Hamilton County, Ohio Genealogy

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County Courthouse
The Hamilton County Courthouse is located at 1000 Main St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-1206. The records are maintained by the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts.

Parent County
1790--Hamilton County was created 2 January 1790 as an original county. County seat: Cincinnati

Record Loss
Many court records were destroyed by fire in 1814, 1849 and 1884.

Populated Places
A Gazetteer of Hamilton Co., Ohio 1784-1986 can be found in Guide to Genealogical Resources in Cincinnati &amp; Hamilton Co., Ohio, 6th Edition.

Cincinnati

Terrace Park, Ohio Building Survey contains history of every building in the village with stories, photos, census and a deed index. The site also includes genealogy records for former residents.

The following populated placed can be found in the Family History Library catalog: Addyston, Anderson Township, Bevis, Bridgetown, Camp Dennison, Carthage, Cincinnati, Colerain Township, College Hill, Columbia, Columbia Township, Crosby Township, Cumminsville, Delhi Township, Elmwood Place, Fairfield, Fernbank, Fulton, Glendale, Green Township, Harrison, Lockland, Madisonville, Miami Heights, Monfort Heights, Montgomery, New Haven, North Bend, Norwood, Reading, Sayler Park, Springdale, Springfield Township, St. Bernard, Sycamore Township, The Village of Indian Hill, White Oak, Whitewater

Townships
Anderson, Cincinnati, Colerain, Columbia, Crosby, Delhi, Green, Harrison, Miami, Millcreek (defunct), Spencer, Springfield, Storrs (defunct), Sycamore, Symmes, Whitewater

Neighboring Counties

 * Boone County, Kentucky
 * Butler
 * Campbell County, Kentucky
 * Clermont
 * Dearborn County, Indiana
 * Franklin County, Indiana
 * Kenton County, Kentucky
 * Warren

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Cincinnati

Court
''In the courts outlined below, several state and federal courts are included. Depending on the time period, these courts held either original or appelate jurisdiction for Hamilton Co., Ohio.''

Justice of the Peace - Township
The University of Cincinnati Archives holds township Justice of the Peace records for the following townships: Cincinnati Twp Civil Docket (1846-1900), Cincinnati Twp Criminal Dockets (1860-1913), Cincinnati Twp Apprenticeship Book (1862-1898), Delhi Twp Criminal Docket (1853-1905), Millcreek Twp Criminal Docket (1853-1863, 1881-1890), Whitewater Twp Civil Docket (1860-1876, 1910-1911), Whitewater Twp Criminal Docket (1860-1931).

Hamilton Co,, Ohio Court of Common Pleas (1787- )/Cincinnati Municipal Court
The Hamilton County Clerk of Courts maintains the court records of Hamilton County and the Municipal court. Many of the early court records have been moved to the University of Cincinnati Archives or the Cincinnati Historical Society. The Hamilton County Courthouse has the following records available on microfilm: Naturalization Records (1850-1893), Declarations of Intent (1842-1926), Court Dockets (1884-present), Certified Judgments (1884-present), Pending Suits (1884-present), Judgments (1884-present), Law Suits and Divorces (1884-1994) and Criminal and Civil Records (1884-present). The Hamilton County Clerk of Courts website has a searchable database of cases that indexes many of these records. Early records may only contain a list of litigants. Many cases tried after 1884 involved property or estates from earlier time periods. It is worthwhile to search the records for all your ancestors.

Hamilton Co., Ohio Probate Court

 * Estate settlement matters were handled by different courts in different time periods. See Probate below.
 * The Hamilton County Probate Court has digitized and made available many different records including Minister's Licenses (1963-1975), and Physician Certificates (1919-1987). See also Probate and Immigration, Naturalization and Citizenship.
 * The University of Cincinnati Archives holds many of the county's Court of Common Pleas and Probate Court original records. For a partial list of UC Archives holdings, see A Guide to Genealogical Resources in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, 6th Edition or Inventory of Government Documents for Eight Counties of Southwest Ohio.

