Holmes County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Holmes 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 Coshocton, Tuscarawas, and Wayne Counties 20 January 1824.
 * County Seat: Millersburg

Description
The county was named after Andrew Holmes, an officer killed in the War of 1812. It's county seat is Millersburg and was founded January 20, 1824. It is located in the Mid-central area of the state.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Neighboring Counties
Ashland County •  Wayne County  •  Stark County  •  Tuscarawas County  •  Coshocton County  •  Knox County

Boundary Changes
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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

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

Church Records
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Nashville

Court Records

 * 1825-1900 - Holmes County Civil Court index Courtesy OHGenWeb

Local Histories

 * Holmes County Historical Society, Holmes County Historical Sketches: Ohio Bicentennial Edition, 1803-2003, (Holmes County Historical Society, 2002).


 * Holmes County History Book Committee, Holmes County Ohio to 1985, (Salem, West Virginia: Walsworth Pub. Co., 1985).


 * Egger, Donald, Holmes County, Ohio: Flashes from the Past, (Library Archives of Holmes County, 1963).

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images


 * Civil War Civil War service men from Morgan 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 Morgan County.


 * - 102nd Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies A and G
 * - 166th Regiment, Ohio Infantry (National Guard), Companies A, I and K

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1977 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
Online Newspapers Online Newspaper Abstracts Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts in Book Form

Probate
Probate Records: Civil, Criminal, Guardianships, Probate and Wills Online Probate Records
 * Holmes Co.- OHGenWeb
 * Select Court Indexes. There are five choices to browse: Civil, Criminal, Guardianship, Probate and Wills
 * For any Civil, Criminal or Guardianship record, as of this writing, the record must be pulled locally at the Genealogy Department of the Holmes County Library
 * For Probate and wills, you can log the information from the index and go to FamilySearch to obtain the actual record:
 * FamilySearch wiki – search ‘Holmes County’
 * Select ‘Ohio Probate Records, 1789-1996’
 * Identify the category that your document is in, for example if you want will #1200, then select ‘Wills 1895-1910, no 940-1339’
 * 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.
 * 1852-1900 - Holmes County Probate Court index Courtesy OhioGenWeb
 * 1825-1920s - Holmes County Will index Courtesy OhioGenWeb

Courthouse
Holmes County Courthouse 1 East Jackson Street Millersburg, OH 44654 Phone: 330.674.0286 Probate Court has birth and death records 1867-1982, marriage and probate records from 1825 and naturalization records; Clerk Circuit has divorce and court records; County Recorder has land and military records; County Library has burial and census records

Family History Centers

 * Wooster 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.

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 Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records


 * 1789-2013 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1800-1958 - at FamilySearch — free; Index.
 * 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 Deaths, 1908-1953 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.
 * various years - community contributed marriage records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Websites

 * Holmes Co, - OHGenWeb
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Holmes County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Holmes County OH Genealogy
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook