Ottawa County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Ottawa 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 Erie, Lucas, and Sandusky Counties 6 March 1840.
 * County Seat: Port Clinton

Description
The county was named either for the Ottawa Indian Tribe or for a Native American word meaning "trader". It's county seat is Port Clinton and was founded March 6, 1840. It is located in the North-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
Lucas County • Wood County • Sandusky County • Erie County

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Ohio county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Ohio County Boundary Maps" (1788-1940) 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.


 * Online hyperlink to published book entitled: "Cemetery inscriptions of Ottawa County, Ohio Port Clinton, Ohio?: The Society, 1976, 227 pgs." Located at HeritageQuestonline Login required.

Catholic

 * 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.

Lutheran

 * Records of St. John's Lutheran Church, Oak Harbor, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Finding Church Records at Other Repositories

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


 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).

Local Histories

 * Ottawa County Genealogical Society, The History of Ottawa County, Ohio and Its' Families, (Port Clinton, Ohio: Ohio Genealogical Society. Ottawa County Chapter, 1985).


 * Hardesty, L.Q., Illustrated Historical Atlas of Ottawa County, Ohio, (Chicago, Illinois: H.H. Hardesty, 1874).

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War
Civil War service men from Ottawa 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 Ottawa County.


 * - 41st Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies F and I
 * - 100th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company G

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1977 - at FamilySearch — index and images

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

Obituaries
The Ohio Obituary Index includes references to more than 1.5 million death, marriage and obituary notices. What began as a project at the Hayes Presidential Center grew into a partnership with 40 public libraries throughout the state of Ohio. Some of the listings date back as far as 1830. In addition to newspaper obituaries, the index includes entries indexing church records, federal mortality indexes, family papers, etc.

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.

Courthouse
Ottawa County Courthouse 315 Madison Street Rm 103 Port Clinton OH 43452-1936 Phone: 419.734.6752 County Health Department has birth, death and burial records; Probate Judge has marriage and probate records; Clerk Court has divorce and court records from 1840 and naturalization 1905-1929; County Recorder has land records

Family History Centers

 * Sandusky 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.

Libraries
Harris-Elmore Public Library 328 Toledo St. Elmore, Ohio Ottawa County Genealogical Society (OGS Chapter) 310 Madison St. Port Clinton They meet at the Ida Rupp Public Library Ida Rupp Public Library 310 Madison St. Port Clinton

Societies
The Connecticut Western Reserve  was a part of northeast Ohio originally intended for settlement by Revolutionary War refugees from Connecticut. The former Connecticut Western Reserve  lands were in the modern counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Trumbull fully, but also in parts of Ashland, Mahoning, Ottawa, Summit, and Wayne counties in Ohio.

The Research Library at the Western Reserve Historical Society History Center  is the premier repository for Cleveland, Ohio and Connecticut Western Reserve history material. One of the principal strengths is its manuscript collections. The WRHS collection has original land records, genealogies of New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, biographies, histories, and family Bibles.

Other Societies


 * Elmore 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

Taxation
Finding Tax Records at Other Repositories

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


 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage

 * 1789-2013 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1800-1958 - at FamilySearch — free; Index.
 * 1800-1942 - at FamilySearch — index

Online Marriage Indexes and Records 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.

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Websites

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