Hamilton County Circuit Court (1883-1912)
The FHL has Hamilton County Circuit Court Records 1844-1847 with a Diary, 1856-1861 of Charles Morton as a manuscript on microfilm FHL US/CAN Film 897439 Item 2.

Ohio Supreme Court (1803-present)
Prior to 1851, the Ohio Supreme Court sessions involving Hamilton Co., Ohio cases were held and recorded in Hamilton County. Many of the records were lost due to courthouse fires. Prior to 1823, there was no provision for recording Ohio Supreme Court decisions. From 1823-1851 the court met annually in Columbus to review cases that decided questions of law - these sessions were referred to as the Supreme Court in bank. The decisions of the Supreme Court in bank were published in a series of books titled, Cases decided in the Supreme Court of Ohio in bank. The following volumes are available through Google books: Vol. 1, Dec 1823 &amp; Dec 1824; Vol. 2, Dec. 1825. Other published sources available through Google books include: Reports of Cases at Law and in Chancery decided by the Supreme Court of Ohio 1831-1834, Condensed reports of decisions in the Supreme Court of Ohio, Volumes 6-7.

US Federal District Court (1803-present)
The U.S. Federal District Court Records from 1803-1982 are in Record Group 21 at the Chicago Branch of the NARA. The U.S. Federal District Court Records include 7 volumes of Chancery Record Books, 1869-1915. Chancery records can be rich sources of genealogical information as they include the records of disputed estate settlements. The US Federal District Court also has Naturalization Records, 1852-1966.

U.S. Federal Circuit Courts, (1807-1911)
The U.S. Circuit Court Records from 1807-1911 are in Record Group 21 at the Chicago Branch of the NARA. The U.S. Circuit Court Records include 90 volumes of Chancery Record Books, 1828-1911. Chancery records can be rich sources of genealogical information as they include the records of disputed estate settlements.

Directories
The following directories are available online at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County's Virtual Library, Downloadable City Directories: 1819, 1825, 1829, 183, 1834, 1839-40, 1842, 1843, 1846, 1849-50, 1850-51, 1851-52, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1856, 1857, 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883 (2), 1884, 1885, 1887, 1887-88, 1888-89, 1892, 1894, 1898

Genealogy

 * Miami Valley Genealogy Index is an Index to more than a half million pointers to records all over Miami Valley including Hamilton County.

Immigration, Naturalization and Citizenship

 * The Hamilton County Probate Court has digitized and made available many different records including Naturalizations (1856-1906).
 * The UC Archives has indexed Hamilton County Ohio Citizenship Records, 1837-1916. The indexes are available online at their website.

Probate

 * The Hamilton County Probate Court has digitized and made available many different records types including Estates (1791-1984), Wills (1791-1973), Trusts (1791-1984), Guardianships (1791-1984) and Probate Court Journal Entries (1791-1837). Probate Court Journal Entries have been transcribed in Abstract of Book 1 and Book A, Probate Record 1791-1826; Abstract of Book 3, Probate Record 1829-1834; and Abstract of Book 4, Probate Record, 1834-1837. The original books are held by the University of Cincinnati Archives - designated as 'Original Entry Books'.
 * The University of Cincinnati Archives has indexed Hamilton County Ohio Wills, 1791-1901. The indexes are available online at their website.

Vital Records

 * Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953 Free name indexes and images at FamilySearch Record Search. 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
 * The Hamilton County Probate Court has digitized and made available many different records types including Births (1863-1908), Marriages (1808-1983), and Deaths (1881-1908).
 * The University of Cincinnati Archives has received an LSTA Grant to Digitize Cincinnati Birth and Death Records. Access to those records is expected in August 2010.

Societies
Hamilton County Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society

P. O. Box 15865 Cincinnati, OH 45215-0865 (513) 956-7078 http://chgsohio.org

Many indexes are available at the website.

Libraries
Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

800 Vine Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2009 513-369-6900

Cincinnati Historical Society

1301 Western Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio 45203 Phone: 513-287-7030 Fax: 513-287-7095 library@cincymuseum.org

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
 * The Hamilton County Probate Court has digitized many of its records and made them available online.

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