamin Franklin.
 * The county was created just 2 months after Ohio became a state.
 * The county originally extended all the way to Lake Erie before the divisions.

Local History

 * Martin, William T., History of Franklin County: a collection of reminiscences of the early settlement of the county… (Columbus, Ohio : Follett, Foster, 1858) Digital version at Google Books; Internet Archives; ; also available on microfilm at.
 * Taylor, William Alexander, Centennial history of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio (Chicago, Illinois : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1909) Digital version of volume 2 at Google Books; digital version of volume 1 at Internet Archives; also available on microfilm at.
 * Moore, Opha, History of Franklin County, Ohio (Topeka [Kansas] : Historical Pub. Co., 1930) Digital version of Volume 1 at ; Volume 2 at ; Volume 3 at ; indexed in An Index to History of Franklin County, Ohio, Moore, 1930.

Land and Property

 * 1790-1907 - Bureau of Land Management database Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives
 * various years - Community contributed deeds Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War, 1861-1865
Civil War service men from Franklin 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 Franklin County.


 * - 1st Regiment, Ohio Cavalry, Companies F and K
 * -1st Regiment, Ohio Heavy Artillery, Company C
 * - 113th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies B, C, H, and I


 * Franklin County, Ohio Civil War Military Roster. (Austin, Minnesota : Ohio Genealogy Center, c1984). Libraries with book.
 * Histories of the large companies from Franklin County can be found in William Brothers, History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio (Indiana: Unigraphic, 1974).

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1977 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
Online Newspapers


 * 2005 - Arlington News - a few full-text digital issues in Google News Archive from 2005
 * various years - Community contributed newspaper articles Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Online Newspaper Abstracts Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts in Book Form

Probate
Online Probate Records
 * 1786 - 1998 Ohio Wills and Probate Records 1786-1998 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1789 - 1996 at FamilySearch.org — images
 * 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

Courthouse
Franklin County Courthouse 3695 High Street Columbus, OH 43215 Phone: 614.645.3600 Probate Court has birth and death records before 1908, marriage and probate records; Clerk Court has divorce and court records from 1803; County Auditor has land records

Family History Centers

 * Columbus Ohio Family History Center

For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the


 * Columbus Ohio Family History Center (Grover City)
 * Columbus Ohio North Family History Center (Dublin)
 * Columbus Ohio South Family History Center (Reynoldsburg)
 * West Chester Ohio Family History Center

FHC directory. Put your town name in the top search box.

Libraries

 * Columbus Metropolitan Library
 * Ohio Historical Society Archives Library
 * State Library of Ohio (Sources for Genealogists)

Societies

 * Columbus Historical Society
 * Columbus Metropolitan Library
 * The Franklin County Genealogical &amp; Historical Society

Online Genealogy Research Groups

 * U.S. Midwest Genealogy Research Community - FamilySearch Facebook Research Group
 * Ohio Ancestors - FamilySearch Community group, must have a free FamilySearch account to join
 * U.S. and Canada Genealogy Research - FamilySearch Community group, must have a free FamilySearch account to join
 * U.S. and Canada Genealogy Research - FamilySearch Community group, must have a free FamilySearch account to join

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records


 * various years - community contributed birth records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records


 * 1789-2013 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1800-1958 - at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index. Name index to marriage records from the state of Ohio. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and some FamilySearch Centers. Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed. The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.
 * 1800-1942 - at FamilySearch — index
 * various years - community contributed marriage records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Marriage Records on Microfilm

Death
Online Death Indexes and Records


 * 1840-2001 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1908-1953 - Ohio Death Certificates, 1908-1953 Free name indexes and images at FamilySearch Historical Records. 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.
 * 1866-1867 - Deaths from the Ohio State Journal, 1866-1867 Courtesy OhioGenWeb
 * various years - community contributed death records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Hint: Entering name of the county, will narrow the search.

Websites

 * The Franklin County OH GenWeb Project, a member of The OHGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * Franklin County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Franklin County OH Genealogy
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Franklin County.